🏈 NFL 2026
NFL playoff format and current bracket
Seven teams per conference, fourteen in all. Division winners take seeds 1–4; the three best remaining records are seeds 5–7 (wild cards). Only the 1 seed skips the Wild Card round.
🏆 Bracket if the season ended today
Wild Card round on today's records. Seeds by win percentage (division winners 1–4, wild cards 5–7).
AFC
Seed 1 — straight to the Divisional round
Wild Card round · 2 vs 7 · 3 vs 6 · 4 vs 5 — higher seed hosts
NFC
Seed 1 — straight to the Divisional round
Wild Card round · 2 vs 7 · 3 vs 6 · 4 vs 5 — higher seed hosts
📐 Playoffs
Wild Card round
2 vs 7 · 3 vs 6 · 4 vs 5 — higher seed hosts
Divisional round
Seed 1 plays the lowest remaining seed; the other two meet
Conference Championship
Higher seed hosts
Super Bowl
Neutral site · February 2027
❓ Frequently asked questions
How many teams make the NFL playoffs?
Seven per conference, fourteen in all. The four division winners take seeds 1-4 and the three best remaining teams take the wild-card seeds 5-7.
What does the number one seed get?
Only the top seed in each conference skips the wild-card round and starts in the divisional round.
How is home advantage decided?
The higher seed hosts every round. Only the Super Bowl is at a neutral site.
What if a division winner has a worse record than a wild card?
The division winner is still seeded 1–4 and hosts its Wild Card game; the better wild card travels.
As of 2026-09-18 · Data: tallied from ESPN's public records. Standings and scenarios are computed by us and may differ from official releases.