How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?

How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues, the highest professional level of American football in the world, the wealthiest professional sport league by revenue, and the sport league with the most valuable teams.

NFL Basics

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2019, 14 teams make the playoffs. These teams are the top two teams in each of the NFL’s four divisions—the East, West, North, and South—as well as two wild-card teams.

How many teams are in the NFL?

The National Football League (NFL) is made up of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC).

How many teams make 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. The four division champions and two wild card teams from each conference advance to the playoffs. The NFL does not use a seeding system, so any team could end up playing any other team, if they both advance far enough.

Divisional Breakdown

There are 8 divisions in the NFL, which are made up of 4 teams each. The top team in each division automatically makes the playoffs. That leaves 6 teams to battle it out for the remaining 3 playoff spots. In order to make things fair, the NFL has a divisional breakdown for the playoffs.

AFC

The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the world. This conference and its counterpart the National Football Conference (NFC), currently contain 16 teams organized into 4 divisions. Unlike the NFC, which has always had 16 teams since its creation in 1970, the AFC was a 14-team league until 2002, when it expanded to include the Houston Texans.

Since 1970, each conference’s champion has faced off in the Super Bowl to decide the NFL’s overall championship. The current champions of the AFC are the New England Patriots, who have won a record 11 AFC championships (including 3 straight from 2016-2018).

NFC

In the National Football Conference (NFC), there are four divisions: the East, West, North, and South. Each division has four teams that play each other twice during the regular season, once at home and once on the road. 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. The next best six teams in the conference, regardless of division, are also invited to compete in the playoffs. These teams are called wild-card teams.

Conference Breakdown

Twelve teams make the NFL playoffs. Six teams come from the NFC and six teams come from the AFC. The four division winners from each conference automatically make the playoffs, as well as the two wild card teams from each conference.

AFC

The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of two conferences that make up the National Football League (NFL), the other being the National Football Conference (NFC). The AFC comprises 16 teams, organized into four divisions: East, North, South, and West.

In each division, there are four teams. In total, there are 16 teams in the AFC. The NFC has 16 teams as well, for a total of 32 NFL teams.

The four division winners in the AFC automatically qualify for the playoffs. In addition, there are two wild-card teams in each conference that also make the playoffs. The wild-card teams are the two teams with the best record in each conference who did not win their division.

NFC

The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the world. This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), currently contain 16 teams each, making up a total of 32 teams in the NFL.

The NFC’s 13 teams are located in the United States’ Northeastern and Midwestern states. They are divided into four divisions: East (Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins), North (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings), South (Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and West (Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks).

Playoff Breakdown

A total of 12 teams make the NFL playoffs: six from the NFC and six from the AFC. The four division winners from each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the top seed receiving a bye in the first week of the playoffs. The two wild card teams from each conference are seeded 5-6 and must play in the first week of the playoffs.

AFC

In the AFC, there are a total of 16 teams that make the playoffs. The teams are split up into two different divisions, the AFC East and the AFC West. Each division has four teams. The team that wins each division is automatically seeded into the playoffs. The two second place teams in each division then play each other in a wild card game. The winner of that game goes on to play one of the divisional winners.

NFC

In the National Football Conference (NFC), there are 16 total teams that are divided into 4 divisions. The NFC East, NFC West, NFC North, and NFC South. Each division has 4 teams. The teams that win each division automatically clinch a playoff berth. In addition to the 4 division winners, 2 wild card teams from the conference also make the playoffs. So in total, 6 teams from the NFC make the playoffs.