The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are an annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the league champion, culminating in the highly anticipated Super Bowl. Since the 2020 season, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC), qualify for this intense four-round postseason. The top-seeded team in each conference earns a crucial first-round bye, automatically advancing to the Divisional Round.
The tournament features the Wild-Card Round, Divisional Round, and Conference Championship games, with the winners of the AFC and NFC ultimately clashing in the Super Bowl. While the NFL postseason's history dates back to the first NFL Championship Game in 1933, it has significantly expanded from a single championship match to include 14 teams by 2020. Uniquely among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, the NFL postseason uses a single-elimination format in all of its rounds, ensuring every game is a do-or-die battle.