How Many Rounds Are In The Nfl Playoffs?
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How Many Rounds Are In The Nfl Playoffs? The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion.
How the NFL Playoff System Works
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From its inception in 1933, the tournament has expanded to include 12 teams (six from each conference), and four rounds of play. The four divisions within each conference (North, South, East, and West) are restored for the playoffs, with each division winner hosting a playoff game in the first round. In the second round, called the divisional playoffs, the remaining division winners and two wild-card teams (the two best non-division winners) play each other. The conference championship games are then played on the first Sunday in January, with one game played in each conference to determine that conference’s participant in Super Bowl XLVIII, which will be held at MetLife Stadium on February 2, 2014.
How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?
As of the 2019 NFL season, 14 teams make the playoffs each year. Seven teams come from the NFC (North, South, East, and West divisions) and seven teams come from the AFC (North, South, East, and West divisions). The NFL playoff system is a single-elimination tournament. The playoffs begin each January with Wild Card weekend. The four Wild Card games are played on Saturday and Sunday. The winners of those games advance to the Divisional round the following weekend. The Divisional round features the top seeded team in each conference playing at home against the lowest seeded Wild Card team. The other two divisional matchups feature the second and third seeds in each conference. The winners of those games advance to conference championship weekend with a chance to play in Super Bowl LIV!
How Many Rounds are in the Playoffs?
While the National Football League (NFL) regular season is only 16 games long, the playoffs are a whole different story. In order to make it to the coveted Super Bowl, teams have to win not one, not two, but three playoff games. That’s right, the NFL playoffs are a three-round tournament.
The first round of the playoffs is commonly referred to as the Wild Card round. In this round, the four best teams who did not win their division play each other. The team with the better record will play at home against the team with the worse record. The winners of these two games move on to the next round.
The second round of the playoffs is commonly referred to as the Divisional round. In this round, the two winners from the Wild Card round play against each division winner from earlier in the season. Once again, the team with the better record will play at home against the team with the worse record. The winners of these two games move on to compete in… you guessed it…
The third and final round of playoffs is referred to as … you guessed it again…the Championship game! In this game, The American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game and National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game are played on back-to-back Sundays in January. These are two single elimination games where each conference’s top remaining seed hosts The AFC Championship game is played between While both games are important, they pale in comparison to…
The Super Bowl! This is THE game that every football player dreams of playing in. It is THE most watched television event in America every year. It decides who will be crowned champion of football for that season
How the Playoffs are Structured
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. A tie-breaking procedure exists if required. The tournament culminates with the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.
What Happens if Two Teams Tie in the Playoffs?
If two teams tie in the playoffs, there is a tiebreaker system in place to determine which team advances. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition, meaning if two teams tied in the playoffs played each other during the regular season and one team won, that team would advance. If head-to-head competition is not possible to determine a winner, the next tiebreaker is divisional or conference record. This tiebreaker compares the records of the two teams against all other teams in their division or conference. If there is still a tie, the next tiebreaker is common opponents. This compares the records of the two teams against all opponents they have in common during the regular season. If there is still a tie, then strength of victory becomes the next tiebreaker. Strength of victory looks at how well each team’s opponents have done during the regular season. The final tiebreaker, if necessary, is a coin toss by each team’s owner.
