The league’s original format did not include playoffs when it was founded in 1920. The “NFL Championship Game” served as the regular season’s finale from 1933 until 1966. Which teams advanced to the championship match? Based on the teams’ regular season records, that was determined. Then, in 1967, the league changed the format of the championship game so that four teams, instead of two, would compete in a fight to determine which two would advance to the finals.

As the playoffs continued to grow, only twelve teams were left in the postseason as of 2019. Only in 2020 did the current fourteen-team postseason format go into effect. What is the process for selecting the fourteen qualifying teams and how do the playoffs operate?

How do the playoffs work?

The league is divided into two conferences: the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Each conference is further divided into four regions: North, East, West, and South. Each division has four teams, making the total number of teams in the NFL to 32.

The top teams from each conference’s division, determined by regular season record, advance to the postseason and are assigned seeds 1-4 for each of the two conferences after the regular season concludes in January. In addition, three “Wild Cards” teams from each conference advance to the postseason. How are these chosen? In each conference, the top three teams with the next-best record advance to the seeds 5-7.

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In the Divisional Round, the top seed advances automatically, while the second seed faces the seventh seed, the third seed faces the sixth seed, and the fourth seed faces the fifth seed. These games’ winners advance to the Divisional Round as well. Subsequently, the DR winners earn a spot in the Conference Championships. The Super Bowl, the championship game, is open to the conference champions from each conference. The Super Bowl will take place in Arizona on February 12 of this year. What does the current playoff picture look like?

Which teams will qualify for the 2023 playoffs?

If the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Kansas City Chiefs who are coming off a heartbreaking loss, defeat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, they will be crowned the AFC West’s monarchs. But things are not quite clear over in the AFC South. The Jacksonville Jaguars are in a tie for the top position. The Jaguars’ only chance to qualify for the postseason is if they win their next game. What’s more, the next two teams need to lose their respective games for that to happen as well..

If the Baltimore Ravens defeat the Miami Dolphins on New Year’s Eve, they will be guaranteed the No. 1 in the AFC. On the other hand, the Dolphins themselves are leading their division and will win the AFC East title if they defeat the Ravens or the Buffalo Bills in their next game. In addition to the Ravens, the Cleveland Browns qualified for the Wild Card round from the same division following their fourth straight victory over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.

Over at the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers will be able to secure their division’s No. 1 spot, if they win in Washington and both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions lose their next games. The Eagles can win their division if they win and the Dallas Cowboys lose. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are slated to clinch the NFC South division by winning their upcoming game. In the North, the Lions are the clear winners.

Fans just need to wait for a couple more weeks to see how the playoff picture unfolds.

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