College football Week 2 odds, schedule: Texas at Michigan, Colorado at Nebraska among the highlights - The Athletic
How Do The NFL Playoffs Work? Format, Rules, Schedule – NFL Playoffs Explained
The NFL Playoffs bracket starts with 14 teams – seven in the AFC and seven in the NFC. Division winners comprise seeds 1-4 in each conference, while seeds 5-7 are Wild Card teams (non-division winners with the best record).
Teams are seeded in order of regular-season record, then various tiebreakers if needed. The better seed always has home-field advantage except for the Super Bowl, which is usually played at a neutral site.
The two No. 1 seeds get a bye to the Divisional Round (second round), skipping Wild Card Weekend (first round) entirely.
The other 12 playoff teams square off in the Wild Card Round (six games – three per conference), with the six division winners hosting the six Wild Card teams. The six winners of those games advance to the Divisional Round – which has four games (two per conference) between eight teams – and the losers are eliminated.
The No. 1 seeds host the lowest seeds to advance, while the other two games feature the four teams in between. The four winners advance to the Conference Championship Round (third round), and the losers are eliminated.
The Conference Championship Round features two games (one per conference) between four teams. The winner of each game advances to the Super Bowl (fourth round), which is the championship game.
In total, there are 13 NFL playoff games with 14 teams involved in the current NFL playoff format.
NFL Playoff SeedingThe NFL playoff seeding is determined by each team's regular season record.
The eight division winners automatically get the top four seeds in each conference and are seeded in order of record. The team with the best record in each conference gets the No. 1 seed and a bye to the Divisional Round, while the division winner with the worst record gets the No. 4 seed.
The three non-division winners with the best record in each conference make the playoffs as Wild Card teams. They are seeded 5-7 based on regular season record, with the best record earning the No. 5 seed and the worst record earning the No. 7 seed.
Since teams are not seeded strictly based on record, it's possible for a Wild Card team with a better record to be a lower seed than a division winner with a worse record. For example, a 9-8 team that wins the AFC South will have a higher seed than a 10-7 team that finishes second in the AFC North.
This happened in the 2023-24 NFL Playoffs when the 9-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the NFC South, hosted the 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles, who finished second in the NFC East.
NFL Wild Card RoundThe NFL Wild Card Round breaks down as follows in each conference:
These six games are always hosted by the higher seeds (division winners), forcing the Wild Card teams to play on the road.
The winners of these games advance to the Divisional Round, while the losing teams are eliminated.
NFL Divisional RoundThe NFL Divisional Round breaks down as follows in each conference:
Not only do the No. 1 seeds have home-field advantage, but they also have a rest advantage after getting an extra week off to recover from the regular season and prepare for the playoffs.
The winners of these four games advance to the Conference Championship Round, while the losers are eliminated.
NFL Conference ChampionshipsThe NFL Conference Championship Round breaks down as follows:
The winners advance to the Super Bowl and the losers are eliminated.
Super BowlThe Super Bowl pits the AFC champion against the NFL champion in a winner-take-all game for the Lombardi Trophy.
The Super Bowl is always played at a neutral site decided years in advance. The "home team" switches year to year.
That said, it's possible for a team to play the Super Bowl in its home stadium. For example, the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Here are the future Super Bowl locations:
Arizona Cardinals Predicted To Make NFL Playoffs In Early 2025 NFL Record Projection
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NFL's Best Playoff Moments 2025: Game-winning Doink, Super Bowl Birthday Pick Six
Chaos is a constant for the outdoor winter sport with single-elimination playoffs that relies on the bounces of an elongated sphere. But the past few weeks have been particularly wild in the NFL.
Rookie Jayden Daniels looked eminently comfortable as he directed Washington to its first conference championship game in 33 years. MVP candidates Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson (and … uh … Mark Andrews) made an instant classic in snowy Buffalo. The Bills and Chiefs dueled to the edge of the cliff again. Philadelphia denied the historic three-peat with stunning and thorough dominance. We had a lot of fun, localized heartbreak notwithstanding.
