How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?

How many NFL teams make the playoffs each year? The answer may surprise you.

How 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. Six teams from each conference (NFC and AFC) qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners from each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the remaining two teams (wild cards) seeded 5-6.

The regular season

The NFL regular season is 17 weeks long, running from early September to late December. During that time, each of the 32 teams plays 16 games.

The games are not played all at once, but rather each team has ONE “bye week” during the season when they do not play. So, while one team might be playing its 16th game on a given Sunday, another team might be resting up during its bye week.

At the end of the regular season, the team with the best record in each division is declared the division champion and earns a spot in the playoffs. There are also two “wild card” teams in each conference (the AFC and NFC) that make the playoffs as well. The wild card teams are simply the two non-division winners with the best records.

So, in total, there are 12 teams that make it to the NFL playoffs: four from each conference.

The playoffs

The 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. seeded according to regular-season record. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?

There are a total of 12 teams that make the NFL playoffs. This includes the six teams from each conference that have the best record, as well as the two wildcard teams. The wildcard teams are the two teams with the best record that did not win their division.

Wild card teams

In the NFL, there are six playoff teams from each conference: the four division winners and two wild card teams. The two wild card teams from each conference with the best records regardless of division play each other in the Wild Card round. The division winners with the two best records receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

Divisional teams

In each conference, the four division winners and the two next-best teams (based on overall record) qualify for the playoffs. The top seed in each conference gets a first-round bye.

The first round of the playoffs is commonly referred to as the Wild Card Playoffs. In this round, the third seed hosts the sixth seed, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth seed. The higher seeds will have home-field advantage in these games. The winners of these two games then advance to play the top seeds in each conference in the Divisional Playoffs.

Again, home-field advantage will be given to the higher seeds. In addition, any team that wins its division and has one of the best records in the conference will get a first-round bye in addition to home-field advantage (regardless of record).

The two winners from each conference’s Divisional Playoffs will then advance to their respected Conference Championship game where they will compete for a berth into Super Bowl LIII.

Conference teams

In each conference, the four division winners and two wild card teams (the two teams with the best won-lost-tied records who didn’t win their divisions) qualify for the playoffs.

What Happens if Two Teams Tie?

There are a total of 32 teams in the NFL. 16 teams make the playoffs. 8 teams from each conference. If two teams tie, then they both go to the playoffs.

The coin toss

If two teams tie for a spot in the playoffs, a coin toss determines which team goes to the playoffs. The team that wins the coin toss can choose to either play at home or away.

The playoff game

If two or more teams are tied in the standings, a playoff game or games will be scheduled to determine which team or teams will advance to the next round of the playoffs. The NFL uses a tiebreaker system to seed teams in the event of ties in the standings, so not all tied teams will necessarily have to play a playoff game.

Conclusion

In conclusion, out of the 12 teams that make the NFL playoffs, six teams come from each conference. The four divisional winners and two wild card teams from each conference advance to the playoffs. The NFL playoff seedings are determined by each team’s regular season record. The team with the best record in each conference is seeded first, followed by the team with the second-best record and so on.