NFL clubs have approved the expansion of the playoffs to 14 teams, the league announced Tuesday.
The AFC and NFC will each get one additional wild card team. Only the No. 1 seed in each conference will receive a first-round bye. The remaining division champions in each conference with the best records will receive the No. 2, 3, and 4 seeds, followed by the next three teams per conference with the best records seeded 5, 6, and 7.
If enacted this past season, the Los Angeles Rams would have earned the No. 7 seed and traveled to No. 2 seed Green Bay in a NFC Wild Card game.
AFC and NFC Wild Card games will feature the 2 seed hosting the 7 seed, the 3 seed hosting the 6 seed and the 4 seed hosting the 5 seed.
Wild Card Weekend for the 2020 season will consist of three games on Saturday, January 9, and three games on Sunday, January 10, 2021. The two new Wild Card games will be televised by CBS and NBC. CBS will also produce a separate game telecast to air on Nickelodeon geared toward a younger audience.
The NFL last expanded the playoffs for the 1990 season, increasing from 10 to 12 the number of teams to qualify for the postseason. At least four new teams have qualified for the playoffs that missed the postseason the year before – a streak of 30 consecutive seasons – since that point in time.
