The 2022 NFL Playoff began on Saturday, January 15, with the first wild card games. On Saturday, there were two wild card games. On Sunday, January 16, four wild card games took place. Green Bay is the NFC’s top seed heading into the playoffs.
This year’s playoffs will include 14 teams, seven from each conference. In each conference, the Green Bay Packers in the NFC and the Tennessee Titans in the AFC receives a bye in the divisional round. The former structure allowed for 12 teams and two first-round byes in each conference. As a result, there will be two more games during Wild Card weekend.
The 2022 NFL Playoff Seedings
The NFL playoff seeding method is straightforward: the division champion with the best record receives the top seed, followed by the second-best, and so on. The wildcard teams are always ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh; the fifth seed belongs to the wildcard team with the best record in the league.
Each team’s seeding has a direct influence on every Playoff game. Previously, both the first and second seeds received a bye into the Divisional Round. Still, with each conference receiving an extra wildcard spot, only the top seed gets a bye.
Seedings also have an impact on a team’s home advantage. A team with the highest seeding plays the lowest seed possible, and the home advantage goes to the team with the higher seed. Each conference’s top seed receives a bye and home-field advantage up to the Super Bowl.
Understanding the Wildcards
The three teams from AFC and NFC with the best records after the division champions receive the NFL Wildcards. These teams will all compete in the Wildcard Round of the Playoffs, facing the second, third, and fourth seeds. All wildcard teams will play these games on the road.
Wildcard teams will play on the road for most of the Playoffs due to their seeding, but any wins during Wildcard Weekend might disrupt that. Eleven wildcard teams have advanced to the Super Bowl, with seven of them defying the odds to win as a wildcard. Before making it to the Super Bowl, five of the seven players played three consecutive road games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers achieved just that in 2021, but they also broke the record by being the first team to win the Super Bowl in their stadium.
The NFL playoff bracket for 2022 is depicted below. The No. 1 seed in each conference will get a bye to start the tournament, while the No. 2 seed will face No. 7, No. 3 will face No. 6, and No. 4 will face No. 5.
Here is the most recent NFL playoff bracket for 2022, as of Week 18:
From AFC
- Tennessee Titans – Bye
- Kansas City Chiefs Against Pittsburgh Steelers
- Buffalo Bills Against New England Patriots
- Cincinnati Bengals Vs Las Vegas Raiders
From NFC
- Green Bay Packers – Bye
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers Against Philadelphia Eagles
- Dallas Cowboys Against San Francisco 49ers
- LA Rams Against Arizona Cardinals
The Teams That Get the First-Round Bye
Under the NFL’s new playoff system, just two teams — one from each conference — receive a bye week. This is due to the addition of the Wild Card round to include a No. 2 vs. No. 7 seed game in both the AFC and NFC.
The removal of the second bye was required because allowing the No. 2 seed to play guaranteed that half of the 12 teams playing on Wild Card weekend would be eliminated. That means eight teams will compete in the divisional round, and the NFL will continue to decrease the number of teams from there until just one remains after the Super Bowl.
NFL Changes And 2022 Games
Before the 2020 NFL regular season, the NFL made a significant decision on its postseason system. Instead of 12 teams participating in the playoffs, the NFL would add 14 teams in the 2021 NFL postseason.
Initially, the initiative was regarded with suspicion. After all, the NFL has probably the strongest playoff format of any of the four major sports, so why mess with what works? Everything revolves around money. The additional playoff game will provide income that the NFL would not have received otherwise, and it will allow the league to have an extra prime-time broadcast, as they will play a “Monday Night Football” playoffs game for the first time in 2022.
It also keeps more clubs in contention for the playoffs for a longer period throughout the 18-week season. This makes each game more important and provides the fan bases of middle-of-the-road teams with optimism that their clubs will make the playoffs.