NFL: Tight race for final playoff spots

There are still two game days left Regular season the NFL. Nine of the 14 spots in the playoffs have been taken. That’s what it looks like in both of them Conferences out of.

The Super Bowl is counted using Roman numerals, and therefore on February 9, 2025 it will be called: Super Bowl LIX. Translated into Arabic numerals, this means that the 59th edition is coming up.

Just like the date, the venue has also been known for a long time: New Orleans. The local ones Saints will not be there. Like twelve other teams, they are among the franchises that no longer have a chance Postseason – i.e. the playoffs – to reach.

Nine franchises are already there. The last team to qualify so far was on Monday (December 23, 2024, local time). Green Bay Packers with a 34-0 win against the Saints, who had no chance of making the playoffs before, for the knockout rounds.

The mode

The National Football League (NFL) is divided into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences, which are divided into four divisions with four teams each, send a franchise to the Super Bowl.

This means that the names of the individual knockout rounds have to be transferred from the language used in US sports to the European one. The Conference Finals, known as the “Championship Games,” are the semifinal games in which the two participants in the Super Bowl are determined.

Each conference sends seven franchises to the playoffs. Regardless of their record, the winners of the eight divisions advance to the playoffs. This means that franchises can miss the postseason even though they have a worse record of wins and losses.

Free play for the best teams in each conference

The franchises with the best record in a conference do not have a chance to play in the first round of the playoffs. In the so-called wild card games, the three other winners of a division meet the teams with the best records in a home game. If the balance sheets are the same, one decides Tie-breaker system.

Then it continues with the semi-final games in the conferences, which mean the quarter-finals across all leagues.

Since home advantage in these games depends on the balance sheet, the last games of the regular season can still be very important for franchises that are already safely represented in the postseason.

The status in the AFC

The Kansas City Chiefs have the best chance of finishing the AFC with the best record and thus a so-called “bye week” on the weekend of the wild card games, so there is no game.

However, the team has around quarterback Patrick Mahomes two more away games. On Christmas Day they join the Pittsburgh Steelers on, on the first weekend of the new year Denver Broncoswho still have a chance of getting a place in the playoffs.

Five teams in the AFC still have a chance of reaching the playoffs.

The remaining program of the candidates:

Los Angeles Chargers: New England Patriots (a), Las Vegas Raiders (a)
Denver Broncos: Cincinnati Bengals (a), Kansas City Chiefs (h)
Cincinnati Bengals: Denver Broncos (h), Pittsburgh Steelers (a)
Miami Dolphins: Cleveland Browns (a), New York Jets (a)
Indianapolis Colts: New York Giants (a), Jacksonville Jaguars (h)

The status in the NFC

There is a very close race for the “bye week” in the first knockout round in the NFC, especially since there are still direct duels. The Minnesota Vikings have them in the 17th game week Green Bay Packers as guests, in their last game of the regular season they will play against the Detroit Lions to.

As in the AFC, five franchises in the NFC still have a chance of reaching the playoffs. Direct duels make the race particularly exciting.

The remaining program of the candidates:

Washington Commanders: Atlanta Falcons (h), Dallas Cowboys (a)
Los Angeles Rams: Arizona Cardinal (h), Seattle Seahawks (h)
Atlanta Falcons: Washington Commanders (a), Carolina Panthers (h)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Carolina Panthers (h), New Orleans Saints (h)
Seattle Seahawks: Chicago Bears (a), Los Angeles Rams (a)