Football NFL Playoff Rules

The NFL postseason is a benchmark every team wishes to reach. There are two conferences in the NFL, the American and National Football Conferences (AFC and NFC). Each conference contains 16 teams, of which seven can make the playoffs. The two conferences are split into four divisions each. Once the regular season is over and the teams’ records are set, the best teams in each conference compete in the playoffs to make it to the Super Bowl. The NFL Playoffs kick off in January and end with Super Bowl Sunday in early February.

Who Makes the Playoffs?

Fourteen teams make the NFL Playoffs each season. Whichever teams finish with the best regular season win-loss record in their respective division automatically qualifies for the playoffs. In addition, there are three spots in each conference known as the “Wild Card” spots. These three spots are filled by the three teams with the best record that did not win their divisions. The division the team plays in does not have any effect on whether the team can qualify for the wild card.

Divisional Tiebreakers

If two teams or more are tied for first place within a division, there is a certain ranking of tiebreakers that the NFL uses to determine the winner.

The following methods are used to break a tie between two teams in the same division with identical records. If the teams remain tied after the first tie-breaking method, the next methods will be used until a winner can be determined.

1. Head-to-head (best win-loss record between the two teams)
2. Divisional win-loss record
3. Best win-loss record in common games
4. Best win-loss record in conference games
5. Season strength of victory
6. Season strength of schedule
7. Best ratio of points scored to points allowed in conference games
8. Best ratio of points scored to points allowed in the season
9. Most points scored in games against the same teams
10. Most points scored in the season
11. Highest number of touchdowns in the season
12. Coin toss

Wild Card Tiebreakers

Just like within a division, when two teams are tied for a wild card spot, there is a chain of methods the league has in place to determine who receives the spot. The following methods are used to break wild card ties:

1. Head-to-head (best win-loss record between the two teams)
2. Conference win-loss record
3. Best win-loss record in common games, with a minimum of four
4. Season strength of victory
5. Season strength of schedule
6. Best ratio of points scored to points allowed in conference games
7. Best ratio of points scored to points allowed in the season
8. Most points scored against conference opponents
9. Most points scored in the season
10. Most touchdowns in the season
11. Coin toss

Seeding and Gameplay

NFL playoff games are single elimination, so each team only has one chance to advance to the next round. The playoff teams, separated by conferences, get seeded from one to seven. In other words, they get ranked one to seven based on their regular season record. The team that finishes first in their conference does not have to play during the first weekend of playoff games. This is called getting a “bye.” The teams that end up being seeded second, third, and fourth are the remaining division winners. They play the seventh, sixth, and fifth-ranked Wild Card teams, respectively.

After those three games are played, the lowest-seeded team remaining will play the number one seed, while the other two remaining teams will play in what is known as the Divisional Round.

The teams that survive the first two rounds in the playoffs will advance to play in the Conference Championship with the opportunity to make it to the championship game, known as the Super Bowl. The NFC Champion and the AFC Champion are the teams that face each other at the Super Bowl.

Where and When Do Playoffs Happen?

The NFL playoffs start the weekend after the last regular season games are played. The NFL season usually ends around the first Sunday in January, so the playoffs officially start on the second weekend in January. Teams who win their games will move on each week until the Super Bowl, which is usually played on the first Sunday in February. Teams who make the Super Bowl are given an extra week of preparation instead of the normal one-week preparation period throughout the season, making it a two-week interval between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.

NFL playoff games are played at the stadium of the team with the higher seed. The Super Bowl is played at a different venue every year, making it a neutral location for both teams.

NFL Playoff Overtime

While during the regular season it is possible for a game to end in a tie despite the overtime, that is impossible during the playoffs. Teams in the NFL playoffs play only one game in order to move on to the next round, and a winner must be decided. With this in mind, the regular season and the playoffs have different rules for when a game ends regulation with a tied score.

In playoff overtime, the visiting team will be asked to call the coin toss. The winner of the coin toss will get to decide which end zone to defend or whether or not they want to receive the ball in the first overtime period. They can also choose to defer this choice to the next possible overtime. If an extra overtime period is needed, the loser of the first coin toss will get to choose one of these options, as long as the first coin toss was not deferred.

NFL Playoff Overtime Rules

In overtime periods during the NFL playoffs, each team is given at least one opportunity to score. This is in contrast to the old NFL overtime rules in which if a team scored a touchdown on the first drive, they automatically won the game. The rules were amended after the 2021-2022 season.

If both teams are unable to score on their respective first possessions, or if they score an equal number of points, then the game goes to sudden death, meaning that whichever team scores next (field goals included) will win the game and advance to the next playoff round.

Each team will have three timeouts to use in each overtime period. NFL playoff games cannot end in ties, so if the game is still tied after the first overtime, teams will play a second one. They will keep playing overtime periods until a winner is decided. If there is still no winner after four overtime periods, there will be another coin toss to determine who defends and receives first. The game will resume until a winner is decided.

Coaches from both teams are not allowed to challenge any plays in overtime, so all replay reviews must come from the booth.

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