How Does 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.

What is the NFL playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are 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 their regular season records.

The tournament bracket is made up of four rounds: the Wild Card round, the Divisional round, the Conference Championships, and the Super Bowl. In each round, the higher-seeded team is given home-field advantage (the exception being the Super Bowl, which is held at a neutral site).

The playoffs begin with Wild Card weekend, when four games are played to determine which teams will advance to the Divisional round. The Divisional round then takes place over two weekends, with four more games being played to narrow down the field to just four teams. The Conference Championships are held on the third weekend of January, with two games played to determine who will represent each conference in the Super Bowl.

The final phase of the NFL playoffs is, of course, the Super Bowl itself. The game is played between the champions of each conference and determines who will be crowned as NFL champion for that season.

How do teams qualify for the NFL playoffs?

In the NFL, the team with the best record in each conference (the AFC and NFC) automatically earns a spot in the playoffs. That leaves six “wild card” spots up for grabs.

To earn a wild card spot, a team must have a better record than any other team that did not win its division. The four teams with the best wild-card records (regardless of whether they are from the AFC or NFC) also make the playoffs.

So, to sum it up, here’s how it works:
-The divisional winner with the best record in each conference automatically earns a spot in the playoffs.
-The two divisional winners with the next-best records in each conference also earn spots in the playoffs (as Wild Card teams).
-The four remaining teams with the best records overall (regardless of whether they are from the AFC or NFC) also earn spots in the playoffs (as Wild Card teams).

What is the NFL playoff format?

The NFL playoff format is a single-elimination tournament that consists of six rounds. Wild Card Weekend, Divisional Playoffs, Conference Championships and Super Bowl Sunday are the four rounds of playoffs. The final two rounds (Conference Championships and Super Bowl Sunday) are played at neutral site stadiums.

How many teams make the NFL playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League (NFL)’s 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 four division winners earn automatic home field advantage. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

Since 1975, when the playoffs expanded to include wild card teams, a total of 44 teams have qualified for the tournament. As of 2020, only 27 of those teams have gone on to win the Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers have each won four times, while the New England Patriots have won six times – most recently in Super Bowl LIII.

What are the NFL playoff seeds?

In the NFL, the team with the best record in each conference is awarded the top seed in that conference’s playoff bracket. The next three seeds — known as “wild-card” teams — are given to the next three best teams in each conference, regardless of record. So, for example, if two 9-7 teams and an 8-8 team make the playoffs in a particular conference, the 9-7 teams would be seeded No. 1 and No. 2, while the 8-8 team would get the No. 6 seed.

What are the NFL playoff bye weeks?

The NFL playoff bye weeks are the first week of the playoffs. The top two seeds in each conference get a bye, and the Wild Card round is played between the remaining teams.

How do the NFL 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 four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 in their conference, based on record. The other two teams are seeded 5 and 6.

The playoffs begin with four wild-card playoff games, two each in the AFC and NFC, on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The first round of the playoffs is referred to as the wild-card round or wild-card weekend. The four winners advance to the divisional round, which matches up the wild-card winners from each conference against the 1–4 seeds from that conference. Two more rounds follow before the two conference champions meet in Super Bowl LIII, set for February 3, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2014, a new playoff format was adopted with regard to how teams are seeded for the postseason. In this system, only three division winners from each conference qualify automatically for the playoffs; instead, four “wild card” spots are open each year, one more than previously. As a result of this new format, it is possible for a division winner (with a better record than an otherwise qualified wild card team) to miss out on playoff qualification entirely if that team finishes fourth or worse in its own division while one or more other divisions produces three or more playoff qualifiers. It is also possible for a team with a worse regular-season record than a qualifying Division Champion (but better than all other non-division winners) to make it into postseason play by winning its Wild Card game while Division Champions with better records lose their Wild Card games; this happened most recently in 2015 when eventual AFC runner–up Pittsburgh Steelers finished 10–6 yet were seeded sixth among AFC qualifiers behind five 11–5 teams that all lost their respective Wild Card matchups: Houston Texans (fourth seed), Kansas City Chiefs (fifth seed), Pittsburgh Steelers (sixth seed), Cincinnati Bengals (seventh seed), and Green Bay Packers (eighth seed). In both 2012 and 2014 though similar scenarios did not come about as all “Wild Card” qualifiers were Division Champions that had identical records as their corresponding “Divisional” opponents who themselves were also Wild Card qualifiers with identical records—thus precluding any cross–over seeding scenarios where inter–conference play would have been required—for example: if say an 8–8 AFC team like Pittsburgh had defeated say a 11–5 NFC team like Seattle who would have been playing say an 11–5 third place NFC East team like Dallas who would have been playing say an 8–7 second place AFC South team like Indianapolis had all lost their Wild Card games respectively then both Houston and Pittsburgh could not be reseeded since they would be playing intraconference opponents—thus precluding any cross seeding opportunities altogether unless either one or both of them reached their respected Conference Championship game(s).

What is the NFL playoff schedule?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1967 to 1969, four teams qualified for the tournament. In 1970, the field expanded to eight teams. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

How do teams advance in the NFL playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League’s (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 variant of the tie-breaking rules is used to seed the playoff bracket. As has been the case since 2010, one team from each conference receives a first-round bye, which automaticlly advances them to the divisional round of playoffs.

Who wins the NFL playoffs?

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 two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A wild-card team is a team that qualified for the playoffs despite not winning their division. The four divisional winners and two wild-card teams from each conference play each other in the NFL playoffs. The conference champions then play in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

In the current NFL playoff format, which was adopted for the 2014 season, there are four rounds of playoff games. In each round, the top seed in each conference is given a bye (a free pass to the next round). The first round is played on Wild-Card Weekend and features four games: two on Saturday and two on Sunday. These are followed by Divisional Playoff Weekend, which features four more games: two on Saturday and two on Sunday. The conference championship games are then held on Sunday afternoon, with the AFC Championship Game being played at 3:00 p.m. ET and the NFC Championship Game being played at 6:30 p.m. ET. The winners of these games advance to the Super Bowl, which is held on Sunday evening one week later.