Nfl what does wildcard mean

If you're wondering why that matters, it's because the Jets have Seattle's first-round pick thanks to the Jamal Adams trade. If the Seahawks had won over the weekend, the Jets' pick would have been in the highs, but the Rams decided to do the Jets a favor and beat Seattle, which means the Jets will be getting the 23rd overall pick. Jaguars 2. Jets 3. Dolphins via HOU 4. Falcons 5. Bengals 6. Eagles 7. Lions 8. Panthers 9. Broncos Cowboys Giants Chargers Vikings Patriots Cardinals Raiders Dolphins Washington Bears Colts Titans Jets via Seahawks Bills quarterback Josh Allen has finished the campaign in such sparkling form that in any other year he would be a shoo-in for the MVP award.

Allen has become one of the league's best players after a hit-and-miss season last year, completing 69 per cent of his passes for 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, combining brilliantly with new wide receiver Stefon Diggs — who led the league in receptions and receiving yards this year.

The seventh-seed Colts are not expected to win, but they have only lost one of their last five matches and, if their defence holds against the Bills' sparkling offence, they could be a genuine threat.

These two NFC West rivals know plenty about each other, having played twice already this year. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw two interceptions that helped the Rams record a victory in California, although the tables were turned a fortnight ago, when the Seahawks cruised to a victory.

The Rams' defence has been excellent all season — they've conceded the fewest points of anyone in the NFL this year — but quarterback Jared Goff has to fire if he's going to lead his team to the divisional round.

He's yet to throw a touchdown against the Seattle defence this year and has an injury cloud hanging over him after picking up a thumb injury against the Seahawks in week Goff was officially listed as questionable for the game 24 hours out, with one-game man John Wolford waiting in the wings after his victorious debut last week against the Cardinals.

If Wolford does get the nod, the change in style — Wolford has electric pace and is not afraid to run — could pose some questions of the Seattle defence.

Tom Brady has had another brilliant season — his first since he left the New England dynasty where he won six Super Bowls. He led his Buccaneers offence to scores in excess of 40 points in the past two weeks, albeit against the woeful Lions and Falcons.

The year-old, season veteran has thrown for 40 touchdowns this year — his most since — for 4, yards. So he is unlikely to have too many issues against the worst team in the postseason — the only team that snuck in with a losing record —right?

Perhaps, but Washington's four-man defensive line and it's swarming pass-rush — led by defensive end Chase Young — might just be able to put a Buccs offensive line that's not been tested for a few weeks under pressure. To even out the brackets, the NFL added the winningest non-division-winning team from each conference. These two teams soon came to be known as the "wild cards.

It didn't take long for the NFL to realize the potential of this format. Having more teams in the playoffs made the regular season more interesting. More playoff games meant more tickets to sell and more of the league's most compelling games on TV. In , the NFL expanded the regular season to its current 16 games; the playoffs expanded with it. Each conference now had two wild-card berths, and a week was added to the postseason schedule to accommodate an initial Wild Card Round.

In , the NFL added a third wild-card berth to each conference, ensuring a total of 12 teams in the NFL postseason. Finally, when the league expanded to 32 teams in , realignment yielded four divisions per conference, allowing the league to invite all four division winners to the postseason, give byes to the top two seeds and reduce the number of wild cards from six back down to four. With the realignment, the top two seeds got byes into the second round, and the bottom two division winners would face the wild cards in the first.

In the second round, the top remaining seeds face the bottom remaining seeds, giving the top division champs another big advantage. Finally, home-field advantage goes to the top seed in any given game. So, to win the Super Bowl, the fifth- and sixth-seed wild cards will almost certainly have to win three straight playoff games on the road. Note: If two clubs remain tied after a third club or other clubs are eliminated, the tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the applicable two-club format.

When the first wild card team has been identified, the procedure is repeated to name the second wild card i.

In situations where three or more teams from the same division are involved in the procedure, the original seeding of the teams remains the same for subsequent applications of the tiebreaker if the top-ranked team in that division qualifies for a wild card berth.

All rights reserved. Privacy Policy NFL. The Rules. The seven postseason participants from each conference are seeded as follows: The division champion with the best record The division champion with the second-best record The division champion with the third-best record The division champion with the fourth-best record The wild card club with the best record The wild card club with the second-best record The wild card club with the third-best record The following procedures will be used to break standings ties for postseason playoffs and to determine regular-season schedules.