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Football

Why are the playoff rounds called wildcard, divisional and conference?

Tayyib Abu
Why are the playoff rounds called wildcard, divisional and conference?Getty
Why do each round of the playoffs have different names?

Three separate rounds make up the NFL Playoffs.

Teams play in the Super Wildcard, Divisional and Conference Championship rounds before playing in the Super Bowl.

But why does each round have a different name? Here is DAZN's explainer on each round of the NFL Playoffs. 

Super Wildcard Round

The NFL first introduced a wildcard playoff team in 1970. The league then formally named round one of the playoffs the Wildcard Round in 1978.

With an increase in league revenues and expansion of teams, the league has continued to add wildcard teams periodically. In 2020, the league expanded the round by adding a third wildcard team.

Three wildcards now qualify from each conference, and games are spread across three days. The NFL now calls the round 'Super Wildcard Weekend'. 

Divisional Round

The Divisional Round is round two of the NFL Playoffs.

In theory, the Divisional Round is named the Divisional Round as the four division winners should play in this round.

Each conference has four division winners, and they will play their round one games at home against the wildcard teams. If they win those games, those four division winners will play against each other in this round. 

Conference Championship Round

The Conference Championship round is the final round before the Super Bowl.

This round sees the final two teams in each conference play against each other to win the conference and play in the Super Bowl. Effectively, it is the semi-final stage. 

For example, the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles played in the NFC Conference Championship game last season. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs played the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Conference Championship game. 

The two winners will win their respective conference championship and play in the Super Bowl.