Now that the new CBA has been ratified, NFL owners have approved a 14-team postseason, starting with the 2020 season. The new playoff format will feature seven teams in each conference instead of the six that had been standard. It will also eliminate a first-round bye for all but the No. 1 seed in each conference, giving fans six playoff games during the Wild Card round instead of just four.
Here’s how each round of the postseason will look for each conference with the new NFL playoff rules applied.
NFL playoff format – Wild Card:
- No. 1 seed: Bye
- No. 2 seed vs. No. 7 seed
- No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed
- No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed
NFL playoff format – Divisional:
- No. 1 seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
- Remaining two teams
NFL playoff format – Conference Championship:
- Divisional round winners
If the new playoff rules were applied last season, they wouldn’t have impacted the Ravens too much. As the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Baltimore would have still gotten the first-round bye and faced off against the lowest remaining seed. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers would have been the seventh and lowest seed in the Wild Card round squaring off against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In addition to the new playoff format, the NFL announced that the television network Nickelodeon will get a separately produced version of a Wild Card game tailored towards children. The goal is to get kids more involved in the game and build up a younger fanbase, though that has also meant some pretty obvious jokes getting made.
