How Does the NFL Playoffs Work?

How does the NFL playoff system work? It’s a common question every January as the NFL postseason gets underway. Here’s a quick primer on how it works.

What is the NFL playoffs?

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, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

How many teams make the playoffs?

The NFL playoff system is a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL). 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. A fourth seed is added to each conference in 2012, bringing the total number of participating teams to 24. The four divisional winners (the team with the best record in each division) host the top two wild card teams (the two teams with the best records among all non-division winners) in the opening week of playoffs, called wild card weekend. The winners of those games then advance to either the divisional round or conference championships, depending on whether they are a division winner or not. Conference champions then advance to Super Bowl XLVI, held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5th, 2012.

In total, 12 teams make the playoffs each year – 6 from each conference.

What is the seeding system?

In the NFL, the team with the best record in each conference is seeded first overall. The next three teams in each conference are seeded based on their record, with the team with the next-best record being seeded fourth.

From there, the seeding system goes as follows:

The first seed in each conference gets a bye in the first round.

The second and third seeds in each conference play each other in the first round, with the second seed hosting.

The fourth seed in each conference plays the fifth seed, also with the fourth seed hosting.

The two winners from each first-round game advance to the divisional round, where they play one of the top two seeds from their conference. The divisional round is also when home-field advantage is determined for the remainder of the playoffs; whoever wins in the divisional round between the top two seeds gets to host both Conference Championship game and Super Bowl.

How do the playoffs work?

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 series of single-elimination playoff games culminating in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game, are held. The winning team of the Super Bowl is crowned NFL champion.

Who wins the Super Bowl?

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of 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 seventh team is added to each conference’s playoffs through a wild card berth. These seven teams advance to the second round, or divisional playoffs, where they compete in fourgames—two each at home sites. The winners of those four games then advance to the conference championships, with one game each played at home sites. The Conference Championship winners then face each other in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.