How Many Wild Card Teams Make The NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are upon us, and as always, there are plenty of questions heading in. One of the most common questions we get is “How many wild card teams make the NFL playoffs?”

How the NFL Playoff System Works

The NFL playoff system is a series of elimination tournaments that culminate in the Super Bowl. The NFL playoffs are not based on a single game, but rather a series of playoff games. The teams that make the playoffs are the ones that have the best record in their respective conference. There are four teams from each conference that make the playoffs, for a total of eight teams.

Divisional Playoffs

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1933 to 1966, the NFL postseason generally only consisted of the NFL Championship Game, pitting the league’s two division winners (who would typically play each other in a best-of-three series of games). Since 1967, however, the league has implemented a four-team bracket that awards two slots to each conference’s divisional champions and two “wild card” berths to non-division winners with the best overall record.

In any given year, there are a total of eight teams that make the NFL playoffs: four from each conference. The four divisional winners are seeded 1-4 based on their overall record, with the top seed receiving home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The two wild card teams are seeded 5-6 and must play on the road in the first round.

The divisional playoff round is always played on Saturday and Sunday in January, with No. 1 hosting No. 6 and No. 2 hosting No. 5 over Wild Card Weekend. The winners of those games then advance to their respective conference’s championship game the following weekend. The conference champions then meet in the Super Bowl two weeks later.

Conference Championships

After the conclusion of the regular season, the NFL playoff field is set. The four division winners in each conference (the AFC and NFC) earn automatic berths into the postseason. In addition, there are two wild card teams in each conference that earn postseason berths as well.

The conference championships are then played (AFC Championship and NFC Championship), with the winners advancing to the Super Bowl. The losing teams in the conference championships will play each other in the AFC-NFC Wild Card Game.

In total, there are six teams from each conference that make the playoffs (four division winners and two wild card teams).

Super Bowl

The NFL playoff system is a series of elimination games that culminates in the Super Bowl, which is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the league’s champion. The playoffs are played in January and February, and the final game, the Super Bowl, is usually held in early February.

How Many Wild Card Teams Make the Playoffs?

There are four divisions in the NFL: the AFC East, AFC West, NFC East, and NFC West. Each division has four teams. The four division winners qualify for the playoffs. In addition, there are two wild-card teams in each conference that also make the playoffs.

6 teams

In the NFL, six teams qualify for the playoffs each year. Four division winners and two wild card teams. The four division winners are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season records, with the 1 seed receiving a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The two wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6 and must play in the first round of the playoffs.

4 teams

There are 4 teams that make the NFL playoffs as wild card teams. These teams are the 2 best teams in each conference that did not win their division. The NFL playoff seeding is as follows:

1. The division winner with the best record in each conference.
2. The division winner with the second-best record in each conference.
3. The division winner with the third-best record in each conference.
4. The division winner with the fourth-best record in each conference.
5. The two wild-card qualifiers in each conference with the better records.
6. The two wild-card qualifiers in each conference with the weaker records

2 teams

In the current NFL playoff system, there are a total of six teams that qualify for the playoffs from each conference: the four division winners and two wild card teams. These two wild card teams are seeded fifth and sixth in their respective conferences, and they play each other in the Wild Card round. The winner of each Wild Card game then advances to the Divisional round to play one of the four division winners.

Why Do Wild Card Teams Make the Playoffs?

In the NFL, there are 4 divisional winners and 2 wild card winners in each conference. The 4 divisional winners are seeded 1-4 based on their record, and the 2 wild card winners are seeded 5 and 6. The 5th seed plays the 4th seed, and the 6th seed plays the 3rd seed in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of those games advance to the second round, where they play the 1st and 2nd seeds respectively.

To create more parity in the NFL

The NFL’s current playoff system is designed to create more parity in the league by giving teams that didn’t win their divisions a chance to make the playoffs. In recent years, there have been some calls to eliminate the Wild Card round and just have the division winners advance to the playoffs, but that would likely create even more of a gap between the haves and the have-nots in the NFL.

To create more excitement for fans

The NFL playoffs are structured so that there are six teams from each conference—four division winners and two wild card teams. The division winners are seeded one through four in order of their record, with the first seed receiving a bye week and home-field advantage. The two wild card teams are seeded fifth and sixth. In the first round of the playoffs, the fifth seed plays the fourth seed and the sixth seed plays the third seed. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the top remaining seed in each conference plays a wild card team, while the other divisional winner plays the lowest remaining seed from its own conference. The conference championships are then played in the third round. Finally, in the fourth and final round, the two surviving teams play each other in Super Bowl Sunday

To increase television ratings

There is no question that the NFL’s ratings have taken a hit in recent years. While the league is still far and away the most popular sports league in the country, its viewership has declined 8% since 2015, according to Nielsen.

The NFL’s decline in ratings has coincided with a decline in the quality of play. This is likely due to a number of factors, including an increase in concussions, player protests during the national anthem, and a general sense that the league has become too political.

One way to combat declining ratings is to increase the number of playoff teams. This would create more interesting matchups and, hopefully, lead to more viewers.

Currently, there are 12 teams that make the playoffs: six from each conference. Of those 12 teams, four have bye weeks and don’t have to play in the first round. That leaves eight teams to play in the Wild Card round.

Increasing the number of playoff teams to 14 would mean that there would be seven teams from each conference (instead of six). It would also mean that only two teams would have bye weeks (instead of four). This would create more interesting matchups and, hopefully, lead to more viewers.