How Many Teams Make The Playoffs In The NFL?

How many teams make the playoffs in the NFL? This question is often asked by NFL fans. 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. As of 2020, fourteen teams make the playoffs: six from the NFC and six from the AFC. The four division winners from each conference are seeded first and second in their respective conferences, while the two wild card teams are seeded fifth and sixth.

Regular Season

In order to make the playoffs, a team must first compete in the regular season. The NFL regular season is a grueling tests of skill, strength and will, with each team playing 16 games over the course of 17 weeks. At the end of the regular season, the teams with the best records (wins minus losses) advance to the playoffs.

There are two types of playoff berth: divisional and wild card. The four division winners in each conference automatically earn a playoff spot. In addition, there are two wild card teams in each conference (for a total of six), which are determined by the next best two records regardless of division. So, in total, 12 teams make it to the playoffs each year.

Wild Card Round

In the Wild Card Round, the six division winners with the two best records host a game, as do the two Wild Card teams with the next-best records. These four teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 4 in each conference based on their overall record, with the top two division winners getting home-field advantage.

The other four division winners are seeded No. 5 and No. 6, and they also play each other in this round. The No. 5 seed hosts the No. 6 seed, and the winner of that game goes on to play the No. 4 seed in the Divisional Round.

Divisional Round

During the divisional round, the four remaining teams in each conference play each other in two games. The winners of those games advance to the conference championships.

Conference Championships

In the National Football League (NFL), the two conference championship games (also referred to as the conference title games) are played on the penultimate Sunday of January each year. They are each hosted by an NFL team at its home stadium. Conference championships are used to determine the teams that will compete in Super Bowl LIII, the league’s annual championship game.

The American Football Conference (AFC) champion will play the National Football Conference (NFC) champion in Super Bowl LIII, scheduled for Sunday, February 3, 2019. The game will be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Conference championships have been played annually since 1967. Prior to 1967, the NFL’s postseason consisted of a single championship game between the winners of its two conferences. The NFL added a second conference in 1970, creating the AFC–NFC format that is still used today.

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important game in the NFL season. All 32 teams enter the season with the hope of making it to the Super Bowl, but only two will make it to the big game. The journey to the Super Bowl is a long one, and it all starts with the playoffs.

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that takes place after the regular season. The playoffs determine who will compete in the Super Bowl, and usually last for about four weeks. In each round of the playoffs, there are four teams that play each other in two different games. The winners of those games move on to the next round, while the losers are eliminated from contention.

The first round of the playoffs is known as Wild Card weekend, and it features four games played between eight different teams. The winner of each game advances to the next round, while the loser is eliminated from contention.

In the second round of the playoffs, there are four more games played between eight different teams. However, this time around, only the four divisional winners from the regular season are eligible to play. The winners of each game advance to the next round, while the losers are eliminated from contention.

In the third round of the playoffs, there are just two games played between four different teams. This round is known as The Conference Championships, and it features one game played between each conference’s two divisional winners from earlier in the playoffs. The winner of each game advances to Super Bowl Sunday, while the loser is eliminated from contention.

On Super Bowl Sunday, there is just one game played between two different teams: The American Football Conference (AFC) champion versus The National Football Conference (NFC) champion. The AFC champion is determined by winning one of two different playoff games: Either The AFC Wild Card Game or The AFC Divisional Playoff Game. Likewise, The NFC champion is determined by winning either The NFC Wild Card Game or The NFC Divisional Playoff Game. Whichever team wins their respective conference championship game on Super Bowl Sunday earns a trip to face off against their opposing conference’s champion in THE SUPER BOWL!

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?

There are a total of 12 teams that make the playoffs in the NFL. This includes the 6 teams from each conference that have the best record, as well as 4 wild card teams. The wild card teams are the 2 best teams in each conference that did not win their division.

6 teams from each conference

In the NFL, 6 teams from each conference advance to the playoffs each year. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the top seed receiving a bye in the first round. The two wild card teams in each conference are seeded 5 and 6 and must play in the first round.

4 division winners and 2 wild card teams

In the NFL, 12 teams make the playoffs. This is down from 14 teams in 2016, and the league will continue to evaluate whether this is the right number of teams moving forward. The 12 teams are made up of the four division winners from each conference (North, South, East, West) and two wild card teams from each conference. The division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the #1 seed getting a bye in the first round. The wild card teams are seeded 5-6 and play each other in the first round.

What Happens if Two Teams Tie?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. The playoffs are made up of six teams from each conference: four division winners and two wild card teams. The four division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the top seed receiving a bye. The wild card teams are seeded 5-6.

Head-to-head record

In the event that two teams have the same record, the NFL tiebreaker rules will determine which team makes it into the playoffs and which team does not. The first tiebreaker that is used is head-to-head record. If two teams have played each other already during the regular season, then the team with the better head-to-head record will win the tiebreaker and make it into the playoffs. If the two teams have not played each other or if they have tied in their one head-to-head matchup, then the second tiebreaker is used.

Record in common games

To determine which team is better if two teams have the same record, the NFL looks at their head-to-head matchup, record in common games, and strength of schedule. If the teams are still tied, a coin flip determines who wins.

Record in conference games

In the regular season, each team plays 16 games. Out of those, they play nine games within their division and the rest are inter-conference. If two teams have identical records in conference play, then their record in common games is the next tiebreaker. If they played the same teams and have identical records against those teams, then it goes to strength of victory.

Record in division games

In the event that two teams have the same record, the following procedures will be used to determine which team receives the higher seed.

1. If two teams tie for a divisional championship, they will meet in a one-game playoff at a site to be determined by the NFL.

2. If three or more teams are tied for a divisional championship, the site of the playoff game will be determined by a rotation procedure that was established when the current divisional alignment was created in 2002. The rotation is as follows: if one team has won a divisional playoff game and is hosting another such game, it will host the game regardless of seed; otherwise, there will be a coin flip to determine which team between the #1 and #4 seeds hosts, and then between the #2 and #3 seeds.

Coin toss

If two teams finish the season with the same record, a coin toss is used to determine which team will get the higher seed. The team that wins the coin toss will be seeded higher than the team that loses the coin toss.