Who Made It To The Nfl Playoffs?
The NFL playoff field is set.
The Rams and Saints will have a rematch of their regular season thriller in the NFC Championship game, while the Patriots and Chiefs will square off in the AFC title game.
NFL Playoffs
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the NFL champion. Wild Card Weekend began on Saturday, January 4, 2020, and ended on Sunday, January 5, 2020. The four divisional playoff games were contested on Saturday, January 11, 2020 and Sunday, January 12, 2020. The Conference Championships were played on Sunday, January 19, 2020. The 2020 NFL playoffs concluded with Super Bowl LIV, the league’s championship game, on Sunday, February 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Who’s in
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 1947 to 1950, the NFL championed its game by having teams compete in a playoff game. During those three years, two teams played each other to decide who went to the championship game. In 1951, the playoff system was changed to include four teams, and this is how it has remained ever since, with sporadic adjustments made to ensure competitive fairness and equal opportunity. As of 2020, there are four teams that make it to the playoffs from each conference (AFC and NFC), for a total of eight teams. These teams compete in the Wild Card round, Divisional round, and Conference Championships, with the winners of each round advancing until only two remain. These two remaining teams face off in the Super Bowl, which is considered one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
Who’s out
The NFL playoffs are down to the final four teams. Here’s a look at who’s still in contention for the Lombardi Trophy and who was eliminated in the divisional round.
AFC
1. New England Patriots (13-3)
2. Kansas City Chiefs (12-4)
3. Houston Texans (10-6)
4. Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
NFC
1. New Orleans Saints (13-3)
2. Los Angeles Rams (13-3)
3. Chicago Bears (12-4)
How they got there
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. The tournament brackets are made up of six teams from each of the league’s two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).
NFC
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the world. This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), currently contain 16 teams each, making up a total of 32 teams in the NFL. NFC teams are located in most major metropolitan areas in the United States, with a small number located in Canada.
AFC
The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of two conferences within the National Football League (NFL), the other being the National Football Conference (NFC). The AFC was created on June 8, 1970, as a result of the AFL–NFL merger. At its inception, the AFC had ten charter members: Baltimore Colts, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Oakland Raiders. There are currently 16 teams in the AFC.
The AFC West is home to the defending Super Bowl champions – the Denver Broncos. The Broncos clinched their spot in the playoffs with a 12-4 record after defeating the San Diego Chargers 27-20 in week 17. The Broncos have one of the best defenses in the NFL and will be a tough team to beat come playoff time.
The New England Patriots also clinched a first-round bye with a 12-4 record. The Patriots are led by quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick – one of the most successful quarterback-coach tandems in NFL history. The Patriots have been to six Super Bowls since 2001 and have won four of them.
The Cincinnati Bengals also clinched a playoff berth with an 11-5 record. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since 1990 but are hoping to change that this year behind young quarterback Andy Dalton.
The Indianapolis Colts secured the final AFC playoff spot with a 11-5 record. The Colts are led by quarterback Andrew Luck, who is in his fourth season in the NFL.
What’s next
The NFL Divisional Playoffs are complete and we know who’s moving on to the Conference Championships. The Rams and Saints will duke it out in the NFC, while the Patriots will take on the Chiefs in the AFC. Who will make it to the Super Bowl?
The road to the Super Bowl
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the NFL champion. From 1933 to 1966, only four teams qualified for the tournament. From 1967 to 1978, eight teams qualified. Since 1978, when the tournament was expanded to 16 teams, 15 teams have qualified. The playoffs are now held after the conclusion of the regular season.
The four division winners and two wild-card teams from each conference (six from each conference) advance to the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild-card teams are seeded 5 and 6. The top two seeds from each conference receive a bye in week 1 of the playoffs.
In each round, the lower-seeded team is hosted by the higher-seeded team. The exceptions are in wild-card weekend, when four low-seeded teams play: No 1 is always at home against No 6, while No 2 hosts No 5. During divisional playoff weekend, top seeds again host lower seeds unless both clubs are from either AFC West or NFC West in which case they would follow this intra-conference rotation: AFC West #1 hosts NFC West #4; AFC West #2 hosts NFC West #3; NFC West #1 hosts AFC West #4; NFC West #2 hosts AFC West 3.[2] Conference championship games are always played on a Sunday afternoon (excepting 2020) following 1975 (when they were moved to prime time on television), as opposed to other rounds of the playoffs which take place on Saturday and Sunday (or Saturday night).
The 2020 NFL playoffs will begin on Saturday, January 9, 2021 and end Sunday, February 7 with Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.[3] There will be no bye weeks for any team since there will be only seven rounds of games (the first since 1942).[4]
