How Does the NFL Playoffs Work in 2021?

How Does the NFL Playoffs Work in 2021? The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion.

Introduction

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. A playoff game is played between two teams, with each team having had an opportunity to win their respective conference during the regular season.

Playoff games are not held at predetermined sites like the Super Bowl, but rather are rotated among a pool of six stadiums, four of which are used for wild card and divisional playoff games, and two of which are used for the conference championships.

The four divisional winners earn home-field advantage in the divisional round of the playoffs. In each conference, the two divisional winners with the best record receive a first-round bye, while the other two divisionals play each other in the wild card round. The winners of those two games then face off against each other in the divisional round.

The conference champions advance to the Super Bowl, where they face off against each other to decide who will be crowned NFL champion for that season.

How the NFL Playoffs Work

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the conclusion of the NFL regular season to determine the NFL champion. The playoffs are contested by the four division winners and two wild card teams from each conference. The four division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season record, with the top seed receiving a bye in the first round. The Wild Card round features the 3 seed hosting the 6 seed and the 4 seed hosting the 5 seed in each conference.

The Wild Card Round

In the Wild Card Round, the four division winners with the best record in each conference compete against the four Wild Card qualifiers in their own conference. The playoffs are not reseeded after each round, so the division winner with the best record will always face the lowest remaining seed, and likewise for the other three matchups.

The games are held on Saturday and Sunday, with the higher seed hosting each game. The division winner with the best record in each conference gets a first-round bye and automatically advances to the Divisional Round.

The Divisional Round

The Divisional Round of the playoffs is where things really start to heat up. After a bye week, the top two seeds in each conference play host to the lowest seed remaining in the playoffs. The winners of these games move on to the Conference Championships, one step closer to the Super Bowl.

The Conference Championships

The Conference Championships are the penultimate round of the NFL playoffs. The four divisional winners from each conference (AFC and NFC) compete in this round, with the winner from each conference advancing to the Super Bowl.

The Conference Championships are typically played on the first Sunday in January, but this can vary depending on when the regular season ends and how many teams have byes in the first round of the playoffs. In 2021, for example, the Conference Championships will be played on January 24.

The Conference Championship games are played at pre-determined neutral sites rather than at the home stadiums of the participating teams. For example, in 2021, the AFC Championship game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (the home of the Kansas City Chiefs), while the NFC Championship game will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (the home of the Arizona Cardinals).

As with the Divisional Round games, the Conference Championship games are broadcast on both CBS and Fox. The AFC game is always broadcast on CBS, while the NFC game is always broadcast on Fox.

The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important game in the NFL. It is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game is played between the champions of the two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The winner of the Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the former head coach of the Green Bay Packers who won five NFL championships in seven years, including three straight from 1965 to 1967.

Conclusion

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. A series of Wild Card weekend and Divisional playoff games are played before the Conference Championships, with the winner of each Conference advancing to the Super Bowl.

In order to be eligible for the playoffs, a team must have a winning record, either by winning their division or by having a better record than any other team in their conference. The playoffs are typically contested by the teams with the best records in each conference, although Wild Card teams with records as low as 8-8 have advanced to the Super Bowl in recent years.

Once the field is set, the playoffs proceed as follows:

Wild Card Weekend: The four lowest-seeded teams in each conference play each other in two separate games. The winners advance to the next round.

Divisional Playoffs: The two remaining teams in each conference play each other. The winners advance to their conference’s championship game.

Conference Championships: The two surviving teams from each conference play each other to determine which will advance to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl: The NFL’s annual championship game is played between the winners of each conference.