Which Teams Get A Bye In The NFL Playoffs?
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In the NFL, the playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the league champion. The four teams with the best record in each conference—the NFC and AFC—earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
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. As of 2020, six teams from each of the league’s two conferences qualify for the playoffs.
How many teams make the playoffs?
There are a total of 12 teams that make the playoffs in the NFL. 6 of those teams are division winners, and 4 are wild card teams. The 2 remaining teams are the 2 divisional leaders with the best record, regardless of division. These 2 teams get a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
How are the seeds determined?
NFL Playoffs seeding is determined by a team’s regular season record. The better the record, the higher the seed. For example, the team with the best regular season record will be seeded number one overall. NFL Playoffs seeding also takes into account a team’s strength of schedule. This is determined by looking at the opponents a team faced during the regular season and how they fared.
Who gets a bye week?
In the NFL, there are four teams that get a “bye” week during the playoffs. The bye week means that these teams do not have to play during the first week of the playoffs. The teams that get a bye week are the ones that had the best record during the regular season.
The two teams with the best record in each conference (the AFC and the NFC) get a bye week. The other four teams that make it to the playoffs have to play each other during the first week of the playoffs.
The two teams that win during the first week of playoffs advance to play against the team with the next best record (the team with the second best record in each conference). These games are called “the divisional round.”
The divisional round is followed by Conference Championship games, and then finally, the Super Bowl.
AFC
The AFC is made up of the following teams: the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Kansas City Chiefs. These teams have all clinched a spot in the playoffs and will have a bye in the first round.
How many teams make the playoffs?
Twelve teams make the NFL playoffs each year. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the top seed getting a bye in the first round. The two wild card teams in each conference are seeded 5-6 and play each other in the first round.
How are the seeds determined?
Seeds 1-4 represent the four teams in each conference that have earned a bye in the Wild Card round. The NFL bye week extends through the Wild Card and Divisional rounds. The highest seed remaining in each conference will play the lowest seed remaining in its conference in the Divisional round.
Who gets a bye week?
In the NFL, the top two seeds in each conference automatically earn a bye week in the playoffs. This means that they will advance to the Divisional Round without having to play in Wild Card Weekend. The two remaining Wild Card slots are awarded to the next two best teams in each conference, regardless of seed. The seeding of the four Wild Card teams determines who they will play during Wild Card Weekend. NFC teams will be seeded as follows:
No. 5 seed: Plays No. 4 seed
No. 6 seed: Plays No. 3 seed
The seeding of AFC teams during Wild Card Weekend is a little different, as there is only one wild card team per division rather than two. This means that the AFC’s No. 5 and 6 seeds will both earn byes into the Divisional Round, while its No. 4 seed will host a Wild Card game against either the Kansas City Chiefs or Los Angeles Chargers (whichever team finishes higher in the AFC West standings). The seeding of AFC teams during Wild Card Weekend will be as follows:
No. 4 seed: Hosts lower-seeded AFC West team
No. 5 seed: Earns bye into Divisional Round
No. 6 seed: Earns bye into Divisional Round
NFC
There are four teams in the NFL that have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. These teams are the Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Detroit Lions.
How many teams make the playoffs?
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Twelve teams, six from each conference, qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records.
In the current NFL playoff format, which was introduced in 2014, there are four rounds of play. In the Wild Card round, the sixth seed from each conference plays the third seed from the other conference, and the fifth seed from each conference plays the fourth seed from the other conference. The winners of those games move on to play the first and second seeds in each conference in the Divisional round. The winners of those games then advance to play in the Conference championships. Finally, the winner of each Conference championship game meets in the Super Bowl to decide who is crowned NFL champion for that year.
How are the seeds determined?
Seeds are determined by a team’s record. The divisional and conference champions are seeded 1-4 based on their record, with the divisional champion with the best record getting the No. 1 seed. The next four teams are seeded 5-8 based on their records.
Who gets a bye week?
In the NFL, the top two seeds in each conference get a bye during Wild Card Weekend. This means they don’t have to play during that weekend and instead advance straight to the Divisional Playoffs the following week. The bye week was introduced in 1990 as a way to give teams with the best records a break and an extra week to prepare for their playoff opponents.
During Wild Card Weekend, the four remaining divisional winners play against each other, and the two winners advance to face the top seeds in the Divisional Playoffs. In order for a team to be eligible for a bye week, they must either win their division or have one of the two best records in their conference (including Wild Card teams).
If there is a tie for any of the top two spots in either conference, then a series of tiebreakers are used to determine who gets the bye week. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, followed by record within the division, record in common games, and finally strength of victory.
