American Football Guide

Playoffs
Referred to as the Road to the Super Bowl, the playoffs are a series of games a team must play
and win in order to play in the Super Bowl game. To get there a team must first earn a playoff
berth (acceptance to the playoffs). Once a team loses in the playoffs they are eliminated from
contention. Hopefully this is not too confusing, but to earn a playoff berth a team must either
make it in as a wildcard or a division leader. There will be a total of 8 division leaders (one from
each NFL division) and 4 wildcard teams in the playoffs. The teams are matched up in a playoff
bracket. The match-ups that take place in the bracket are determined by a team’s seed (rank).
There are 6 seeds in the AFC playoff bracket and 6 seeds in the NFC playoff bracket. The seeds
are based primarily on the win and loss records of each team. The number one and number two
seed from each conference will not play in the first round of the playoffs and are awarded a bye.
They​ ​will​ ​each​ ​play​ ​the​ ​winners​ ​of​ ​the​ ​first​ ​round​ ​wildcard​ ​games.
Wildcard​ ​Teams
Two wild card teams will make the playoffs from each conference. A wildcard team is a team
that was just good enough to make it into the playoffs. They were not the best team in their own
division, but they have a better record than other non-division winners in their conference.
Although rare, a wildcard team can win all their playoff games and make it to the Super Bowl.
The Steelers did just that in 2005, winning it all. As the saying goes, the postseason is a whole
new​ ​ballgame-​ ​if​ ​a​ ​team​ ​can​ ​get​ ​on​ ​a​ ​winning​ ​streak,​ ​they​ ​could​ ​go​ ​all​ ​the​ ​way.
Super​ ​Bowl
The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl of all events. It is watched by nearly half of U.S. television
households and is also televised in over 150 other countries. The event is a household name that
describes the grandest of sporting events from both a popularity standpoint and in its overall
economic impact. The first Super Bowl game was played on January 15, 1967. The Super Bowl
is one of the most-watched U.S. television broadcasts of the year, attracting many companies to
spend millions of dollars on commercials. In addition, many popular singers and musicians
perform during the Super Bowl's pre-game and halftime ceremonies. It is the second-largest U.S.
food consumption day, following Thanksgiving. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to
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