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NFL Explained: How Does the National Football League Work?

In the “National Football League“, kurz NFL, play 32 teams from the USA. The NFL is for American football what the NBA is for basketball or the Bundesliga for soccer. Until 1970 existed with the AFL a rival league that merged with the NFL. This resulted in the two conferences NFC and AFC. The finale of an NFL season marks the Super Bowl, which is always played on the first Sunday in February. The NFL Finals is the largest single sport event with the highest TV ratings. Over a billion people watch the Super Bowl every year.

All other information about National Football League you get in this article.

NFL: These are the conferences NFC and AFC

Unlike in the Bundesliga or other football leagues, there are no relegated or promoted teams and international cups in the NFL. The 32 Footballteams are in the two Conferences NFC and AFC divided up. The NFC is the “National Football Conference” and the AFC is the “American Football Conference”. Each conference is in turn vier Divisions divided into north, south, west and east. There are four teams in each division.

Teams and divisions in the AFC

An overview of the current teams and divisions of the American Football Conference:

AFC North

  • Pittsburgh Steelers
  • Cincinnati Bengals
  • Baltimore Ravens
  • Cleveland Browns

AFC South

  • Indianapolis Colts
  • Houston Texans
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Tennessee Titans

AFC West

  • Denver Broncos
  • Kansas City Chiefs
  • Los Angeles Chargers
  • Las Vegas Raiders

AFC East

  • New England Patriots
  • Buffalo Bills
  • Miami Dolphins
  • New York Jets

Teams and divisions in the NFC

An overview of the current teams and divisions of the National Football Conference:

NFC North

  • Green Bay Packers
  • Detroit Lions
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Chicago Bears

NFC South

  • Carolina Panthers
  • New Orleans Saints
  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers

NFC West

  • Seattle Seahawks
  • Arizona Cardinals
  • san francisco 49ers
  • Los Angeles Rams

NFC East

  • Dallas Cowboys
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • New York Giants
  • Washington Commanders

The New England Patriots are the most successful team of the 2000s and 2010s. What division do the Patriots play in?
© Photo: Michael Dwyer/dpa

After this mode, the regular season expires

Over 18 weeks extends the so-called Regular Season the NFL. Every team plays 17 games. Each team has a one-week break. It also follows that an “everyone against everyone” system does not work.

After this Modus is being played:

  • The four teams from a division always play one home and one away game against each other. (6 games)
  • Each year, a team from one division plays all four teams from another division in its own conference. All divisions from a conference are played through every three years. Example: The Green Bay Packers (NFC North) will play all teams in the NFC South in 2022, all teams in the NFC West in 2023, and every team in the NFC East in 2023. (4 games)
  • According to a 4-year rotation principle, each team plays once against all four teams from another division of the other conference. Two games in their own stadium and two away. (4 games)
  • Each team plays once at home and once away against the other teams in its own conference that ranked the same as the team in their own divisions last season. Teams from the division that will be played this season anyway are exempt. (2 games)
  • The 17. Spiel has been added since this season as an interconference game based on a similar pattern. A long-term rotation regulates from which of the three divisions of the other conference, which is not played, that team becomes the opponent. Here, too, the same place in the table counts as in the previous year. (1 Spiel)

This is how the NFL playoffs work

Qualify after 18 matchdays seven teams each made up of NFC and AFC for the Playoffs. The four Division Winner are here automatically in the playoffs. The three remaining places will be awarded to the teams with the best win-loss ratio. The best team of the regular season receives one in the first playoff week bye (wildcard) and only joins from the second round.

The first round is the wild card rounde. The seven playoff spots are numbered 1 through 7 based on where the teams placed in the regular season. These numbers are referred to as “seed”. The team with the highest seed plays against the lowest and so on. Since #1 skips the first wild card round, #2 plays against #7, #3 against #6 and #4 and #5 meet. After this procedure is also in the Divisional Round procedure. The highest seed left plays against the lowest, and so on. The two winning teams then meet in Conference-Championship-Game on each other. The team with the higher seed of the two has home rights. The winner of the conference championship then draws against the other conference champion Super Bowl a.


Football League, mit der Vince Lombardi Trophy. Diese Trophäe wird dem Super Bowl-Sieger verliehen." width="575" height="323" title="Roger Goodell, Commissioner der National Football League, mit der Vince Lombardi Trophy. Diese Trophäe wird dem Super Bowl-Sieger verliehen." data-recalc-dims="1"/>

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the Super Bowl winner.
© Photo: Morry Gash/dpa

Super Bowl: The finals of the NFL

The two meet in the Super Bowl Winner of the Conference Championship Games from NFC and AFC on each other. The Super Bowl is one of the largest sporting events in the world, with over a billion viewers yearly. Tickets for the game are almost priceless and usually start in the four-digit range. Unlike, for example, in the unbalanced Bundesliga, more variety is required in the NFL. Five different teams have won the Super Bowl in the last five years. Tom Brady is the most successful player of all time with seven wins. The New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the most successful teams with six titles.

The NFL draft is about to start a new season an

After the Super Bowl in February, the NFL is on hiatus until September. In April, however, the NFL-Draft instead of. This is where the best players from college are selected by the teams for the upcoming season. The procedure is as follows: The worst team of the previous season gets the first draft pick, the Super Bowl winner gets 32. The drafting takes place over a total of seven rounds. However, draft picks can also be traded back and forth between teams. Just like the players – there are no transfer fees in football like there are in football.

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