This is the path to the greatest sporting spectacle in the world

The teams still have a long way to go until then. The playoffs start on Saturday. s+ explains everything you need to know for the final spurt to the 55th Super Bowl. How is the NFL structured? The NFL is divided into two so-called conferences - the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences are divided into four divisions, each with four teams competing. This means that 32 teams from eight divisions are fighting for a place in the playoffs in the regular season. Each team plays 16 games. Who will make it to the playoffs? This season there are 14 playoff places available for the first time. So far there have only been 12. The 7 best teams from each of the two conferences qualify for the playoffs. Until the big finale - the Super Bowl - both conferences hold their own playoffs in order to determine their best team and thus the participant in the final.

The playoff participants come from these 14 cities.

Since this season, as mentioned, 7 teams from both conferences have qualified for the playoffs. They will be placed in a seeding list based on their record in the regular season. How is the seeding list created? The AFC and NFC seeding lists change after almost every game day. There is a lot of movement, especially at the beginning of the season. The playoff game plan results from these seeding lists - the so-called playoff picture.

The four winners of the 4 divisions per conference are seeded in their conference playoffs. The division winners with the best record of wins and losses are placed in position 1 of the respective conference (AFC and NFC), the division winners with the worst record are placed in position 4. In addition, there are the three teams with the best record didn't win their division. They are placed in positions 5, 6 and 7 based on their balance sheet. If there is a tie between two or more teams, various criteria will be used to decide who will move into the playoffs. These range from direct comparisons to the record in your own division to the “Strength of Schedule” (strength of the opponents in the regular season) or the difference between all touchdowns scored and conceded.

The position of the team from Washington in this year's seeding list is curious. The team without a name (the previous Redskins dropped their name and logo, which showed an Indian head, after the racism discussions following the violent death of George Floyd last July and has not yet replaced it) has won the regular season in the NFC Division East was completed, even though the team around quarterback Alex Smith had only won 7 of its 16 games. But the remaining teams in the division were even worse. In the seeding list, Washington appears to be the worst division winner in the NFC in position 4.

" data-fancybox="inline-72073" target="_image" href="https://s3-images.sportnews.bz/_images/scale/1280x1280/img/2021/01/die-setzliste-nach-der-regular-seasonze.jpg"> The seeding list after the regular season

The Green Bay Packers (NFC) and the Kansas City Chiefs (AFC), as the best teams in their conference, have a so-called “bye week” during the Wild Card Round, meaning no games. They are therefore already qualified for the Divisional Round and will face the worst team that wins the Wildcard Round according to the seeding list - in their own stadium.

The playoff tree at a glance.

Who are the favorites? At the top of the list is the defending champion. The Kansas City Chiefs with their quarterback Patrick Mahomes are once again one of the hottest contenders for the title. The Baltimore Ravens and the New Orleans Saints are also at the top of the bookmakers list. And you always have to have the Green Bay Packers on the bill. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are given outsider chances. Quarterback legend Tom Brady really wants to play the Super Bowl with his new team in their own stadium. However, the Francisco 49ers, who were also seen as among the favorites by the experts at the beginning of the season, did not make it into the playoffs at all. Schedule: When do the NFL playoffs start? The NFL regular season ended after matchday 17 on January 3, 2021. The playoffs begin the following weekend with the Wild Card Round. This is the NFL playoff schedule: - Wild Card Round: 9th/10th January 2021 - Divisional Round: 16th/17th January 2021 - Conference Championships: January 24, 2021 - Super Bowl: February 7, 2021

Wild Card Rounds The Wild Card Round corresponds to the round of 2. The best team in each conference has a “bye week” in this round, meaning no games. Otherwise, the pairings look like this: The team in position 7 plays against the team number 6, team e against team 4 and team 5 against team XNUMX. The team with the better record has home advantage.

Divisional Round In the Divisional Round, which corresponds to the quarterfinals, the two top teams in the conferences take part for the first time. They play at home against the worst team according to the seeding list that won in the Wild Card Round. The other game will be played by the two remaining teams in the conference - here too, the team with the better record has home advantage.

Conference Championship The winning teams in the Divisional Round determine the best team in their respective conference in the so-called Championship Games. Within the conferences, the Conference Championship represents the final game; in relation to the entire NFL, it is, so to speak, the semi-final. The team with the better record in the regular season has home advantage.

Super Bowl After these semi-finals there is a week break. The so-called Pro Bowl traditionally takes place during this time. This is a kind of prelude to the big climax, in which the best players from the AFC play against a selection from the NFC - a meeting of the all-star teams from the two conferences.

The dream of every NFL player is the Super Bowl. In 2021, the 55th edition will take place on February 7th at the “Raymond James Stadium” in Tampa (Florida), the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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This is the path to the greatest sporting spectacle in the world

No sporting event is watched by more spectators worldwide. And in South Tyrol too, the Super Bowl captivates more sports enthusiasts every year. It's that time again on February 7th. The final game of the US National Football League (NFL) is on the program in Tampa, Florida.

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