NFL Playoff and Wildcard Rules

The NFL playoffs leading to the ultimate event, the Super Bowl, are often filled with tense games and interesting match-ups. While the simple part of who goes to the playoffs is answered with the division winners, it becomes more complicated when it comes to rounding out the playing field, the wild-card berths.

  1. Rule: How Many Wild-Card Teams?

    • Both the AFC and NFC, the two conferences of the NFL, have four divisions: North, South, East and West. The winners of these divisions go on to the playoffs. But there are two "wild-card" teams from each conference that also get to the playoffs. They are the teams with the next-best records in each conference. A wild-card team might even have a better record then one of the other division champions, but placed second in its own division.

    Rule: Who Do the Wild Card Teams Play?

    • The wild-card teams are considered slots 5 and 6 for the playoff match-ups. So in the first week of the playoffs, the No. 6 team plays the No. 3 team and 4 and 5 play each other. The two teams with the best records who won their divisions get a bye week to rest up.

    Rule: How to Determine the Wild-Card Teams If There Is a Tie

    • The first tiebreakers for wild-card teams involve those in the same division. It starts with head-to-head results between the teams in the regular season. If the teams are equal, next is best win-loss record within the division. Still tied? Then the decision goes to best winning percentage in common games and then to record in conference games. The tiebreakers continues through net points, net touchdowns, and if everything ties, then a coin toss.

      If the teams aren't in the same division, the first tiebreaker still is head-to head. If they didn't play in the regular season or if they tied, next is conference record. The rest of the tiebreaker rules are the same.

    Rule: Whom the Team Plays if It Wins

    • If the wild-card team wins its first playoff game, the next match-up is still based on the original ranking. If the wild-card team that ranked 6 advances, it would play the No. 1 team. If the team that was ranked 5 goes on, it would play the No. 2 team, unless the No. 5 team was the lowest-ranked team to advance; in that case, it would play the No. 1 team.

    Rule: Home-Field Advantage

    • Playoff teams get to play at home depending on their ranking. This means the wild-card teams never get the home-field advantage in the first or second playoff game.