What Are NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League (NFL) regular season to determine the NFL champion.

What are NFL Playoffs?

The NFL Playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League (NFL) regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. Seedings are used to designate which teams will play which other teams in the first round.

How do teams qualify for the playoffs?

In order to qualify for the playoffs, a team must have one of the best records in their conference. The NFL is split into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has 16 teams. The team with the best record in each conference is given a bye week, which means they don’t have to play in the first week of the playoffs. The next two best teams in each conference also qualify for the playoffs. These teams are seeded based on their regular season record. The higher seeded team will play at home against the lower seeded team.

What is the playoff format?

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaking procedure exists if required. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.

History of the NFL Playoffs

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League’s (NFL) regular season to determine the NFL champion. Although similar in name, the NFL postseason is not related to the playoffs of other professional football leagues.

Early history

In the early history of the NFL playoffs, there were only two ways to advance to the championship game: win your division or win a wild card berth. The division winners would automatically advance to the championship game, while the wild card team would have to play in a semifinal game against one of the other division winners. The winners of those games would then advance to the championship game.

Expansion

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1933 to 1966, the NFL postseason generally consisted of the NFL Championship Game, pitting the league’s two division winners (since 1967, the conference champions) against each other. The winning team of that game then advanced to play in the World Championship Game (later renamed the Super Bowl) against the champion of the rival American Football League (AFL). The first four such matchups took place before integration, and featured one black and one white team; integration finally came to professional football in 1946 with Kenny Washington and Woody Strode joining the Los Angeles Rams.

In 1967, after AFL–NFL merger, the newly merged league’s championship game was coined the “Super Bowl”, which has become synonymous with professional football’s biggest annual event ever since. This made it so that both conferences’ champions were automatically entered into what is now known as simply “the playoffs”, while four wild-card teams from each conference also qualified for playoff berths.

Super Bowl era

After the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the NFL split into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC), and a 16-game regular season was instituted. In 1967, NFL playoffs consisted of the three division winners and a fourth team, the runner-up in the conference with the best record. This continued through 1969.

In 1970, four teams qualified for the playoffs: the three division winners and a Wild Card team, which was the runner-up with the best record. The first round of playoffs was expanded from two to three games (the divisional playoffs), with each conference’s top seed receiving a bye.

The number of Wild Card teams increased to two per conference for 1971 and have remained at that level ever since. In 1978, Major League Baseball adopted a similar system, also with two rounds of play and four teams qualifying from each league (although it did not institute conference play until later).

Notable NFL Playoff Moments

The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From the league’s merger with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970 up through 2013, it consisted of four rounds. The tournament begins in early January and ends the Sunday before the Super Bowl, which is usually the first Sunday in February.

The Immaculate Reception

The moment often considered the greatest in NFL history occurred during a playoff game on December 23, 1972, when the Oakland Raiders faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With 22 seconds left in the 4th quarter and the score tied at 14-14, Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw attempted a pass to John Fuqua. However, the ball was deflected by Oakland defender Jack Tatum and struck Steeler running back Franco Harris in the midsection. Instead of falling to the ground, Harris caught the ball and ran for a 60-yard touchdown, giving Pittsburgh a 21-14 lead with just five seconds remaining. The play came to be known as “The Immaculate Reception.”

The Music City Miracle

In the AFC Wild Card game of the 1999 NFL Playoffs, the Buffalo Bills faced off against the Tennessee Titans. With 16 seconds left in the game, and the Bills up by 1 point, the Titans ran a kickoff return play that has come to be known as the “Music City Miracle.”

The play went as follows: Titans kickoff returner Frank Wycheck threw a lateral pass to fellow teammate Kevin Dyson, who then ran 75 yards for a touchdown, winning the game for the Titans. The play was reviewed, but ultimately upheld, and remains one of the most controversial moments in NFL history.

The Helmet Catch

As the New York Giants and the New England Patriots faced off in Super Bowl XLII, the game looked like it was going to be a blowout. The Patriots were up by 10 points with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter, and they had the ball. But then, Giant’s wide receiver David Tyree made one of the most famous catches in NFL history.

With time running out, quarterback Eli Manning threw a desperation pass downfield. Tyree leapt up and caught the ball, but was immediately surrounded by Patriot defenders. Somehow, he managed to keep hold of the ball – while pinning it against his helmet – as he fell to the ground. First down, Giants.

This catch set up a touchdown for the Giants, and they went on to win the game by a final score of 17-14. It was one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, and it’s thanks in large part to David Tyree and his incredible catch.

NFL Playoff Records

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Each year, six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season record, with the top two seeds receiving a first-round bye.

Most appearances

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 professional sports leagues in North America, and the highest professional level of American football in the world. NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion.

Since 1967, the winner of each round receives one of the four conference championship trophies awarded by the NFL. In order to be eligible for the playoffs, a team must have a winning record (more wins than losses), and either win or tie for their divisional lead. The team with the best record in each conference earns a first-round bye. The next six teams regardless of conference are seeded according to their overall won-lost-tied record. The tie-breaking procedure used for this purpose is as follows:

1. Head-to-head results if teams have played each other at least once during that season.
2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within their conference.
3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
4. Strength of victory (the combined won-lost-tied records of all the teams they have beaten).
5. Strength of schedule (the combined won-lost-tied records of all the teams they have played).
6. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
7. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
8 . Coin toss

Most wins

The New England Patriots have the most wins in NFL playoff history with 34. The Patriots have also made the most appearances in the playoffs with 46. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the second-most wins in NFL playoff history with 32 and have made 40 playoff appearances.

Most Super Bowl wins

teams with the most Super Bowl wins are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, who have each won six. The Green Bay Packers have won four, while the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers have each won five.