Does the NFL reseed in the playoffs?

Does the NFL reseed their teams once they move on from the Wild Card Round to the Divisional Round?

The NFL playoffs have finally arrived. The league will hold “Super Wild Card Weekend,” which begins on Saturday, Jan. 14, and concludes on Monday, Jan. 16. 12 teams will be participating in the three-day slate of games, where only six will advance to the following round. Only two teams won’t be playing in the Wild Card weekend, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles earned first-round byes after securing the best records in the AFC and NFC, respectively.

Let’s take a look at Wild Card Round matchups, first with the AFC:

• (2) Buffalo Bills vs. (7) Miami Dolphins
• (3) Cincinnati Bengals vs. (6) Baltimore Ravens
• (4) Jacksonville Jaguars vs. (5) Los Angeles Chargers

Now, here are the Wild Card matchups in the NFC:

• (2) San Francisco 49ers vs. (7) Seattle Seahawks
• (3) Minnesota Vikings vs. (6) New York Giants
• (4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (5) Dallas Cowboys

Casual viewers may be curious as to how the playoff seeding works in the playoffs. Specifically, is there a fixed bracket like the NBA and NHL has in their respective playoff tournaments? Well, we have that answer for you.

Does the NFL reseed throughout the playoffs?

The answer to that question is yes, but only for the Divisional Round.

When the winners of the Wild Card Round are determined, the NFL will reseed their playoff brackets on both the AFC and NFC. Since the Chiefs and Eagles are the top seeds in the AFC and NFC, respectively, they will play the lowest seed remaining in their conference. Then, the two other teams in a respective conference will face off against each other, with the higher seed hosting the game.

Let’s look at the 2021 playoffs, and we’ll use the NFC as an example. Here are the Wild Card round results:

• (6) San Francisco 49ers def. (3) Dallas Cowboys 23-17
• (4) Los Angeles Rams def. (5) Arizona Cardinals 34-11
• (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers def. (7) Philadelphia Eagles 31-15

Here is how the Divisional Round on the NFC side was seeded following that round. Note: the Green Bay Packers were the No. 1 seed and received the first-round bye that year.

• (1) Green Bay Packers vs. (6) San Francisco 49ers
• (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. (4) Los Angeles Rams

So there you have it, the NFL does reseed the playoffs after the Wild Card round. Remember, the lowest seed remaining once the Wild Card round concludes will automatically face the No. 1 seed.