How many wild card teams are in the NFL playoffs?

Breaking down how many wild card teams make the NFL playoffs and a look at how the extra playoff berths have changed in league history.

It’s the harder path to the Super Bowl. However, more than a handful of NFL teams have taken the wild card route and hoisted a Lombardi Trophy. But wild card teams in the NFL playoffs is also not an uncommon thing.

Getting into the postseason is still the goal and wild card teams achieve that, albeit with the aforementioned more difficult path through the NFL playoffs.

But the wild card teams making it in is not the same number that it always was. So let’s take a look at how many wild card teams actually make the NFL playoffs as we come into the 2023 season with the changes that have transpired.

How many wild card teams make the NFL playoffs?

Six wild card teams make the NFL playoffs, three from the AFC and as many from the AFC. Today’s NFL is made up of eight divisions, four per conference, and three “wild card” teams in both the AFC and NFC.

It wasn’t always that way. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970 and became a 26-team league, there were several moves made. The then-Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers were shifted to the AFC. There would be three AFC division champions, three NFC division champions and one “wild card” team per conference.

There’s always a first time: Beginning of wild card team in NFL playoffs

In 1975, the the-St. Louis Cardinals won the NFC East but the Dallas Cowboys claimed a playoff spot. They would knock off the Vikings and Los Rams on the way to a date with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Miami’s Orange Bowl. Hence, Tom Landry’s team was the first “wild card” team to reach a Super Bowl.

Starting in 1978, teams would play 16 regular-season games (up from 14) but the league added a wild card team for both the AFC and NFC. They would face in each other on wild card weekend and the winner would advance to the divisional round. That would be the format until 1990, when there was a third “wild team” was added to each conference. The playoff teams in the AFC and NFC would be seeded 1-6. The top two seeds in each conference would receive first-round byes.

Realignment time: Expansion’s effects on NFL wild card

There would be another change in 2002 with the addition of the Houston Texans. The 32-team NFL would have four divisions per conference instead of three. There would still be six playoff teams in both the AFC and NFC, but now four division champions and two wild card teams apiece.

Then came 2020 and the addition of a seventh playoff team for each conference. So back to three “wild card” teams per conference (six total). These days, only the No. 1 seed in both the AFC and NFC has a week off.

Success is wild: Wild card teams with the most NFL playoffs success

Including the 1975 Cowboys, there have been a total of 11 instances where a “wild card” team played on Super Sunday. The most recent was the 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who captured Super Bowl LV. Seven of the 11 “wild card” teams won a Lombardi Trophy.

The first “wild card” team to win a Super Bowl? That would be the then-Oakland Raiders in 1980, led by Hall of Fame head coach Tom Flores and guided by quarterback Jim Plunkett.

The other five “wild card” Super Bowl champions? The 1998 Broncos (XXXII), 2000 Ravens (XXXV), 2005 Steelers (XL), 2007 Giants (XLII) and 2010 Packers (XLV).

By the way, the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs were not deemed a “wild card” team. However, they went on to win Super Bowl IV as a non-division champion.