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    Explainer

    How the NFL season and playoffs work (2026-27)

    Each of the 32 NFL teams plays 17 regular-season games over 18 weeks, with one bye.[1] Fourteen teams, seven per conference, reach the playoffs. The No. 1 seeds skip the Wild Card round, and the conference champions meet in Super Bowl LXI on 14 February 2027.[2][3]

    Editor reviewedUpdated ExplainerSports

    The NFL season has two parts: an 18-week regular season that decides who qualifies, and a four-round, single-elimination playoff that ends in the Super Bowl. Here is how the 2026-27 season works, from kickoff on 9 September 2026 to Super Bowl LXI in February 2027.[4][3]

    The regular season

    Each of the 32 teams plays 17 games across 18 weeks, so every team gets one week off, called a bye.[1] The 2026 season began on Wednesday 9 September and ends on 10 January 2027. The last week is made up entirely of division games, which the league says makes it more likely that late games have playoff stakes.[4][5]

    The 2026 schedule has 272 games.[4] Byes run from Week 5 to Week 14.[1] The 17th game pairs teams from opposite conferences that finished in the same divisional place the previous season, and the NFC hosts those games in 2026.[6] For the 17th straight year, all 16 Week 18 games are division games, which raises the chance of games with playoff consequences.[5] The 2026 schedule also has nine international games, the most ever, including first games in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.[7]

    Who makes the playoffs

    Seven teams from each conference, the AFC and the NFC, reach the playoffs, so 14 in all.[2] Winning your division guarantees a place. The three best teams that did not win their division also get in as “wild cards”.[8]

    Seeds 1 to 4 go to the four division champions in each conference, ordered by record. Seeds 5 to 7 go to the three non-division-winners with the best records.[8] A division champion is therefore always seeded above a wild card, even if the wild card has the better record.[8]

    The playoff rounds

    RoundDates (2026-27)Who plays
    Wild CardFrom Saturday 16 January[9]2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5 in each conference; No. 1 seeds have a bye[10][2]
    Divisional23-24 January[9]Wild Card winners join the No. 1 seeds[9]
    Conference Championships31 January[9]AFC and NFC title games[9]
    Super Bowl LXI14 February, SoFi Stadium[3]AFC champion v NFC champion

    In the Wild Card round the higher seed plays at home.[10] The Super Bowl is played at a stadium chosen in advance, SoFi Stadium for 2027.[3] The No. 1 seed’s bye means it needs only three wins to become champion. Every other team needs four.[2]

    The Wild Card round has six games.[9] There is no Monday night game in Week 18, which gives the league more flexibility to schedule the first playoff weekend.[11] Super Bowl LXI will be the ninth Super Bowl played in Los Angeles, and ESPN has the broadcast.[3]

    Where the 2026 season stands

    The defending champions are the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.[12] For current standings, results and injuries, see the NFL 2026 season tracker. For how the title race looks to models and betting markets, see the contenders analysis. The NFL says every regular-season and postseason game is shown free over the air in local markets.[13] Our how-to-watch guide covers the streaming options.

    Next in the crash course

    Sports

    National Football League (NFL)

    The NFL is the top US professional football league: 32 teams, a 17-game season and a 14-team playoff ending in the Super Bowl. Key facts for 2026-27.

    Questions readers ask

    How many games are in an NFL season?

    Each team plays 17 regular-season games over 18 weeks, with one bye week. In 2026 the bye weeks run from Week 5 to Week 14.[1]

    How many teams make the NFL playoffs?

    Fourteen, seven from each conference. The No. 1 seed in each conference gets a bye through the Wild Card round.[2]

    How are NFL playoff seeds decided?

    The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1 to 4 by record. The three best remaining teams are seeded 5, 6 and 7.[8]

    Who plays whom in the Wild Card round?

    The 2 seed hosts the 7, the 3 hosts the 6 and the 4 hosts the 5.[10]

    When is Super Bowl LXI?

    Sunday 14 February 2027 at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area, on ESPN.[3]

    What is the 17th game?

    Each team's 17th game is against a team from the other conference that finished in the same place in its division the year before. The NFC hosts these games in 2026.[6]

    Sources

    · 13 claims from 2 publishers

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Tap a number in the text to see its sources in place.

    1. [1]

      Each of the 32 NFL teams plays 17 games over 18 weeks in 2026, with bye weeks running from Week 5 to Week 14. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    2. [2]

      Fourteen teams make the NFL playoffs, seven from each conference, and the No. 1 seed in each conference gets a bye through the Wild Card round. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    3. [3]

      Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for Sunday 14 February 2027 at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area, broadcast by ESPN. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    4. [4]

      The 2026 NFL regular season is an 18-week, 272-game schedule that kicked off on Wednesday 9 September 2026 in Seattle and ends with 16 division games in Week 18 on 9-10 January 2027. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    5. [5]

      For the 17th consecutive year, all 16 games in the final week of the NFL regular season are division games. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    6. [6]

      Each team's 17th game is against a team from the other conference that finished in the same divisional standing the previous season; the NFC is the home conference for that game in 2026. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    7. [7]

      The 2026 NFL schedule includes nine international games, the most in a single season, five of them shown exclusively on NFL Network, including first games in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    8. [8]

      In each NFL conference, the division champions are seeded 1 to 4 by record and the three best non-division-winners are seeded 5, 6 and 7. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    9. [9]

      The 2026 NFL playoffs are scheduled to start with six Wild Card games from Saturday 16 January 2027, followed by the Divisional round on 23-24 January and the AFC and NFC Championship Games on 31 January. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    10. [10]

      In the NFL Wild Card round, the 2 seed hosts the 7 seed, the 3 seed hosts the 6 seed and the 4 seed hosts the 5 seed. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    11. [11]

      There is no Monday night game in Week 18 of the 2026 season, to give the NFL more flexibility in scheduling the first playoff weekend. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    12. [12]

      The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX 29-13 over the New England Patriots at Levi's Stadium, and the two teams met again in the 2026 season opener. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    13. [13]

      The NFL says it is the only sports league that shows all regular-season and postseason games on free, over-the-air television in local markets. confirmedas of 2026-10-11

    Revision history (1)
    1. Page created.

    Created Oct 11, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 11, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 11, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "How the NFL season and playoffs work (2026-27)." ContentLora, updated Oct 11, 2026. https://contentlora.com/explain/how-nfl-season-works

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