What Are Tiebreakers For NFL Playoffs?

NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion.

Introduction

In the NFL, the playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the champion of the league.

During the playoffs, there are typically four rounds of play. The first round is known as the Wild Card round, followed by the Divisional round, then the Conference Championships, and finally the Super Bowl.

If two teams finish with identical records at any point during the playoffs, tiebreakers are used to determine which team will advance.

What Are Tiebreakers For NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. As of 2018, four teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. In each conference, the division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their regular-season records, and the wild card team is seeded 5.

Head-to-Head Competition

If two teams have the same record, the winner of the game between the two clubs is the first tiebreaker. If three or more teams are tied, then head-to-head competition is used as a tiebreaker.

If two division rivals are tied with identical records and split their season series, then the next step is to look at divisional record. The team with the better divisional record is awarded the higher seed.

Best Won-Lost-Tied Percentage in Common Games

Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

Application:
Requires finding the won-lost-tied percentage for each club in each of the categories listed below. If two or more clubs remain tied in any category after applying the procedure below, the tiebreaker reverts to Step 1 of the applicable division or Wild Card category. Once a club gains a step on any tied club(s), it maintains its advantage for any subsequent tiebreakers. If more than three clubs are tied, once a club gains a step on another club, that step is considered gained for each subsequent tiebreaker.

Best Won-Lost-Tied Percentage in Conference Games

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same conference have the best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined.

Two Clubs:
(1) Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).
(2) Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
(3) Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

Three or More Clubs:
(1) Apply division tie breaker to eliminate all but the highest ranked club in each division prior to proceeding to step 2. The original seeding within a division upon application of the division tie breaker remains unchanged for all subsequent applications of steps 2 through 6 that are necessary to identify a division champion.
(2) Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs).
(3) Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.
(4) Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

Strength of Victory

In the NFL standings, a team’s strength of victory (SOV) is the combined won-lost records of all the teams that a particular team has defeated. For example, if Team A has beaten Team B (whose own opponent, Team C, has a winning record), and Team D (whose opponent, Team E, has a losing record), then team A’s strength of victory is the sum of teams B and D’s records.

The NFL uses strength of victory as a tiebreaker for playoff seeding. In order to break a tie in the standings, the NFL first looks at each team’s record against common opponents; if there is still a tie, they look at each team’s strength of victory. So, if two teams are tied with identical records and have played each other head-to-head, the tie will be broken by comparing each team’s SOV. The team with the higher SOV will be seeded higher in the playoffs.

Strength of Schedule

If two or more clubs finish the regular season with the same record, the following steps will be taken in order:

1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).

2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.

3. Strength of victory (the combined won-lost-tied percentages of all the teams that a club has defeated).

4. Strength of schedule (the combined won-lost-tied percentages of all the teams that a club has played). NOTE: While strength of schedule is still incorporated into the overall standings, it is no longer a tiebreaker for playoff positions since 2019. The new tiebreaker is listed first above. In the event that teams remaining schedules are not identical, the tie will be broken using strength of victory as a tiebreaker.

5. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed (differential).
NFC and AFC teams only .

6 . Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed (differential).

Conclusion

All too often, the NFL playoffs come down to a single game. But what happens when two teams are tied? How does the NFL decide who moves on to the next round?

The answer is: it depends. There are different tiebreakers for different situations, and the NFL has a specific protocol for each one.

For example, if two teams are tied for first place in their division, the tiebreaker is head-to-head record. If they split their two games against each other, the next tiebreaker is divisional record.

If two teams are tied for a Wild Card spot, the tiebreaker is head-to-head record. If they split their two games against each other, the next tiebreaker is conference record.

There are other tiebreakers for different situations, but these are the most common ones. In any case, it’s always better to win your division than to rely on a tiebreaker!