Here's our chance to celebrate all the coolness and intensity that went down. When we did this for the regular season, we acknowledged that the playoffs are indeed a zero-sum game, but an Eagles championship doesn't nullify everything that came before it. "Dreams unfold, nightmares come true." In football, one can't happen without the other. Cheers to the fans on the right side of these highlights, and condolences for those about to relive their disappointment. We still love you, Detroit. Three moments per round. Let's get into it.
Wild cardHerbo-hhh nooo!: Justin Herbert had just three interceptions across 17 regular-season games. He hurled four picks in one afternoon when it mattered most. Football is cruel and hilarious. Chargers-Texans devolved into a blowout, but Los Angeles was actually controlling the game flow for much of the first half. Houston broke in with a 99-yard touchdown drive, then Eric Murray cracked the floodgates wide:
"Was that caught? Yes!": Bo Nix's opening strike to Troy Franklin will not go unappreciated. What a steely way to start a playoff career. But what's a nice rookie moment to an archetypal fourth-down highlight from the sport's most valuable player?
Everything that was Commanders-Bucs: For the regular-season list, we vowed the world would be a better place if it had more Bengals-Ravens games. Similarly, Washington and Tampa Bay yielded spiritual affirmation and rich entertainment. Mike Evans beat longtime rival Marshon Lattimore for a 10-10 tie right before halftime. The Bucs led 17-13 after three quarters. Then, the delirium — two fourth-and-goal tries from Daniels in the first five minutes of the fourth; a grinding, old-school, game-tying march from Baker Mayfield; a tense final drive that really, for real ended like this:
DivisionalA surreal second quarter: For a moment, Commanders-Lions was football apotheosis. All of this happened within eight minutes of regulation:
"Barkley's gonna ring the bell again!": Jalen Hurts opened the Eagles' second-round tilt against the Rams with a hulking 44-yard scoring scamper. It was the kind of concentrated ferociousness that Philly deflated opponents with all year. Los Angeles showed resolve in climbing out of the hole on the road … to promptly get smashed with another one of these:
Two devastating early runs put the writing on the wall in fluorescent Kelly green. Somehow, this was not Barkley's longest run of the day — he had a breathless 78-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter. We'd say that Saquon had the Rams' number this season, but that was true for every misfortunate defense he flew past.
Man of Steel: Everyone in the football multiverse knew who this play was for, well before the goal-line formation condensed and guard David Edwards kicked out. It was obvious and it was inevitable. Josh Allen plowed his way through, as if predestined to cross the plane fully upright.
Conference championshipsHow does this keep happening?: Is this a status ailment? Did someone mess with the game sliders? Does Philadelphia have Gamebreaker 2?
Worthy of another look: Plenty of folks took exception to the ruling on the field. But zoom out and we see a lithe rookie speedster muscling between two downfield defenders. That's not a 50-50 ball; that's a 33.3-66.6 ball, and Xavier Worthy pulled the upset. The catch was challenged and confirmed after review. Frustration for Buffalo and elation for the defending champs:
The Cook push: Fourth-and-goal, down five points in blustery Kansas City. It was a tough spot to be in, and James Cook looked tripped up a full 2 yards short of where he needed to be … until this Michael Jordan-esque airborne sorcery:
There were a lot of great plays left on the conference championship cutting board. Mack Hollins had a gorgeous touchdown grab; Terry McLaurin took a middle slant to the house; Quinyon Mitchell had superhero hang-time; Patrick Mahomes hit Noah Gray from a collapsing pocket.
Super Bowl LIXSuper Cooper: Do we think Cooper DeJean is a "no presents, your presence is enough" kinda fellow on his big day? Does he make a list and drop increasingly clumsy hints about what he really wants most? Maybe he's partial to red velvet cake. Seriously, a birthday Super Bowl pick six is the stuff of fluffy cinema and hazy daydreaming. This actually happened:
A dime to DeVonta: Cue The Krusty Burglar. Stop, stop! This gem, fresh off forcing a turnover on downs, put the score at 34-0. Absolute gas.
Ballgame: What a sweet moment for unsung hero Milton Williams. What a coronating brush stroke for the Rembrandt of defense that is Vic Fangio.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Julio Aguilar, Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto, Michael Owens, Erick W. Rasco / Sports Illustrated / Getty Images)
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