I wrote this mainly for diehard football fanatics’ wives and girlfriends who don’t understand what the playoffs are and wonder why they seem to be a big deal.
It’s like this, ladies. If your husband or boyfriend has a favorite team in the playoffs, that team is a potential Superbowl winner, at least until they’re beaten in the playoffs. That’s why it’s a big deal.
“How do the playoffs work?” I hear you asking. Simple. It’s like this:
The NFL (National Football League) has 32 teams arranged into 2 conferences called the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference). Each conference has 16 teams.
Each conference has 4 divisions called North, South, East, and West. Each division has 4 teams. An NFL team may be identified by its conference and division, such as “the Washington Redskins are in the NFC East.”
At the end of the regular season, each conference has 4 division leaders who are the best teams in each division. Those teams go to the playoffs. They are ranked (or seeded, as it’s called) according to their won-loss records. The team with the best record is the number 1 seed. The team with the second best record is the number 2 seed, and so on.
Just to mix things up, the 2 best teams in each conference that are NOT division leaders also go to the playoffs. Those teams are called wildcard teams and they are seeded 5 and 6.
So each conference sends 6 teams to the playoffs.
This coming weekend, Jan 5 and 6, will be the Wildcard Playoffs. The #1 and #2 seeds receive a bye, which means they don’t play this weekend and they automatically advance to the next round of the playoffs. The #3 seed plays the #6 seed, and the #4 seed plays the #5 seed in each conference for a total of 4 games.
The following weekend, Jan 12 and 13, will be the Divisional Playoffs. The #1 seed will play the lowest surviving seed, either #4 or #5 or #6, and the #2 seed will play the remaining team, either #3, #4, or #5, in each conference, for a total of 4 games.
The weekend after the Divisional Playoffs is the Conference Championship. The two winning teams in each conference meet in the “title game” for their conference. So there are a total of 2 games played that weekend. The winners of these two games will be the NFC Champion and the AFC Champion.
The NFC Champion will play the AFC Champion in the Superbowl in February.
Told you it was simple.
NFC Playoff Teams
No. 1 Seed Atlanta Falcons (13-3) NFC South champions
No. 2 Seed San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1) NFC West champions
No. 3 Seed Green Bay Packers (11-5) NFC North champions
No. 4 Seed Washington Redskins (10-6) NFC East champions
No. 5 Seed Seattle Seahawks (11-5) NFC Wildcard
No. 6 Seed Minnesota Vikings (10-6) NFC Wildcard
| Packers vs. Vikings | Redskins vs. Seahawks | Wildcard Playoffs |
| 49ers vs. Packers | Falcons vs. Seahawks | Divisional Playoffs |
| 49ers | Falcons | Conference Championship |
| San Francisco 49ers | NFC Champion | |
AFC Playoff Teams
No. 1 Seed Denver Broncos (13-3), AFC West champions
No. 2 Seed New England Patriots (12-4) AFC East champions
No. 3 Seed Houston Texans (12-4) AFC South champions
No. 4 Seed Baltimore Ravens (10-6) AFC North champions
No. 5 Seed Indianapolis Colts (11-5) AFC Wildcard
No. 6 Seed Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) AFC Wildcard
| Ravens vs. Colts | Texans vs. Bengals | Wildcard Playoffs |
| Broncos vs. Ravens | Patriots vs. Texans | Divisional Playoffs |
| Ravens | Patriots | Conference Championship |
| Baltimore Ravens | AFC Champion | |
1 comment:
Ah, so THAT'S what they mean by 'seeded'. I asked my future former brother in law, since he used the term a lot, and he didn't have an answer. I was afraid that it had something to do with Pod People...
The rest of it... I am't a sports fan. Blah-blah-blah. But I admire that you know all of this shite.
Cheers!
CyberDave
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