Have the NFL Playoffs Started?
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It’s January and that means the NFL Playoffs have started! Check out our latest blog post to see who’s playing and when.
What are the NFL Playoffs?
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League (NFL) regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking system is used to seed the teams within their conferences.
The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, currently the most watched annual sporting event in the world.
How do the NFL Playoffs Work?
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Wild Card weekend is when the four lowest-seeded teams play each other. The divisional playoffs are when the two winners from Wild Card weekend play the two highest-seeded teams. The Conference Championships are when the two divisional playoff winners play each other. Finally, the Super Bowl is when the Conference Championship winners play each other.
Wild Card Round
The playoffs begin with four wild-card playoff games: two games in each conference. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. In the first round, the lowest seed in each conference hosts the sixth seed, while the second and third seeds host the fifth seeds.
The winners of these games then advance to the Divisional Round, which works on a similar principle to the Wild Card Round except that it features only division winners; thus, the 1 seed will play the lowest remaining seed, while the 2 and 3 seeds play the next lowest remaining seeds.
Divisional Round
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League (NFL) regular season to determine the NFL champion. This is the round of the playoffs where the losing teams from Wild Card weekend are eliminated from the playoffs. The winners from Wild Card weekend move on to this round and play against the top two seeds in each conference. The games in this round are played at the home stadiums of the higher seed except in cases where cross-conference divisional matchups take place.
Conference Championships
The National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC) championship games are set to take place on Sunday, January 20. The conference champions will then face off in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3.
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important American football game of the year. It is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game is played between the winners of the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). The winner of the Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the legendary NFL coach who led his team, the Green Bay Packers, to victory in the first two Super Bowls.
When do the NFL Playoffs Start?
The NFL regular season is over, and now it’s time for the playoffs! The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that features the best teams from each conference. The playoffs will begin on Saturday, January 4th.
Wild Card Round
The NFL playoffs start with the Wild Card Round on Saturday, January 4 and Sunday, January 5. The four divisional games will be played on Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12. The Conference Championships will be played on Sunday, January 19. The Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 26. The Super Bowl will be played on Sunday, February 2.
Divisional Round
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Each conference’s playoff team seeds are slotted in four divisions: the winners of each division, and two wild card teams. Wild card teams are seeded 5-6, with the higher seed playing host.
The playoffs begin on Wild Card Weekend, when the AFC and NFC play their respective Wild Card games. The following week is Divisional Playoff weekend, when the four division winners play their respective divisional opponents. The two surviving teams from each conference then meet in their respective Conference Championship games on the third weekend in January. finally, The two Conference champions advance to Super Bowl Sunday, typically played on the first Sunday in February, to compete for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Conference Championships
The Conference Championships are the penultimate round of the NFL Playoffs. This round consists of the four remaining teams, two from each conference (NFC and AFC). The Conference Championship games are usually played on the first Sunday in January. The winners of these games advance to the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game is the culmination of a regular season that begins in the late summer of the previous year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl XLVII was played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 3, 2013. The game was started between two teams: The Baltimore Ravens and their opponent, the San Francisco 49ers.
Who is in the NFL Playoffs?
As the regular NFL season comes to an end, 12 teams have qualified for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that culminates with the Super Bowl, which is the biggest and most important American football game of the year.
Wild Card Round
The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular-season records, and a seeded bracket determines which teams play each other in their respective conference.
In the current NFL playoff structure, as of the 2020–21 season, four divisional winners and two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best records) from each conference advance to the playoffs. The four divisional winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The top seed from each conference then receives a bye in the first round of playoff games. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, seeds 1 and 2 hosts Seeds 4 and 6 while Seeds 3 and 5 host each other. In most cases, it is unnecessary for playoff seeding to be applied to determine which team plays which; instead, it is simply determined by which team finished ahead of the other during time.
Divisional Round
The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A seeded team plays a team from outside its conference in the Wild Card round; all four division winners earn home-field advantage and play one of their conference’s other three playoff qualifiers in the Divisional Round. The two surviving teams from each conference’s Divisional Round meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, with the winners advancing to the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.
Conference Championships
The Conference Championships are the penultimate round of the NFL playoffs. The four divisional winners from each conference (the AFC and NFC) compete in two separate single-elimination games to determine which teams will advance to the Super Bowl. In total, there are six teams remaining in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy.
The first game of the day is the NFC Championship, which will see the Green Bay Packers take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Packers are led by one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in Aaron Rodgers, while the Buccaneers feature a dynamic offense led by Tom Brady, one of the most decorated quarterbacks of all time. The winner of this game will head to Tampa Bay to take on either the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.
In the AFC, it will be the Buffalo Bills taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills are led by quarterback Josh Allen, who has had a breakout year, while the Chiefs are directed by reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes. The winner of this game will travel to Florida to play in Super Bowl LV.
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important American football game of the year. It is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game is played between the winner of the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). The NFC and AFC are made up of 16 teams each. The team that wins the Super Bowl is crowned the NFL champion for that season.
