Find Out: How do the NFL playoffs work?
The NFL playoffs are probably the most exciting part of any NFL season. It is an elimination tournament held after the regular season of the NFL leading up to the Super Bowl.
A total of 32 teams are in the NFL which compete in a regular season and a total of 14 teams qualify further and make it to the NFL playoffs. Which means 43.75 percent of the teams compete in the playoffs and also contest for the Super Bowl. But how do the NFL playoffs work? Let’s find out.
As per the current playoff system seven teams are qualified for the playoffs from each conference (AFC and NFC). Each conference has further four divisions in it. The divisional champion automatically advances to the playoffs. The rest three teams are selected on the basis of their record and are called Wild Cards. Each conference gets three wildcards.
This 14 team rule has recently been set for the 2020-21 season. Before this only six teams from each conference made it to the playoffs which saw two teams get bye in the first round. But as per the new format only one team from each conference gets the bye. The team with the best record from each conference gets a first round bye and also directly enters the round 2 of the playoffs.
The champion of each conference (AFC and NFC) then battle it out at the Super Bowl. Arguably one of the greatest sporting events in a calendar year.
The answer to why did NFL decide to increase the number of teams in the playoffs has not been officially revealed by the NFL. However, the reason behind it boils down to the simple concept of money. More teams in the playoffs equate for more money for the league.
More fanbases will be involved with the increase in the number of total teams playing in the playoffs which will also drive more attraction to the post season games in the league.
The NFL 2021-22 Playoffs will be kicked off with the wildcard playoffs on January 15 2022 and the conference finals will be held on January 30th 2022. The wildcard playoffs are the first two rounds in the playoffs schedule.
The most awaited game of an NFL season the Super Bowl is scheduled to for February 13th 2022.
This was all you need to know about the NFL playoffs and how they work. Hopefully it gives you a better understanding of the playoffs format and also help you to understand the game better.
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