How the NFL Playoffs Work
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The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion.
How the Playoffs Work
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the NFL regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1967 to 1969, four teams qualified for the tournament. In 1970, the playoffs expanded to eight teams, which has been the format ever since. The four division winners in each conference (the NFC and AFC) are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season records, with the top seed receiving a bye in the first round. The second and third seeds also host playoff games in the first round.
The NFL playoff system
The NFL playoff system is a tournament that culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game. Each year, the playoff field consists of 12 teams–the top 2 seeds from each of the league’s 6 divisions.
The playoffs are structured so that higher seeds host lower seeds in each round. In the first round, known as the Wild Card round, the 4 division winners with the best records host the 4 wild card teams with the next-best records. The winners of those games advance to the Divisional round, where they again play at home against weaker opponents, this time determined by their seeding.
The 2 surviving teams from each conference then meet in their respective conference championship games, with the winners earning a berth in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is always played on a Sunday in early February and pits the champion of the NFC against the champion of the AFC.
How many teams make the playoffs?
In the NFL, 12 teams make the playoffs each year. The four division winners from each conference (the NFC and AFC) earn automatic berths, while the remaining teams are chosen by a committee based on their regular season records. In total, six teams from each conference make the playoffs.
The NFL playoff format is a single-elimination tournament, meaning that once a team loses, it is out of the running for the Super Bowl. The tournament starts with four “wild card” games, in which the sixth-seeded team in each conference faces off against the third seed, and the fifth seed takes on the fourth seed. The top two seeds in each conference then receive a bye for the first week of the playoffs.
In the second week of the playoffs, known as divisional weekend, the four surviving teams from each conference meet. The winner of each game advances to their respective conference’s championship game. Finally, in the third week of the playoffs, the NFC and AFC champions face off in the Super Bowl to decide who will be crowned NFL champion for that season.
How are the playoffs seeded?
The playoffs are seeded according to conference and division. The conference’s top seed will host the wild-card team with the lowest seed, while the second seed will host the other wild-card team. The divisional round will see the first seed play the lowest remaining seed, while the second seed plays the other remaining team. Finally, the conference championship games will be played at the home stadium of each respective conference’s top remaining seed.
What is the Wild Card Round?
In the Wild Card round, the NFL playoff field is narrowed down from 12 teams to eight. The four division winners from each conference (the team with the best record in each division) earn a first-round bye and automatically advance to the divisional playoff round. The remaining two teams in each conference play each other in the Wild Card round.
The higher-seeded team will host the game. The two Wild Card games in each conference are played on Saturday and Sunday. In recent years, the NFL has also played a game on Saturday night during Wild Card weekend.
The winners of the Wild Card round games advance to the divisional playoff round, where they will play one of the four division winners from their conference. The divisional playoff games are played on Saturday and Sunday.
What is the Divisional Round?
The Divisional Round of the playoffs is when the eight remaining teams are divided into two sections, the AFC and the NFC. Each conference plays two games, with four teams left in each conference. The winners from each conference advance to their respected Championship game.
What is the Conference Championship Round?
The Conference Championship Round is the round of the NFL playoffs preceding the Super Bowl. The Conference Championships are generally considered to be the two most important games of the NFL season outside of the Super Bowl itself. This is because the Conference Champions will be the ones representing their conference in the Super Bowl.
In each conference, there are two divisions: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each division has four teams. The team that wins their division is considered to be a divisional champion. The two divisional champions from each conference then face off against each other in what is known as the Conference Championship game. The winner of this game goes on to play in the Super Bowl.
The Conference Championship Round was first introduced in 1967, when the NFL expanded from 13 teams to 16 teams. At that time, there were only two divisions in each conference (the Eastern and Western divisions). In 1970, when the NFL expanded again to include 18 teams, they added two more divisions (the Central and Coastal divisions). As a result, there were four divisional champions in each conference instead of just two.
The current system of four divisions in each conference was put into place in 2002, when the league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans.
What is the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important American football game of the year. It is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL). The game is usually played on the first Sunday in February. It is the biggest single-day sporting event in the world. More than 100 million people watch the Super Bowl on television each year.
The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10. The Packers have won the most Super Bowls, with 13 victories. The New England Patriots have won the second most, with nine victories.
How the NFL Playoffs Work
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the NFL regular season to determine the NFL champion. The playoffs began in 1933. Currently, the tournament consists of four rounds of play. The Wild Card round, the Divisional round, the Conference Championships, and finally the Super Bowl.
