The NFL wild card game exists because the league kept running into the same problem: strong teams missing the playoffs simply because a better team shared their division. The round has been expanded four times since the merger, and each expansion changed what a wild card game actually is.
Timeline of the playoff field
| Era | Playoff teams | Wild card teams per conference |
|---|---|---|
| 1970–1977 | 8 | 1 |
| 1978–1989 (except 1982) | 10 | 2 |
| 1982 (strike season) | 16 | n/a — divisions ignored |
| 1990–2019 | 12 | 2 |
| 2020–present | 14 | 3 |
1970–1977: one wild card, no wild card round
When the NFL and AFL merged in 1970, each conference qualified its three division champions plus a fourth wild card team. There was no separate opening round — the four teams met in the divisional playoffs. Home field was decided by an annual rotation rather than by record, which produced a run of odd pairings in the early 1970s, and the league switched to a seeding system in 1975 so that the higher-seeded surviving club hosted each round.
1978–1989: the round is born
After the regular season grew from 14 to 16 games in 1978, a second wild card team was added in each conference. The two wild cards met the week before the division winners played, and that extra game is where the names “wild card round” and “wild card weekend” come from. The Oakland Raiders won Super Bowl XV after the 1980 season as a wild card team, the first club to win the title by playing four playoff games.
1990–2019: twelve teams and a demoted division winner
A third wild card team per conference arrived in 1990, expanding the field to twelve. To make the bracket work, the lowest-seeded division winner was moved down into wild card weekend as a home team — the arrangement that still produces a division champion hosting a wild card team today. The restriction on division rivals meeting in the divisional round was dropped at the same time. After the 2002 realignment into eight four-team divisions, each conference seeded four division winners and two wild cards from 1 to 6, with the top two seeds on a bye.
2020–present: fourteen teams
The league adopted the current fourteen-team format in 2020, adding a third wild card per conference and reducing the byes to one per conference. For its first four seasons the round was branded “Super Wild Card Weekend” to distinguish it from the twelve-team era.
Notable wild card facts
- During the 2015 season, every road team won its wild card game — the first time that had happened in NFL history.
- The New York Giants and New York Jets have shared a stadium since 1984, so they cannot host on the same day. The only time it mattered was wild card weekend after the 1985 season, when the Jets hosted on a Saturday and the Giants on the Sunday.
- The 2001 season was the first with playoff games in prime time, which ended the old scheduling constraints on West Coast kickoffs.
Sources: Wikipedia, “NFL playoffs”.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
When did the NFL add wild card teams?
In 1970, after the merger, each conference sent three division champions plus one wild card team to an eight-team playoff.
When was the wild card round first played?
The round dates to 1978, when a second wild card team per conference was added and the two wild cards met the week before the division winners played.
Has a wild card team ever won the Super Bowl?
Yes. The Oakland Raiders became the first wild card team to win a Super Bowl following the 1980 season, and the first team to do it by winning four playoff games.