How Do The NFL Playoffs Work?
How do the NFL playoffs work? Here is a quick and easy rundown of how the NFL playoff system works, complete with an infographic.
NFL Playoffs Format
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 procedure exists in the case of equal records. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.
How many teams make the playoffs?
In the NFL, there are a total of 12 teams that make the playoffs. The playoffs are made up of six teams from each conference: the winner of each division (there are four divisions in each conference), and two wild card teams. The two wild card teams are the two non-division-winning teams with the best records from each conference.
What is the seeding system?
In the NFL, the team with the best record in each conference is awarded the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The next three best teams in each conference are seeded second through fourth based on their records. These four teams are top seeds and receive a bye week in the first round of the playoffs.
The fifth through eighth seeds are wild-card teams that must play in the first round of the playoffs. In each conference, the two wild-card teams with the better record play each other, and the winner advances to play a top seed in the second round. The two wild-card teams with the worse records also play each other, and the loser is eliminated from playoff contention.
How are the Wild Card and Divisional rounds structured?
In the Wild Card round, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds from each conference will have a bye week while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds host the No. 6 and No. 5 seeds in their respective conference, respectively. The games will be played on Saturday, January 5 and Sunday, January 6.
The four winners from the Wild Card round will then travel to face the top seed in each conference in the Divisional round on Saturday, January 12 and Sunday, January 13.
The following weekend, the Conference Championship games will take place on Sunday, January 20 with the AFC Championship game preceding the NFC game.
Finally, thePro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 27 in Orlando, Florida and Super Bowl LIII is scheduled for Sunday, February 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.
NFL Playoffs History
The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the champion of the NFL. This tournament is bracketed by four teams from each of the league’s two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
Who has won the most Super Bowls?
The New England Patriots have won the most Super Bowls in NFL history, with six total wins. The Patriots have also made it to the big game ten times, which is also the most in NFL history.
What are some of the most iconic moments in NFL playoff history?
Some of the most defining moments in NFL history have come from the playoffs. From “The Catch” to the Music City Miracle, these Moments have helped shape the landscape of not only the NFL, but professional football as a whole.
Here are some of the most iconic moments in NFL playoff history:
– “The Drive” – In the 1987 AFC Championship game, quarterback John Elway led his team on a last-minute drive to tie the game and send it into overtime. The drive is considered one of the most clutch performances in NFL history.
– “The Catch” – In the 1981 NFC Championship game, wide receiver Dwight Clark made a miraculous catch in the back of the end zone to give his team a last-minute victory. The catch is widely considered one of the most important plays in NFL history.
– “The Immaculate Reception” – In the 1972 AFC Divisional Playoff game, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris made a catch off of a deflection and ran it into the end zone for a last-minute touchdown. The play is often cited as one of the most controversial and significant plays in NFL history.
– “The Music City Miracle” – In the 1999 Wild Card Playoffs, the Tennessee Titans pulled off a miracle last-second play to defeat the Buffalo Bills. The play, which featured multiple laterals and ended with a touchdown, is considered one of the greatest comebacks in NFL playoff history.
How to Bet on NFL Playoffs
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2020, there are four rounds of playoffs. Wild Card weekend is when the four lowest seeds in each conference play each other. The divisional playoffs are when the top two seeds from each conference play the winners of the Wild Card games. The conference championships are when the winners of the divisional playoffs play each other. The Super Bowl is when the winners of the conference championships play each other.
What types of bets can you make?
The most common type of bet is the point spread bet. In this type of bet, the sportsbook will choose a team that they think will win the game and they will give that team a certain number of points. For example, let’s say that the New England Patriots are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Patriots might be given 3 points. This means that if you bet on the Patriots, they would have to win by more than 3 points for you to win your bet. If they won by exactly 3 points, it would be a tie and you would get your money back.
If you bet on the Steelers, they would have to lose by less than 3 points or win the game for you to win your bet. If the final score was 17-14 in favor of the Patriots, then the Patriots would have won by 3 points and you would have won your bet if you had bet on them.
Another common type of NFL playoff bet is the moneyline bet. In this type of bet, you are simply betting on which team will win the game. The odds will be expressed as either a positive or negative number. A positive number means that team is an underdog and a negative number means that team is a favorite.
For example, let’s say that the New England Patriots are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers again. The moneyline might look like this:
Patriots: -200
Steelers: +175
This means that if you want to bet on the Patriots, you would need to risk $200 to win $100. If you want to bet on the Steelers, you would only need to risk $100 to win $175.
How do you handicap NFL playoff games?
NFL playoffs are upon us, with the Wild Card games kicking off on Saturday. If you’re looking to get in on the action, you might be wondering how to handicap NFL playoff games.
The first thing to understand is that the NFL playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season. In the regular season, there are 16 games spread out over 17 weeks. Each team plays every other team once, with one bye week built in. The playoffs, on the other hand, are a single-elimination tournament that takes place over three weeks.
The biggest difference between handicapping NFL playoff games and regular season games is that there is a lot less data to work with. In the regular season, each team plays 16 games, so there’s a large sample size to work with when trying to handicap them. But in the playoffs, each team has only played one or two games. That means that anything can happen and that the outcomes of previous games aren’t necessarily indicative of what will happen in the playoffs.
Another important thing to keep in mind when handicapping NFL playoff games is that the better teams tend to win more often than not. In the regular season, upsets happen all the time because there are so many games being played. But in the playoffs, where there are only a handful of games being played, the better teams tend to come out on top more often than not.
So how do you handicap NFL playoff games? The best approach is to look at each team’s recent history and try to find any patterns that emerge. For example, if a team has been dominant at home but struggles on the road, that’s something you can take into account when handicapping their game. Or if a team has been great against divisional opponents but struggles against non-divisional opponents, that’s something else you can keep in mind.
At the end of the day, there’s no perfect way to handicap NFL playoff games. But if you keep these things in mind, you should be able to give yourself a good chance of coming out on top.
NFL Playoffs FAQ
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. From 1967 to 1969, four teams qualified for the tournament. In 1970, the playoff field was expanded to eight teams. The number of teams has since been increased to ten (six from the NFC and four from the AFC) and twelve (seven from the NFC and five from the AFC).
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League’s regular season to determine the league’s champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs.
The four division winners in each conference (seeded 1–4 in their conference according to regular season record) earn home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which is also referred to as the wild-card round. The two wild card teams in each conference ( seeded 5-6 in their conference) play each other in the first round.
The winners of these games then advance to face the 1-seeded and 2-seeded division winners in the second round, or divisional round. The higher seed receives home field advantage in each matchup. In the next round, or conference championship game, The two conference champions play each other to determine who will represent their conference in Super Bowl LIII, set to be played on February 3, 2019.
How can I watch the NFL playoffs?
The NFL playoffs are broadcast on a variety of channels, including CBS, NBC, ESPN, and the NFL Network. You can also stream the playoffs online through a number of different services, including NFL Game Pass, fuboTV, and Hulu + Live TV.
Who is favored to win the Super Bowl?
The patriots are currently favored to win the Super Bowl with odds at +350.