The NFL playoff system
The National Football League (NFL) playoff system is 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 division winner with the best record receives a first-round bye. TheWild Card round is played on Wild Card weekend, typically the first weekend after Christmas.
The four divisional winners advance to the Divisional Playoffs, which are played on the following weekend. The divisional winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, with the top seed hosting the fourth seed, and the second seed hosting the third seed. These two matchups are referred to as the Wild Card games or wild-card playoffs. As there are four divisional playoff participants and only two wild-card participants, this means that at least one team from each conference will have a bye week during this round.
The Conference Championships are then played on Championship Sunday, typically two weeks after Wild Card Weekend. The two conference champions advance to Super Bowl Sunday, which is held three weeks after Championship Sunday. The NFL playoffs are not exclusive to teams with winning records; any team that finished the regular season with a .500 record or better (6–6 or better for nondivision winners) is eligible for postseason play.
How many teams make the playoffs?
In the NFL, 12 teams make the playoffs each year. The four teams with the best record in each conference (the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference) earn a first-round bye. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card round.
How are the playoffs seeded?
In the NFL, the 12 teams that make the playoffs are seeded as follows:
Seed #1: The team with the best record in each conference is given this seed.
Seed #2: The team with the second-best record in each conference is given this seed.
Seeds #3 and #4: The next two teams in each conference with the best records are given these seeds. These are “wild card” teams.
Seeds #5 through #8: The final four spots in each conference are given to the remaining teams with the best records, regardless of whether they won their division or not. These teams are also “wild card” teams.
What is the Wild Card Round?
The Wild Card round is the first weekend of the NFL playoffs. In this round, there are four games. The winners of these games advance to the next round, which is called the Divisional Round. The loser of each Wild Card game is eliminated from the playoffs.
The four teams that win in the Wild Card round are matched up against the team that had the best record in their conference during the regular season. The two highest-seeded winning teams from the Wild Card round play each other in one game, and the two lower-seeded winning teams play each other in another game. These games are also played on the first weekend of the playoffs and are called the Divisional Round.
The winner of each Divisional Round game advances to their conference’s championship game, which is played on the third weekend of the playoffs. The conference championship games are played on Sunday, January 24th this year. The AFC Championship Game will be played at 3:05 pm Eastern Time and will be televised on CBS, and the NFC Championship Game will be played at 6:40 pm Eastern Time and will be televised on FOX.
The AFC and NFC Championship Games decide which team from each conference will advance to Super Bowl LIII, which will be played on Sunday, February 3rd, 2019 at 6:30 pm Eastern Time and will be televised on CBS.
What is the Divisional Round?
The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs is where things start to get really serious. By this point, there are only eight teams remaining in the hunt for the Lombardi Trophy, and each one of them is just a single game away from making it to the conference championship.
In the Divisional Round, the four division winners from each conference (the team with the best record in each division) will each host a game against one of the two wild card teams (the two teams with the next best records regardless of division). The winners of those four games will then advance to the Conference Championships.
So, for example, let’s say that the New England Patriots win the AFC East with a record of 12-4, while the Indianapolis Colts win the AFC South with a record of 11-5. The other two division winners would be whichever team finishes in first place in the AFC West and AFC North. Let’s say those teams are the Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) and Baltimore Ravens (9-7), respectively.
The two wild card teams would then be whichever two teams have the next best records regardless of division. In our example, let’s say those teams are the Los Angeles Chargers (11-5) and Houston Texans (10-6).
That would give us a Divisional Round matchup between the Patriots and Chargers, while the Colts would host the Texans. The Chiefs would play whomever emerges from the other AFC Wild Card game (between whichever two non-division winning teams have the next best records), and likewise for the Ravens in
What is the Conference Championship Round?
After the Wild Card Round and the Divisional Round, the Conference Championships take place. This round features the two winners of each division from the AFC and NFC playing each other to determine who will go to the Super Bowl. The AFC Championship is played at one of the home stadiums of the higher-seeded team, while the NFC Championship is played at one of the home stadiums of the lower-seeded team.
What is the Super Bowl?
The Super Bowl is the biggest and most important game in the NFL (National Football League) playoffs. It is the annual championship game of the NFL, and is played between the winner of the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). The game is held at a neutral site, usually in a large stadium, and is played on a Sunday in early February. The first Super Bowl was played in 1967.