How Many NFL Wild Card Teams Are There?
As we enter 2024 and NFL Week 18 playoff questions abound. So this is probably a good time to answer the question of how many NFL Wild Card teams are there? As it stands for the 2023 season, there are 3 available playoff spots in the AFC, and 2 available spots in the NFC.
But what is a wild card spot anyway? Basically, any team that didn’t win their division but won enough games to qualify for the playoffs is a wild card. Winning the division ensures a team has a spot in the playoffs. That’s one reason why winning division games is so important.
But wait there’s more! Here is additional information from the NFL Operations:
“Introduced in 2020 and continuing for a fourth consecutive year, a total of 14 teams – seven each in the AFC and NFC – will make the postseason. The No. 1 seed in each conference will receive a bye in the Wild Card round. The remaining division champions in each conference with the best records will be seeded 2, 3, and 4, followed by the next three teams per conference with the best records seeded 5, 6, and 7.”
Therefore, there are three wild card spots in each conference for a total of six wild card spots.
So not only should teams aspire to win their division. They also want to be the top seed of their conference, AFC or NFC. Earning the top seeds earns those teams a bye week. The by week gives the teams extra time to get rested, healed up and prepared for the upcoming games. That’s a great advantage to have.
How Many NFL Wild Card Teams Are There?
But it doesn’t mean that the wild card teams don’t stand a chance. It just means they will have to play more games to get to the ultimate prize: the Superbowl. However, the odds are not in their favor. Since the Wild Card System began in 1970, only 11 wild card teams have advanced all the way to the Super Bowl.
Of those, seven won the Super Bowl. Only five of those wild card teams — New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers — won three games on the road to make it to the Super Bowl.
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