Three … two … one … happy 2024 NFL playoffs!
If your New Year’s resolutions include watching more football, you’re both a distinguished goal-setter and in luck. The NFL playoffs begin Jan. 13, with the wild-card round stretching until Jan. 15. That gives you about a week to get acquainted and initiated into the league fandom, but luckily it starts here with a few minutes and everything you need to know.
Warning: Increased football viewership can cause excessive yelling at inanimate objects like your TV.
How many teams make the postseason?
Fourteen of the league’s 32 teams get to take their shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy, with seven teams — the four division winners and three wild-card teams — from each conference surviving Week 18.
The teams with the best record in the AFC and NFC each nab No. 1 seeds, and both were secured in Week 17. The Baltimore Ravens (13-3) cruised past the Miami Dolphins to clinch the top spot in the AFC for the first time since 2019 while the 49ers’ victory over the Washington Commanders, and the Arizona Cardinals’ upset of the Philadelphia Eagles, granted San Francisco (12-4) NFC supremacy.
As top dogs, the Ravens and 49ers get a first-round bye — bypassing the wild-card round — and home-field advantage.
The No. 2 seeds are the division winners with the second-best records, and the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds follow as the division winners with the third- and fourth-best records.
The fifth through seventh seeds go to the wild-card teams, which are those that did not win their divisions but had the next-best records of all the conference. They fill in the remaining seeding chronologically: The team with the best record of all three wild-card teams slots in at No. 5, the second best at No. 6 and the third best at No. 7.
What are the playoff tiebreakers?
What if playoff contenders have the same record? Who gets in?
It’s the team that has the best head-to-head record. But if that is also tied, the postseason bid goes to the team that has the …
- Best win-lost-tied percentage in conference games.
- Best win-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
- Better strength of victory in all games.
- Better strength of schedule in all games.
- Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.
- Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed in all games.
- Best net points in conference games.
- Best net points in all games.
- Best net touchdowns in all games.
And if all those somehow finish even, there’s the foolproof, finite tiebreaker: the coin toss.
Heads … your team gets a playoff bid! Tails … your poor, poor TV.
What the current playoff picture looks like
It’s crunch time in the NFC …
The 49ers, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams punched their tickets ahead of Week 18, leaving two spots up for grabs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) seized one of those, winning the NFC South with a 9-0 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The 49ers own the NFC West and the Lions won the NFC North. The NFC East and South are unclaimed.
The New Orleans Saints (9-8), Green Bay Packers (8-8) and Seattle Seahawks (8-8) can all still win the final wild card.
How each can clinch a playoff berth:
Packers: A win
Seahawks: A win + Packers loss/tie
Saints: Seahawks loss/tie + Packers loss/tie
Meanwhile in the AFC …
All seven playoff teams are set — the only thing left to decide is seeding.
The Ravens,
The Ravens, Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers will represent the AFC in the playoffs.
The Texans (10-7) clinched a berth with their win over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. The Bills (10-6) and Steelers (10-7) clinched after the Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8) lost their season finale to the Tennessee Titans.
Sunday night’s Dolphins-Bills game will decide the AFC East, as well as the first-round matchups.
If the Bills win, they’ll be the No. 2 seed and host the No. 7 Steelers, while the No. 3 Chiefs will host the No. 6 Dolphins.
If the Dolphins win, they’ll be the No. 2 seed and host the No. 7 Bills again, while the No. 3 Chiefs host the No. 6 Steelers.
If the Dolphins and Bills tie, Miami will be the No. 2 seed and host the No. 7 Steelers, with the No. 3 Chiefs hosting the No. 6 Bills.
Playoff schedule, TV info
Wild-card round (all times Eastern)
Saturday, Jan. 13
- Game 1: 4:30 p.m. (NBC)
- Game 2: 8:15 p.m. (Peacock)
Sunday, Jan. 14
- Game 3: 1 p.m. (TBD)
- Game 4: 4:30 p.m. (TBD)
- Game 5: 8:15 p.m. (TBD)
Monday, Jan. 15
- Game 6: 8:15 p.m. (ABC, ESPN)
Divisional round
Stakes will rise with two games apiece on Jan. 20 and 21. Times and networks TBD.
Conference championships
Both conference championship games take place on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Super Bowl LVIII
The Super Bowl kicks off Feb. 11 and will be aired by CBS this year. This year’s game is at Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Required reading
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
Source link
credite