WWith the 2022/23 American National Football League (NFL) regular season now concluded, the focus shifts towards the postseason, with these results ultimately determining who makes it to the Super Bowl.
The Philadelphia Eagles successfully secured the number-one seed for the National Football Conference (NFC), while the Kansas City Chiefsled by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes claimed the top spot in the American Football Conference (AFC).
The other teams joining them in the postseason include the Seattle Seahawks, the Buffalo Billsthe San Francisco 49ersthe Los Angeles Chargersthe Jacksonville Jaguarsthe Miami Dolphinsthe New York Giantsthe Minnesota Vikingsthe Baltimore Ravensthe Cincinnati Bengalsthe Dallas Cowboys and finally Tom Brady‘s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of the 14 teams in the postseason playoffs, six of these teams are wildcard entries.
What are NFL wild cards?
The NFL, as mentioned earlier is divided into the NFC and AFC, with each of these conferences having 16 teams with those 16 teams divided into four divisions of four teams.
Of the four divisions in each of the two main conferences, the two best teams by record, not to win their division, are granted wildcard status for the postseason.
When did the Playoffs expand to include three wild card teams?
The addition of a third wild card team in each division came in 2020, after close to 14 years of deliberation with the NFL finally deciding to add a third wild card team from each conference after years of back and forth relating to the idea.
How do the Playoffs work?
The first round of games in the postseason is dubbed the Wild Card Playoffs where the wild card teams take on the teams seeded between two and four.
Following this round, the lowest-seeded team remaining in the playoff will face the Division Winners, while the second-lowest-seeded team will face the second-highest-seeded team.
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