The National Football League consists of 32 teams that play in the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference. Within each conference, there are four divisions. The winners of those divisions get to advance to the postseason, as do the two non-division winners with the best records in the respective conferences.
Breakdown By Division
Through the 1966 season, the NFL consisted of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.There was no breakdown by division. The winner of the Eastern Conference would play the winner of the Western Conference for the NFL championship. In the 1967 season, after the league had added the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints through expansion, the NFL divided each conference into two divisions. The Eastern Conference consisted of the Capitol and Century divisions and the Western Conference consisted of the Coastal and Central divisions. The winners of the two Western Conference divisions met in the playoffs as did the two winners of the Eastern Conference divisions. Those two winners met in the NFL championship game and that team met the American Football League winner in the Super Bowl. The NFL used this format through the 1969 season.
NFL Merger
The AFL and NFL merged in 1966, but the two leagues did not play a combined schedule until the 1970 season. The AFL teams became the American Football Conference, while the NFL teams became the National Football Conference. To make sure there were the same number of teams in both conferences, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens moved to AFC. In addition to the conference breakdowns, there were three divisions in each conference. The Eastern Division, Central Division and Western Division all sent champions to the playoffs. The second place team with the best record also went to the playoffs as a wild-card team.
Wild-Card Playoffs
The NFL changed its playoff format beginning with the 1978 season. In that year, the NFL added two additional playoff teams. Instead of just one second-place team added to the playoffs, the teams that had the two best records of the non-division winners were added to the postseason. Those two teams met in wild-card round and then the survivor of that game met the division winner with the best record in the divisional playoffs.
Four-Division Setup
The three-division setup remained intact in the NFL until the 2002 season. By that time, the NFL had reached 32 teams and the league went with four divisions in each conference. The divisions included the East Division, North Division, South Division and West Division. The winners of the four divisions earned playoff spots as did the two non-division winners with the best regular-season records. The two division winners with the best records earned bye weeks in the first round of the playoffs, while the division winners with the No. 3 and 4 seeds hosted the two wild-card teams. Winners move on to the divisional playoffs and the winner of those games play in the conference championship games. Those winners meet in the Super Bowl.
1982 Strike Season
The 1982 season provided a break from the standard divisional setup. That year a 57-day strike reduced the regular season from 16 games to nine games. After the strike ended, the league did not use the standard divisional setup. After the conclusion of the nine-game season, the eight teams with the best records in each conference went to the playoffs and were seeded 1 through 8. The top seed played the 8 seed, the No. 2 seed played the No. 7 seed, No. 3 played No. 6 and No. 4 played No. 5. After the first round, the four survivors met in the second round and those winners met in the conference championship game. The two conference winners met in the Super Bowl.
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