How Wild Card Works In Nfl?
Contents
In the NFL, a wild card team is a seeded team that doesn’t win its divisional title but still makes the playoffs. The wild card round is a single-elimination game between the two wild card teams.
What Is Wild Card?
In the National Football League, the wild card teams are the two teams that qualify for the playoffs each year but don’t win their division.
The NFL’s playoff system is designed so that there are always two wild card teams in each conference: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). This means that, in total, there are four wild card teams in the NFL every year.
The four wild card teams are seeded fifth and sixth in their respective conferences. The fifth seed plays the fourth seed, and the sixth seed plays the third seed, in the first round of the playoffs. The winners of those games then advance to play the top two seeds in each conference in the second round of the playoffs.
The NFL’s playoff system is designed so that all four wild card teams have a chance to win the Super Bowl every year. This is because, unlike in other major professional sports leagues such as Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), all four wild card teams make it into the playoffs regardless of their regular season record.
In MLB and NBA, only eight teams from each league make it into their respective playoffs, and those teams are seeded according to their regular season records. This means that, in MLB and NBA, a team’s playoff chances are much greater if they have a good regular season record than if they don’t. However, in NFL, all four wild card teams have an equal chance to win the Super Bowl because they all make it into the playoffs regardless of their regular season record.
How Wild Card Works In NFL?
The NFL is divided into two Conference, the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. Each Conference is then divided into four divisions. The winner of each division gets a playoff spot. The other two playoff spots in each conference are given to the teams with the best record, regardless of division. These are the so-called “wild card” teams.
How To Get A Wild Card?
To be eligible for a wild card, a team must have one more victory than any other team in its conference that did not win its division. For example, if three teams in a conference finish the season with identical 10-6 records and the fourth team has a 9-7 record, the latter team would receive the conference’s final wild-card spot. If two teams are tied for the final spot, a variety of tiebreakers are used to determine which team gets in.
What Are The Benefits Of A Wild Card?
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 based on regular-season records, and a seventh team from each conference is awarded a playoff berth as a wild card team.
The benefits of being a wild card team are that you get an extra week to prepare for your first playoff game and you don’t have to play a tough divisional opponent.
In recent years, wild card teams have had success in the playoffs. In 2012, both wild card teams in each conference made it to the conference championship games. In 2011, the New York Giants won the Super Bowl as a wild card team.
Conclusion
The wild card system in the NFL is designed to ensure that the best teams make it to the playoffs, regardless of divisional standings. The top two teams in each conference (based on regular season record) earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs, while the remaining four teams play each other in the wild card round. The winners of those games then proceed to the divisional round, where they face off against the top seeds in their respective conferences.