The most thrilling part of the NFL season is nearly here. The NFL playoffs are just a week away as the best teams in both conferences contend for this year’s Super Bowl title.
Starting in the 2020-21 playoffs, the NFL expanded to a 14-team playoff field from the prior 12-team format. To begin Super Wild Card Weekend, we go from 32 teams to 14. Here’s everything you need to know about the NFL playoff format this season:
NFL playoff format
The NFL playoff format is a single-elimination tournament of seven teams in the AFC and NFC, including:
- Four division winners (South, North, East, and West)
- Three wild card teams (best remaining teams by record)
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The division winner with the best record receives the No. 1 seed in their conference, plays their playoff games at home, and gets a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
The playoffs have four rounds: the wild card round, divisional round, conference championship games, and the Super Bowl. There is an extra week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
Wild card round
- No. 1 seed has a bye
- No. 2 seed hosts No. 7 seed
- No. 3 seed hosts No. 6 seed
- No. 4 seed hosts No. 5 seed
Divisional round
- The No. 1 seed hosts the lowest remaining seed.
- The second-highest remaining seed hosts the second-lowest remaining seed.
Conference championship game
- Divisional round winners (higher seed hosts)
Super Bowl
- Conference championship winners play at a neutral site.
- This year’s Super Bowl will be played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
When do the NFL playoffs start?
The NFL playoffs kick off on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m. ET for the first game of the wild-card round.
Here’s how the full schedule breaks down for the 2024-25 NFL playoffs.
- Wild card round: Jan. 11-13, 2025
- Divisional round: Jan. 18-19, 2025
- Conference championship: Jan. 26, 2025
- Super Bowl: Feb. 9, 2025
NFL playoff picture
Twelve of 14 playoff spots have been clinched ahead of Week 18. Here’s how the bracket currently looks:
*=denotes team has clinched a playoff spot.
AFC
In the hunt: Miami Dolphins (8-8), Cincinnati Bengals (8-8).
The Chiefs, Bills, and Texans are all locked into their respective playoff seeds. All of the others could change depending on Week 18 results.
NFC
In the hunt: Atlanta Falcons (8-8).
The Eagles and Rams are the only teams locked into their seeds. Week 18 results could change the rest of the standings.
NFL playoff bracket
These are the current wild card matchups, given the state of the playoff picture:
AFC wild card
- No. 2 Buffalo Bills vs. No. 7 Denver Broncos
- No. 3 Baltimore Ravens vs. No. 6 Los Angeles Chargers
- No. 4 Houston Texans vs. No. 5 Pittsburgh Steelers
NFC wild card
- No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 7 Green Bay Packers
- No. 3 Los Angeles Rams vs. No. 6 Washington Commanders
- No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. No. 5 Minnesota Vikings
