What Teams Are In The Nfl Playoffs This Year?
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The NFL playoffs are upon us! Here’s a look at the teams that are in contention for the Lombardi Trophy this year.
AFC Playoffs
The American Football Conference (AFC) playoff system is used in the National Football League (NFL) to determine who will advance to the League Championship Game. There are four teams that qualify for the AFC playoffs each year. These teams are the four division winners from the AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, and AFC West.
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are an American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its home games at M&T Bank Stadium and is headquartered in Owings Mills.
The Ravens were established in 1996, when Art Modell, who was then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced plans to relocate the franchise to Baltimore. As part of a settlement between Modell and the city of Cleveland, the Browns’ intellectual property—including team name, logos, training facility, and history—were kept in trust and the franchise was regarded by league as suspended, with a new team to be established when Modell received permission from league to do so. The Ravens have qualified for the NFL playoffs eleven times since 2000, with two Super Bowl victories (Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII), two AFC Championship titles (2000 and 2012), 15 playoff victories (10th all-time), and four AFC North division titles (2003, 2006, 2011, and 2012). The Colts–Patriots rivalry is considered one of the best rivalries within the NFL.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills qualified for the playoffs for the second consecutive season and the third time in four years, after finishing the regular season with a 13–3 record. The Bills entered the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 2 seed. They defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round, 27–24, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round, 38–24.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team was founded in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt and was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). In 1963, the team relocated to Kansas City and assumed their current name. The Chiefs joined the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970. The team is valued at over $2 billion. Hunt’s son, Clark, serves as chairman and CEO. While Hunt’s ownership stakes passed collectively to his widow and children after his death in 2006, Clark represents the Chiefs at all league meetings and has ultimate authority over personnel decisions.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are an American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Gillette Stadium in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is located 28 miles (45 km) southwest of downtown Boston.
The Patriots are also headquartered at Gillette Stadium. An original member of the American Football League (AFL), the Patriots joined the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The team changed its name from the original Boston Patriots after relocating to Foxborough in 1971. The Patriots played their home games at Foxboro Stadium from 1971 to 2001, then moved to Gillette Stadium at the start of 2002.
Pittsburgh Steelers
-The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC. -The team played their home games at Three Rivers Stadium from 1970 to 2000 and Heinz Field from 2001 to 2020. From 2021 onwards, the Steelers will return to playing their home games at Heinz Field.
Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles (6) than any other franchise, and also holds the NFL record for most conference championships (8). The Steelers have won 8 AFC Championships, tied with the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots for second most all-time, behind only the Oakland Raiders who have won 11 AFC Championships. The Steelers share the record for second most Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos, Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, and San Francisco 49ers, all of whom have made eight appearances. The Steelers lost their most recent appearance, Super Bowl XLVIII against the Seattle Seahawks. They had previously won Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals 10 years earlier.
NFC Playoffs
The National Football Conference (NFC) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Six teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs: the winners of each of the four divisions, and two wild card teams. The conference champion from each conference advances to the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team in the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. They are headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and play their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which opened in 2009. The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team’s national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell-outs. The Cowboys’ streak of 190 consecutive sold-out regular and post-season games (home and away) began in 2002.
The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos for second most Super Bowl appearances in history, behind only the New England Patriots’ ten appearances. This has also corresponded to eight NFC championships, most in the NFC. The Cowboys have reached the NFL playoffs 30 times, including a league-record 20 straight appearances from 1991 to 2010, a streak that ended with a loss in the wild card round to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. As of 2019, the Cowboys have been one of just two teams to record 20 straight winning seasons (the other being the Miami Dolphins).
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, dating back to 1919, and is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games have been played at Lambeau Field since 1957.
The Packers are the last of the “small town teams” which were common in the NFL during the league’s early days of existence. Founded in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, the franchise traces its lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. Between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and Michigan, before joining the American Professional Football Association (APFA), now known as the NFL, in 1921. Although Green Bay is by far the smallest major league professional sports market in North America, Forbes ranked the Packers as being worth $1.02 billion as of 2016—making them actually profitable.
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team that compete in the National Football League (NFL). The Rams franchise was founded in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams in the short-lived second American Football League before joining the NFL the next year. In 1946, the franchise moved to Los Angeles. The Rams franchise remained in the metro area until 1994, when they moved to St. Louis. The Rams franchise returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
The Rams play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The Rams are also notable for being the only team to win a Super Bowl while based in Los Angeles. They did so in Super Bowl LIII, defeating the New England Patriots by a score of 13–3, becoming just the second team after the Green Bay Packers to win a Super Bowl while based in Los Angeles (the first being their divisional rivals and fellow former AFL champions, the Oakland Raiders).
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league’s National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The team was founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city of New Orleans on November 1, 1966. The Saints began play in Tulane Stadium in 1967.
The name “Saints” is an allusion to November 1 being All Saints Day in the Catholic faith, as New Orleans has a large Catholic population. The team’s primary colors are old gold and black; their logo is a simplified version of the Fleur-de-lis. They played their home games in Tulane Stadium through 1974, when they moved to the new Louisiana Superdome (now Mercedes-Benz Superdome).
For most of their first 20 years, the Saints were barely competitive, only qualifying for two winning seasons and posting three losing seasons. In 1987, they finished 12–3—their first-ever winning season—and qualified for NFL playoffs for the first time in franchise history; however, they were quickly knocked out by the Minnesota Vikings 31–16 in the Wild Card round. In spite of this early success, Head Coach Jim Mora was fired after only three seasons with a 15–17 overall record during his tenure with the team from 1986 to 1988.
In 2015, Head Coach Sean Payton signed a 5-year extension worth $45 million as well as assistant head coach Joe Vitt signing an extension worth $2 million making him one of highest paid assistant coaches ever at $1.6 million per year at that time.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks are in the playoffs this year and are looking to make a run at the Super Bowl. They have a strong defense and a powerful offense led by quarterback Russell Wilson. The Seahawks have a bye in the first round of the playoffs, so they will be rested and ready to take on their opponents.
