NFL Tie Break Rules

The NFL is divided into eight divisions, and at the end of the 16-game regular season, the eight division winners make the playoffs. In addition, four teams also enter the playoffs as wild cards. The wild card teams are those with the four best records that were not divisional champions. The NFL has a series of tiebreakers that are used when teams end the regular season with the same record.

  1. Division Winner

    • The first tiebreaker is the head-to-head record between the clubs, followed by the best win percentage within the division. Next is the best win percentage in games with common opponents, followed by win percentage in conference games. This is followed by the strength of victory and strength of schedule. Other tiebreakers include points within the conference, points within the league, and continues until the 12th and final tiebreaker, a coin toss.

    Wild Card

    • If the wild card teams are in the same division, the division tiebreakers are used. If they are from different divisions, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head performance, followed by win percentage within the conference, win percentage in common games, strength of victory and strength of schedule. The 11th tiebreaker is a coin toss.

    Home Field Advantage

    • Home field advantage in playoff games leading to the Super Bowl goes to the team with the better record. If two opposing teams have the same record, the divisional champion automatically gets home-field advantage. If two divisional champions have the same win-loss-tie record, the same tie-breaking criteria used for wild card tie-breaking is used to determine which team gets home field.