Some fans may be wondering where the NFL playoff bracket is.
Well, the NFL does provide a bracket, but then again, it is not a tournament bracket as you have come to expect from the NCAA March Madness brackets posted when conference basketball tournaments are concluded.
The NCAA basketball bracket is locked. Locked in the sense that all the second-round opponents are established by the bracket and will not be changed regardless of who upsets whom.
The NFL, however, does not employ a locked/settled bracket. What we mean by this is the NFL looks for ways to help the top-seeded team that has earned the honored position.
Seven teams from the AFC and seven from the NFC qualify for a playoff birth. The number one-seeded team in each conference (Detroit in the NFC and Kansas City in the AFC) receives a rest or bye in the first round.
After the first round is completed, the decision is made to have the top-seeded team host the lowest-seeded team that won a first-round playoff game.
For instance, had Green Bay, the NFC’s seventh seed, defeated the second-seeded Eagles, the Packers would have been sent to Detroit to face the top-seeded Lions.
As it is, the Packers (seventh seed) lost to the Eagles. Thus, according to the NFL playoffs policy, the lowest seeded team that advanced winning in the first round (Commanders), is pitted against the number one seed for the second round game.
The second-seeded Eagles automatically face the only other NFC team to advance in the first-round games. In this case, that would be the Los Angeles Rams.
Why does the NFL conduct their playoffs in this manner? Well, it allows the NFL to reward the top-seeded team in each conference for two weeks in the postseason. Thus, the regular season games late in the season also mean more for the teams playing for that top-seeded spot.