Finally, the moment has arrived. The path to ultimate glory. The Holy Grail of American Football. We’ve reached the Playoffs. And what better way to heat up the end of the season than with the always thrilling NFL Wild Card.

After a grueling series of 17 games in 18 weeks, the best teams from the regular season come in with immense pride to this phase but with much greater responsibility and pressure.

One mistake, one slip-up, or one distraction can completely derail a season. Conversely, seizing the slightest opportunity can mean survival in the subsequent rounds and continuing the mission to reach the “City That Never Sleeps” and compete for the most coveted prize: the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

How the Wild Card Works

The Wild Card is the “preliminary phase” for the divisional games, where six of the seven teams compete in a single-game elimination round at the home of one of the division winners.

In fact, the best team from the regular season in each conference is granted access to the divisional series, and they receive a “bye” in the Wild Card phase.

Therefore, seeds 2, 3, and 4 correspond to the division winners who will play at home against seeds 5, 6, and 7. These seeds are determined by examining the overall conference standings.

Order of the Games

The way the NFL Wild Card games would be played is as follows:

As you can see, we only have to wait until January to find out which games are destined to make history in the NFL.

NFL Wild Card FAQs