The NFL playoffs are now just one week away. Following this weekend's regular-season finale, the playoffs will begin, and the race to the Super Bowl will come into sharp focus.
Fourteen teams will participate in the playoffs, hoping to win the Super Bowl. But how does the NFL playoff format work? Here is DAZN's explainer for the 2024 NFL playoffs.
How many teams qualify?
The NFL expanded its current playoff format to 14 teams in 2020. Seven teams from the AFC and seven from the NFC will make up the field.
The previous system saw six teams from each conference qualify. Now, three wildcard teams will join the four divisional winners.
How does the format work?
The NFL playoffs feature three rounds of playoff games before the Super Bowl. Those rounds are Super Wildcard Weekend, the Divisional Round, and the Conference Championship Round.
Under the current system, 12 of the 14 teams must play in all three rounds. The number one seeds in the NFC and AFC get a bye into the second round. They do not play on Super Wildcard Weekend. Moreover, those teams will play all their playoff games at home.
This year, the top seeds are the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC. In addition to having the bye week, those two teams will always play the lowest remaining seed for their playoff matches.
The rest of the seedings determine the matches for Super Wildcard Weekend.
How many teams advance from Super Wildcard Weekend?
Three teams from each conference will advance from Super Wildcard Weekend to the Divisional Round. They will join the top seeds, meaning that the field of 14 will drop to eight in round two. That will again halve for the Conference Championship round.
Current playoff bracket
Heading into Week 18, this is how the current playoff draw looks like for round one:
NFC
- San Francisco 49ers (BYE)
- Dallas Cowboys vs. 7. Green Bay Packers
- Detroit Lions vs. 6. LA Rams
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. 5. Philadelphia Eagles
AFC
- Baltimore Ravens (BYE)
- Miami Dolphins vs. 7. Indianapolis Colts
- Kansas City Chiefs vs. 6. Buffalo Bills
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs. 5. Cleveland Browns