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how many wild card teams in nfl

There are 6 wild card teams in the NFL , three in the AFC and three in the NFC, under the current 14‑team playoff format.

Quick Scoop

  • The NFL playoffs feature 14 teams: 7 from the AFC and 7 from the NFC.
  • In each conference:
    • 4 spots go to division winners (seeds 1–4).
* 3 spots go to **wild card teams** (the non-division teams with the best records, seeds 5–7).
  • That makes 3 wild cards per conference × 2 conferences = 6 wild card teams total each postseason.

Mini-clarifications

  • The No. 1 seed in each conference gets a bye week and is not a wild card; it’s always a division winner.
  • Wild card weekend then has three wild card games per conference , with seeds 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.