When Will the NFL Playoffs Start?

The NFL playoffs are set to begin on Saturday, January 4th.

Introduction

The National Football League (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 only consisted of the NFL Championship Game, pitting the league’s two division winners (determined by a head-to-head record) against each other. Since 1967, however, the NFL playoff structure has expanded greatly. The additions of the AFL–NFL merger (1970), divisions within each conference (1970), wild card teams (1975), and Thursday Night Football (2006) have all greatly impact when the playoffs will start.

In recent years, the playoffs have generally started on wild-card weekend—the first weekend in January—but they could start as early as the last week of December, if all playoff teams are decided and there are no scheduling conflicts. The latest possible date for wild-card weekend is January 10.

If you’re wondering when the NFL playoffs will start this year, the answer is that it depends on how the regular season shakes out. Keep reading to learn more about how NFL playoff scheduling works and to find out when we might expect to see this year’s playoffs get underway.

What is the NFL Playoff Schedule?

The NFL playoffs are scheduled to begin on Saturday, January 4th. The Wild Card Round will be played on January 4th and 5th. The Divisional Round is scheduled for January 11th and 12th. The Conference Championships are set for January 18th. Lastly, the Pro Bowl will be played on January 26th.

The NFL Playoff Bracket

The NFL playoff bracket is set and the action will begin with Wild Card Weekend on Saturday, January 4.

The first game of the day will see the Indianapolis Colts take on the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET. That will be followed by the Seattle Seahawks playing the Dallas Cowboys at 8:15 p.m. ET.

On Sunday, January 5, the Baltimore Ravens will face off against the Los Angeles Chargers at 1:05 p.m. ET. The day will conclude with the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Chicago Bears at 4:40 p.m. ET.

The divisional round of the playoffs will take place on Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12. The AFC and NFC Championship games are scheduled for Sunday, January 19.

Finally, Super Bowl LIII is set for Sunday, February 3 at 6:30 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The NFL Playoff Schedule

The NFL playoff schedule is determined by a number of factors, including team records, divisional standings, and potential home-field advantage. The playoffs will begin on January 4, 2020, and will end with the Super Bowl on February 2, 2020. Below is the full NFL playoff schedule:

-Wild Card Weekend: January 4-5
-Divisional Playoffs: January 11-12
-Conference Championships: January 19
-Super Bowl LIV: February 2

How the NFL Playoffs Work

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Wild Card Weekend (the weekend of January 4-5, 2020) will feature four playoff games, two in each conference. The winners of those games will advance to the Divisional Playoffs, set for January 11-12, 2020. The Conference Championships will be held on January 19, 2020, with the Super Bowl set for February 2, 2020.

The NFL Playoff Format

The NFL playoff format is a tournament that consists of six rounds. The first round is the Wild Card round, followed by the Divisional round, then the Conference Championships, and finally the Super Bowl.

In the Wild Card round, four teams from each conference (the two division winners with the best records and two wild card teams with the next best records) play each other. The division winners are seeded one and two, and the wild card teams are seeded three and four. The top seed in each conference gets a bye in this round.

In the Divisional round, the four winning teams from the Wild Card round play against each other. The match-ups are: 1 seed vs. 4 seed and 2 seed vs. 3 seed. Again, the top seed in each conference gets a bye in this round.

The Conference Championships are between the winners of each Divisional Round game. The match-ups are: 1 seed (from one conference) vs. 2 seed (from the other conference) and 1 seed (from the other conference) vs. 2 seed (from the first conference).

Finally, the Super Bowl is played between the two Conference Championship game winners.

NFL Playoff Seeding

In the NFL, the teams that make the playoffs are seeded based on their record. The playoff seeds are as follows:

The four division winners in each conference (NFC and AFC) are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the #1 seed being the team with the best record and the #4 seed being the team with the worst record of the four division winners.

The two wild card teams in each conference (NFC and AFC) are seeded 5-6 based on their record, with the #5 seed being the team with the better record and the #6 seed being the team with the worse record.

So, in total, there are 6 seeds per conference.

NFL Playoff History

The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1933 to 1966, the NFL playoff system determined the league champion through a multi-week tournament. The NFL playoffs began in 1967 after the NFL merged with the rival American Football League (AFL). The AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played between the champions of the two leagues until the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL playoffs are contested by six teams from each of the league’s two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).

The First NFL Playoff Game

The first NFL playoff game was played on January 15, 1933, following the 1932 regular season. The game was between the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans, with the Bears winning 9–0. The NFL playoffs have been held every year since 1933, except in 1942, due to the effects of World War II.

The First Super Bowl

The first Super Bowl was played on January 15, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won, 35-10.

Conclusion

With the regular season now complete, the NFL playoff picture is set. The first round of the playoffs will begin on Saturday, January 4th.