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NFL

NFL

How many teams will make NFL Playoffs? How many Wild Card teams will be in the postseason?

We will take a look at the 2023 NFL playoff picture, including how it works, which teams will face off based on their seeding, and the playoff bracket.

Jeffrey MayJeff_DiarioAS
Jennifer BubelEnglish_AS
Green Bay Packers place kicker Anders Carlson (17) kicks a field goal
Brad RempelUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

The race for the 2023 NFL playoffs is warming up, and several teams are contending for a position in the divisional and wild-card standings. That includes a tightly loaded NFC East fight — from which all four teams could emerge as playoff participants — and an NFC South battle that will almost certainly send a team with a losing record into the postseason.

How do NFL Playoffs work this season?

In 2020, the NFL playoffs saw big changes to the postseason format as the league expanded its playoff bracket from a 12-team to a 14-team tournament. A third wild card team was also added for each conference, and only the division winners with the best record were awarded a first-round bye.

The 2023 season will follow the same road, and there will be a total of 14 teams in the NFL playoffs for the season, with seven teams from each conference. Each of the two conferences will send three wild-card teams along with four division champions to its postseason.

The Wild Card Round

In the first round of the playoffs, each conference’s division champion with the best regular-season record is awarded a bye and granted an automatic berth in the second, or Divisional, round. The four division champions are seeded by their records and in-season play from one to four, while the three wild card teams are seeded from five to seven. While the team seeded first will have the week off, the number seven team will play the number two team, number six will play number three, and number five will play number four.

The Wild-card round will take place Jan. 13-15.

The Divisional Round

Advancing through to the second round, the lowest remaining seeded team plays the now-rested number one while the other two teams face off against each other. The higher-seeded teams have home-field advantage in both rounds and the Conference Championship’s third round.

The Divisional Round gets underway Jan. 20-21.

The Super Bowl

Each conference will follow the same format, and the two Conference Champions will face off in the Super Bowl. At this point, there is no seeding needed. The Super Bowl is always held at a neutral site, traditionally in the nation’s south or sun belt, and the nominal home team is on a rotational basis between the conferences. In 2023, Super Bowl 57 will be held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, home to the Arizona Cardinals on Feb. 12.

Here’s a look at the complete NFL playoff bracket for 2023:

AFC

  1. Baltimore Ravens (BYE)
  2. Miami Dolphins vs. 7. Indianapolis Colts
  3. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 6. Buffalo Bills
  4. Jacksonville Jaguars vs.
  5. Cleveland Browns

NFC

  1. San Francisco 49ers (BYE)
  2. Dallas Cowboys vs. 7. Green Bay Packers
  3. Detroit Lions vs. 6. Los Angeles Rams
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs.
  5. Philadelphia Eagles