The NFL’s Wild Card Round has come to an end, as the playoff bracket moves into its next phase. Which teams are continuing deeper into the NFL postseason, and which teams are now sitting on the outside looking in?
Current NFL Playoff Bracket For Divisional Round
AFC Playoff Seeds and Standings
1. Baltimore Ravens (13-3)
2. Buffalo Bills (11-6)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (11-6)
4. Houston Texans (10-7)
5. Cleveland Browns (11-6) – Eliminated
6. Miami Dolphins (11-6) – Eliminated
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) – Eliminated
NFC Playoff Seeds and Standings
1. San Francisco 49ers (12-5)
2. Dallas Cowboys (12-5) – Eliminated
3. Detroit Lions (12-5)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) – Eliminated
6. Los Angeles Rams (10-7) – Eliminated
7. Green Bay Packers (9-8)
NFL Wild Card Results
The NFL Wild Card Round started with the Houston Texans and rookie QB C.J. Stroud dismantling QB Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns. First-year head coach Demeco Ryans got his first-ever playoff win and will now lead his team to Baltimore to take on the AFC’s top-seeded Ravens.
Next, the Chiefs defeated the Miami Dolphins to advance to the Divisional Round. It was officially the fourth-coldest game in NFL history, with temperatures nearing the -30°F mark. Miami struggled to function in the cold weather, and the Chiefs ran away with the win.
Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers upset the two-seeded Dallas Cowboys to advance to the next round of the postseason. They will face off against the top seed in the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers.
KEEP READING: NFL Wild Card Results
The Detroit Lions finally broke a three-decade playoff-win drought by defeating the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round. It was a game that would make the NFL scriptwriters proud, as QB Matthew Stafford returned to Detroit only to fall to QB Jared Goff and this new-look Lions team.
In the first of two games Monday, the Bills defeated the Steelers. This means that the Chiefs now need to travel to Buffalo to take on QB Josh Allen and company in the next round.
The last game of the week saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Philadelphia Eagles. QB Baker Mayfield now heads to Detroit to take on the Lions.
Divisional Round Schedule
The television schedule for the remainder of the 2023-2024 NFL playoffs can be found below.
All times are Eastern Time (ET)
Saturday, Jan. 20
- Texans at Ravens
4:30 p.m. (ESPN/ABC) - Packers at 49ers
8:00 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Jan. 21
- Buccaneers at Lions
3:00 p.m. (NBC, Peacock) - Chiefs at Bills
6:30 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+)
Conference Championship Round
Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024
- AFC Championship Game
3 p.m. (CBS) - NFC Championship Game
6:30 p.m. (FOX)
Super Bowl LVIII
Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024
- AFC Champion vs. NFC Champion
6:30 p.m. (CBS)
How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?
A total of 14 teams make the NFL playoffs. This includes seven teams from the American Football Conference (AFC) and seven from the National Football Conference (NFC).
Each of the four division champions from the two conferences automatically earns a bid, followed by three Wild Card teams from each conference.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
The three Wild Card spots in each conference are earned by the top three teams by record who did not win their respective divisions. To break ties between teams with equal records that are vying for a Wild Card spot, the NFL employs a set of tiebreaking procedures.
There are separate 12-step processes for breaking ties between two teams and ties between three or more teams. Only if the first 11 steps are exhausted does the NFL resort to a coin toss to decide which team makes the playoffs. Generally, ties are broken within the first five steps.
NFL Playoff Format and Bracket
Teams are seeded No. 1 through 7 in each conference, with the division winners receiving seeds Nos. 1 through 4, with the three Wild Card teams receiving seeds Nos. 5 through 7.
The division winners are seeded according to record, with the best record receiving the top seed, and the same is true of Wild Card teams.
The league uses the same playoff tiebreaking procedures to break ties for seeds.
The NFL’s playoff bracket is divided between the AFC and NFC. There are four rounds: Wild Card Weekend, the Divisional Round, Conference Championship Weekend, and the Super Bowl.
During Wild Card Weekend, the No. 2 seed faces the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed faces the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed faces the No. 5 seed in each conference. In each subsequent round, the highest remaining seed faces the lowest remaining seed, and so on.
The No. 1 seed receives a first-round bye. In this format, the No. 7 seed, if they win on Wild Card Weekend, automatically goes to the top seed on the road. The same is said if the No. 6 seed wins and the No. 7 seed is eliminated.
In the Super Bowl, the winning teams from each conference face off to battle for the Lombardi Trophy.
Want to predict the rest of the 2023 season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? Looking for the most up-to-date NFL standings? What about a breakdown of team depth charts or the NFL schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with that and more!