The National Football League (NFL) is a very popular American Football League not only in the United States and over the world. A single NFL season consists of a total of 272 games. There is a total of 32 NFL teams and each and every team plays a total of 17 games over an 18-week period, please note that during this 18-week period, there will be a one “bye” week off. This article seeks to provide more information on the NFL Playoffs, which is a single elimination tournament in a regular NFL season.
The NFL playoffs are a single-elimination tournament which is held after the regular season to determine the Conference champion and the Conference winners are the ones who will participate in the Super Bowl. A total of 14 teams make the NFL playoffs in a regular season, that is seven teams from the NFC division and seven teams from the AFC division. The NFL playoffs precedes the Super Bowl , which is the NFL’s championship game in which two teams from each of the two conferences play each other to become champion of the NFL.
The four division champions from each conference are seeded 1 through 4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record. The three wild-card qualifiers from each conference are seeded 5, 6, and 7. If it happens that the teams are tied, there is a set of tie-breaking rules the playoff seeding is determined by.
Two NFL teams, one from the AFC and one from the NFC get first-round byes in this postseason, the main reason for a bye in the NFL is because byes are necessary to provide rest breaks. The number 2 seed plays number 7, number 3 plays number 6 and number 4 plays number 5 on each side. The top seed faces the winner of the 4/5 game in the divisional round (if favorites win; otherwise, No. 1 plays worst remaining seed).
Please note that the playoff was recently expanded from 12 to 14 teams but the playoff expansion did not alter the number of rounds as it has remained the same.
When are the NFL Playoffs taking place
The NFL playoffs start the weekend after the regular season games are played and this is usually in the first Sunday in January.
Who won the playoffs in the previous season?
The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl after they defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV 2 February 2020 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.