When Is the NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are upon us! Here’s everything you need to know about the schedule, seeding, and more.

Introduction

The National Football League playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Twelve teams from the American Football Conference (AFC) and 12 teams from the National Football Conference (NFC) qualify for the playoffs. Seeds 1 through 6 in each conference receive a bye in the first round. In the first round, the lowest remaining seed in each conference hosts the third wild-card seed (seeds 5 and 6), while seeds 2 and 3 host the fourth wild-card team (seed 4). From there, matchups are reseeded so that the highest remaining seed always plays at home.

What is the NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1947 to 1966, only four teams qualified for the tournament. In 1967, the league expanded to eight teams, and since then eight teams have qualified every year except for 2020, when only seven teams qualified due to a Covid-19-related scheduling change.

How Does the NFL Playoff System Work?

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From the league’s inception in 1920 until 1932, and again from 1945 until 1949, there was no set number of teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs. The league simply took the two best teams from each conference at the end of the season. In 1933, only one team from each conference qualified for what was then a four-team playoff tournament.

From 1950 to 1966, only two teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs each year. This led to some quick first-round exits; in three seasons between 1954 and 1966, at least one team finished its playoff run with just one win (or less if it tied its first game). So, in 1967, the league expanded the playoffs to four teams from each conference: two division winners and two wild card teams (the two best non-division winners).

How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Each year, six teams from each conference (NFC and AFC) qualify for the playoffs. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their regular season record, with the top seed receiving a bye in the first round. The two wild card teams in each conference are seeded 5-6 and must play in the first round.

In the first round of the playoffs, the 2nd seed hosts the 7th seed, the 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed, and the 4th seed hosts the 5th seed. The winners of these games advance to the second round, where they play each other in what is known as the divisional round. In this round, the 1st seed from each conference is matched up against whichever team emerged from the first round matchup between seeds 4-5, and seeds 2-3 play each other.

The winners of these games then advance to their respective conference championship games, with NFC teams playing each other and AFC teams playing each other. The last two remaining teams then compete in Super Bowl Sunday, which is typically held on the first Sunday in February.

What are the Dates of the 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 based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists in the event that two or more teams from the same conference finish with identical records. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC.

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 based on regular season records, and a tie-breaking procedure exists in Matchups are announced following the completion of all Sunday games. From 1979 to 1982, four division winners and two wild card teams qualified for what was then a 16-team tournament. In 1975, only 10 teams qualified due to a player’s strike; this expanded to 12 teams in 1976, 14 in 1977, and 16 in 1978.

Conclusion

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the National Football League’s (NFL) regular season to determine the league’s champion. Seven teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A single-elimination playoff game is held between the two division winners from each conference as wild card weekend. The winners advance to the divisional playoffs, where a single-elimination game is held between the two remaining division winners and the two wild card teams. The winners of these games then advance to the conference championships, where one team from each conference competes in a single-elimination game with the winner advancing to Super Bowl LIII, the league’s championship game.