How Many Weeks In the NFL Season Before the Playoffs?

It’s a question that every NFL fan wants to know – how many weeks are in the NFL season before the playoffs? We break it down for you.

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. Each team plays one game against an opponent in its own conference. The four teams with the best records in each conference then advance to the next round, where they compete in two semifinal games, with each conference winner advancing to the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the final game of the NFL season, and its winner is crowned the NFL champion.

In order to ensure that all teams have an equal chance of winning the championship, the NFL has a playoff system in place that gives each team a chance to compete for the title. The first step in this process is the regular season, which consists of 16 games played over 17 weeks. Every team plays each of its division opponents twice, as well as two other teams from outside its division (one from each conference). At the end of the regular season, the team with the best record in each conference is awarded a first-round bye in the playoffs.

The playoff field is then set, and consists of 12 teams total (six from each conference). The four division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with seed 1 being given to the team with the best record overall and seed 4 given to the team with worst record among division winners. The two wild card teams (teams that did not win their divisions but still qualified for the playoffs) are seeded 5 and 6 based on their records.

The playoffs then begin with Wild Card Weekend, which features four games played over two days: two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. These four games pit seeds 5 and 6 against seeds 3 and 4 respectively, with seeds 5 and 6 having to win on the road. The winners of these four games then advance to Divisional Playoff Weekend, where they play seeds 1 and 2 respectively. Again, these are two road games for seeds 5 and 6.

The winners of Divisional Playoff Weekend then advance to Conference Championship Weekend, where they will play for a spot in Super Bowl LIII (53). This year’s Super Bowl will be played on Sunday, February 3rd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

How Many Teams Make the Playoffs?

In order to make the playoffs, a team must first earn a place in the playoffs by having one of the best records in their NFL conference. There are a total of four NFL conferences: the AFC (American Football Conference) and NFC (National Football Conference) East, West, and North. Each conference has 16 teams.

The four teams with the best records in each conference make the playoffs. In other words, a total of 16 teams make the playoffs: four from each conference. The first round of the playoffs is known as the wild card round. The two teams with the best record in each conference receive a bye in the wild card round and advance to the divisional round.

In the wild card round, the remaining 12 teams (four from each conference) play each other. The six winners from the wild card round then advance to play the top two seeds in each conference in the divisional round. The four winners from the divisional round then advance to play each other in the AFC and NFC championship games, with those winners Advance to Super Bowl LIII to crown an NFL champion.

How Many Weeks Are in the NFL Season?

16

How the NFL Playoff Bracket Is Set

The NFL regular season is seventeen weeks long, and at the end of those seventeen weeks, the playoff bracket is set. We know who’s in, and we know who’s out. It’s a simple process, really. The top seed in each conference gets a bye in the first round, and the remaining six seeds are determined by their records. The three division winners with the best records earn the top three seeds, regardless of whether they win their division or not. The next three spots go to the three Wild Card teams with the best record, again regardless of whether they win their division or not.

NFL Playoff Schedule

The NFL playoff schedule is set each year by the NFL Schedule makers. The playoffs begin the weekend after the final regular season games are played. This year, the playoffs will begin on Saturday, January 4th, 2020. TheWild Card games will be played on that Saturday and Sunday. The Divisional Playoffs will be played on Saturday, January 11th and Sunday, January 12th. The Conference Championships will be played on Sunday, January 19th. Lastly, the Super Bowl will be played on Sunday, February 2nd, 2020.