How Do Wild Cards Work in the NFL?

In sports, wild cards are invitations for a team or individual to compete in a tournament or playoff for which that team or person did not qualify through performance in the regular season. Wild cards are popularly used in major American sports, such as baseball, football and basketball. Many fans believe wild cards add extra excitement to the playoff season. In the National Football League, the wild card process follows certain rules and procedures.

  1. Origin of Wild Cards

    • The wild card in football originated in 1970, when the National and American football leagues merged. The newly merged league had two conferences, each of which contained three divisions. Each division produced a winning team for the playoffs. However, each conference still needed a fourth team for the sake of post-season match-ups. Therefore, the non-division winning team with the best season record qualified. Each conference hosted playoff games between the three division winners and the wild card team to determine the team that the conference sent to the superbowl.

    Addition of Wild Cards

    • In 1990, two more wild-card teams were added, allowing each conference to produce three wild cards (and a total of 12 teams) for the playoffs. In 2002, the number of wild-card teams was reduced to two per conference, and this number still exists as of 2011. However, rather than face other wild-card teams, these wild-card teams play against a division winner in the first game of playoffs. There are currently four division winners from each conference.

    How Wild Cards Work

    • The NFL now consists of two conference, the NFC and the AFC. Each of these conferences have four divisions: Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western. The teams that qualify for the playoffs are the four division-winning teams in each conference, as determined by their inner-division record, plus two wild-card teams from each conference. Wild-card teams are chosen based on winning percentage within the conference. Wild-card teams are seeded as the fifth and six teams that a conference produces for playoffs.

    Post-Season Schedule

    • In each conference, two wild-card teams play in the first round. These two wild-card teams face off against the third- and fourth-place division champs. This first round of playoffs is known as "Wild Card Weekend." The winners of the first round play the top two division champions. The winners of this round advance to the conference semifinals, which determine which team from each conference will play in the Super Bowl.