How Many Teams Get In The NFL Playoffs?

How Many Teams Get In The NFL Playoffs?
The answer may surprise you.

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How the NFL Playoffs Work

There are a total of 12 teams that make it into the NFL playoffs. The playoffs are made up of six teams from the AFC and six teams from the NFC. The four Divisional winners and the two Wild Card teams from each conference make it into the playoffs. In the first round, the Wild Card teams play each other, and the Divisional winners get a bye.

The NFL playoff system

The NFL playoff system is a tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game. The playoffs are a single-elimination competition, consisting of twelve teams: six teams from each of the league’s two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).

In each conference, four division winners and two “wild card” teams (the two best non-division winners) qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, with the division winner holding the better record receiving the higher seed. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, so there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third seed hosts the sixth seed and the fourth seed hosts the fifth seed in two games on Saturday; and then on Sunday, omitting 2020 due to COVID restrictions, there are two more games: The top seed hosts one of those Saturday wild-card winners and second seeds hosting other.

The Coliseum in Los Angeles hosted Super Bowl I
The winners of those first-round games then advance to play against each other in Conference Championship games held at sites predetermined before each season. Since 1975,[8] both conference champions host these games at their home stadiums. Since 2002,[9] however, if a team’s home stadium is selected for any reason to host either conference championship game or a Wild Card playoff game that team is automatically shifted to playing on Wild Card weekend instead. For example: had M&T Bank Stadium hosted either an AFC Divisional game or an AFC Conference Championship game during any particular year between 2002–2006 due to it hosting an NFC Wild Card round game during those years it would have meant that either Pittsburgh or Baltimore would have played on Wild Card weekend that year rather than hosting a Conference Championship game had they won their respective divisions while being qualified as one of those top two seeds.

How many teams make the playoffs?

Twelve teams make the playoffs in the National Football League each year. The four division winners in both the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference automatically qualify for the playoffs. The two second-place teams with the next-best records in each conference also earn playoff spots, but they are seeded lower than the division winners. The final two playoff spots each year go to the two remaining teams with the best records in each conference, regardless of whether they won their division. These teams are seeded No. 5 and No. 6 in their respective conferences.

The History of the NFL Playoffs

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2018, there are four teams that qualify for the playoffs from each of the NFL’s two conferences.

The first NFL playoff game

The first NFL playoff game was played on January 15, 1933, following the 1932 regular season. The game featured the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. The Bears won the game, 32-14.

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. The tournament consists of four rounds of play. The first round is referred to as the wild-card round and is played between two wild-card teams. The winners of each wild-card game advance to the divisional round, where they play against a division winner from the opposite conference. The winners of each divisional game advance to the conference championships, where they compete for a spot in the Super Bowl.

The NFL playoffs began in 1933 with two teams qualifying for the postseason via win-loss record. In 1967, the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs was increased to four, and in 1978, it was increased again to eight. As of 2020, 14 teams qualify for the playoffs: six from each conference and two additional teams (the seventh seed in each conference) that qualify via win-loss record irrespective of conference.

The first Super Bowl

On January 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won, 35-10. While the game itself was not particularly close, it did mark the beginning of a new era in professional football.

The NFL had been battling the rival American Football League (AFL) for supremacy since the early 1960s. In 1966, the two leagues reached a historic agreement to merge into one league, with two conferences (the NFC and AFC) and a championship game between the conference champions. This game would eventually become known as the Super Bowl.

While the first Super Bowl was a resounding victory for the Packers, subsequent games would be much more competitive. The New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, while the underdog Miami Dolphins pulled off a stunning upset of the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl VIII.

Today, the NFL playoffs are expanded to include 12 teams (six from each conference). After a regular season of 17 weeks, the playoffs begin in early January and conclude with the Super Bowl about two weeks later.

The Future of the NFL Playoffs

In recent years, the NFL playoffs have been expanded to include more teams. This year, there will be 14 teams in the playoffs, up from 12 in previous years. Some people believe that this is a good thing, as it gives more teams a chance to compete for the championship. Others believe that it dilutes the quality of the playoffs, as more mediocre teams are now included. What do you think?

Possible changes to the NFL playoff system

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2020, there are four rounds of playoffs, comprising 12 teams—six from each of the league’s two conferences. The top seed from each conference receives a bye in the first round.

In recent years, there have been calls to expand the playoff system to 14 or even 16 teams. Proponents of expansion argue that it would make the NFL season more exciting and give more teams a chance to win the Super Bowl. Critics argue that expansion would dilute the quality of the playoffs and make it easier for sub-par teams to win the championship.

The NFL has not expanded the playoffs since 2001, when it added a seventh team to each conference. However, with ratings for the NFL playoffs at an all-time high, it seems likely that expansion will be on the table in the near future.

The impact of the new CBA on the playoffs

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement could have a big impact on the future of the NFL playoffs. Starting in 2020, the league will expand the playoffs to include 14 teams instead of 12. This means that seven teams will have a chance to win the Super Bowl each year, instead of six.

The expansion is designed to make the regular season more important, and to give more teams a chance to compete for the championship. It also means that there will be more games on Wild Card weekend, and that some of those games will be played on Monday night.

The expansion is not without its critics, who say that it dilutes the importance of the regular season, and that it gives an advantage to teams with weak Records who get hot at the end of the year. But the league is confident that the expanded playoffs will be a success, and that it will make the NFL even more popular than it already is.