NFL 101: The NFL Playoffs Explained

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With the NFL Playoffs in full swing I have had a few friends and family ask me how the NFL Playoffs actually work and if they are anything like the AFL finals.

The simple answer is that the NFL Playoffs are nothing like the AFL Finals so here is a quick and basic rundown for any NFL newbies.

As you may or not know the NFL is divided into two Conferences:

The NFC and the AFC.

Inside each Conference there are four Divisions:

NFC

• NFC North
• NFC East
• NFC South
• NFC West

AFC

• AFC North
• AFC East
• AFC South
• AFC West

At the end of the regular NFL season the winners of each Division automatically advance to the playoffs.

The winners of each Division this year were:

NFC

• Minnesota Vikings (NFC North)
• Dallas Cowboys (NFC East)
• New Orleans Saints (NFC South)
• Arizona Cardinals (NFC West)

AFC

• Cincinnati Bengals (AFC North)
• New England Patriots (AFC East)
• Indianapolis Colts (AFC South)
• San Diego Chargers (AFC West)

The two top teams from each Conference get a first round bye in the playoffs and advance to the Divisional Round.

This year those teams were:

NFC

• Minnesota Vikings (NFC)
• New Orleans Saints (NFC)

AFC

• Indianapolis Colts (AFC)
• San Diego Chargers (AFC).

Confusing right?

Here is how each round of the Playoffs work:

First Round (Wild Card Round)

The first round of the Playoffs see the two lowest ranking winners of each Division (this year they were the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys) play the two wild card teams in each Conference (this year they were the New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles).

A Wild Card team is a team that has the best record in their conference, but weren’t good enough to win their division.

Second Round (Divisional Playoffs)

The second round sees the winners of the first round Wild Card games (this year they were the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys) play the top ranked Division winners who had last week off.

Third Round (Conference Championship)

The second round sees the winners of the those games play each other to determine who will win the AFC and the NFC Conferences.

The Super Bowl

The grand daddy of the NFL where the winners of the NFC and AFC Conference battle it out in the NFL Super Bowl to determine who the NFL Champion will be the whole season.

So putting that all together here this is how the current NFL Playoffs for 2010 stand.

So there you go…a bit confusing to start off with but once you watch your first set of NFL playoffs you pick it up pretty quickly.