How Do Playoffs Work In the NFL?

How do playoffs work in the NFL? The NFL playoff system is a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. The NFL’s 17-week regular season runs from early September to late December, with each team playing 16 games and having one bye week. Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference (four division winners and three wild card teams) advance to the playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, which is usually held on the first Sunday in February and is played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

The NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League (AFL) in 1966, and agreed to expand its playoff format by adding additional wild card teams beginning with the 1970 season. The merger was completed in 1970, resulting in Super Bowl XLIV being played between two AFC teams for that season’s league championship.

How the NFL Regular Season Works

The NFL regular season is a 17-week journey that starts with training camp in late July, has four preseason games in August, and then the real action begins in September. Every team plays 16 games over 17 weeks, which makes for a balanced schedule. There are some weeks where teams will have their bye week, which is a break built into the schedule where they do not play a game. The NFL playoffs start in January and culminate with the Super Bowl in February. But how do teams make the playoffs? Let’s take a look.

Standings

To determine the standings for each team at the end of the season, the NFL uses a point system.

Each team is awarded:
-Two points for each victory
-Zero points for each loss
-One point for each tie
-One bonus point for each overtime victory

In addition, teams can earn bonus points for:
-Winning their division (two points)
-Winning their conference (four points)
-Making the playoffs (four points)

Tiebreakers

There are a few different ways that ties can be broken in the NFL for both the regular season and the playoffs. The following are the most common tiebreakers:

Head-to-Head Record: If two teams are tied in the standings, the head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker. If the teams split their games or if they did not play each other at all during the season, then this tiebreaker is not used.

Division Record: If two teams are tied in the standings and they did not play each other head-to-head or if they are tied in the division standings, then division record is the next tiebreaker. This means looking at each team’s record against all of the other teams in their division.

Common Games Record: If two teams are still tied after looking at head-to-head and division records, then the next tiebreaker is common games record. This means looking at each team’s record against all of the other teams that they have played that are also involved in the tie.

Streak: The next tiebreaker after common games record is streak. This can either be a winning or losing streak. For example, if one team has won its last five games and another team has lost its last five games, then the team with the five-game winning streak would win this tiebreaker.

Conferences Record: If two teams are still tied after using all of these other Tiebreakers, then their conference record is used to determine a winner. This means looking at each team’s record against all of other teams in their conference.

Regular Season

Playoff Games

How the NFL Playoffs Work

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Seven teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A single-elimination playoff tournament then determines the conference champions, who meet in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

Wild Card Round

In the Wild Card Round, the schedule is as follows: The 4th seed hosts the 5th seed, the 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed, and the 2nd seed hosts the 7th seed. The 1st seed gets a bye to the next round. The winners of each game advance to the next round, while the losers are eliminated from playoff contention.

Divisional Round

The NFL Divisional Round is the second round of the NFL playoffs. The four teams that win in the Wild Card Round advance to play in the Divisional Round. In the Divisional Round, the match-ups are:

1) The highest seed in each conference plays the lowest seed that remains in that conference.

2) The two remaining games are played between the two remaining divisional winners in each conference.

The winners of each game advance to the AFC and NFC Championship Games, respectively.

Conference Championships

In the National Football League (NFL), the Conference Championships are the two annual playoff games that are played to determine which two teams will play in the Super Bowl.

The Conference Championships are played on the first Sunday in February, two weeks after the Divisional Playoffs. The Conference Championship games pit the winners of the Divisional Playoffs against each other.

In the American Football Conference (AFC), it is the AFC East team that hosts the AFC West team, while in the National Football Conference (NFC), it is the NFC East team that hosts the NFC West team. The home teams for both conference championship games are based on which teams had better records during the regular season.

If one team has a better record than another, then that team will host their conference’s championship game. If there is a tie for best record, then it goes to who had a better record within their division. If there is still a tie, then it goes to who had a better record in common games.

Super Bowl

The annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL) is the Super Bowl. The game is the culmination of a regular season that begins in the late summer of the previous year.

A playoff system was instituted in 1967, when the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL). The first Super Bowl was played in January 1967. Prior to that time, there was no formal playoff system, and the champions were determined by a vote of league owners. From 1920 to 1966, the championship was awarded to the team with the best win-loss record, regardless of whether it played in a different league.

In 1967, a four-team playoff system was implemented. The four teams were selected by a combination of their win-loss records and their ability to win their divisional games. The playoff system has undergone several modifications since 1967, but it still relies on both a team’s record and its success in divisional play.

The two teams that advance to the Super Bowl are determined by a series of playoffs. The playoffs begin with four “wild card” teams: two from each conference (the American Football Conference [AFC] and National Football Conference [NFC]). These teams are chosen based on their regular season records; they may or may not have won their divisional games.

The four wild card teams play each other in two “play-in” games. The winner of each game goes on to play one of the three divisional winners from its own conference in what is known as a “conference semifinal game.” The winners of those two games then advance to play each other in the Super Bowl.

In order for a team to make it to the Super Bowl, it must first win four playoff games: two play-in games and two conference semifinal games. This makes for a total of six possible games between the start of playoffs and the end of the NFL season: four for wild card teams and two for divisional winners.

Conclusion

In the NFL, the playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the league champion. The tournament brackets are made up of six teams from each conference: four division winners and two wild-card teams. The four division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the top seed getting a bye in the first round. The wild-card teams are seeded 5-6 and play each other in the first round, with the winner getting the lower-seeded division winner in the second round. The second round is also known as the divisional playoffs. The conference championship games are played in the third round, with the winners advancing to the Super Bowl.