The 2023 NFL playoffs are almost ready to start with the same format for a third straight year. Seven teams in each conference make the postseason, which features three rounds before Super Bowl LVII.
It all starts with Wild-Card Weekend 2023 from Jan. 14-16. The first round of the playoffs features six games over the course of three days. The only playoff teams that won’t be in action are the No. 1 seeds in the NFC and AFC because they advance automatically to the divisional round with a bye.
Two wild-card games are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 14 with start times of 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:15 p.m. ET. On Sunday, Jan. 15, there will be games played at 1 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:15 p.m. Wild-Card Weekend concludes with a “Monday Night Football” game on ESPN and ABC at 8:15 p.m. ET on Jan. 16.
The exact schedule for each playoff matchup will be determined when the final playoff picture is set.
The No. 2 seed in each conference will host the No. 7 seed in that same conference in a wild-card game. It’s a matchup between the division winner with the second-best record and the wild-card team with the third-best record in a conference.
The No. 3 seeds will host the No. 6 seeds. The No. 4 seeds will play at home against the No. 5 seeds.
Ever since the 14-team playoff format started in the 2020 regular season, every No. 2 seed has advanced to the divisional round. The Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals both reached last year’s Super Bowl by winning three straight playoff games as a No. 4 seed.
The Rams blew out the Arizona Cardinals 34-11 in the first-ever Monday night playoff game. Los Angeles beat Tom Brady and the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round before beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
Los Angeles won’t defend its title on Wild-Card Weekend. The Rams are the first Super Bowl champs to miss the playoffs the following year since the Denver Broncos missed the postseason in the 2016 season.
The 2023 Divisional Playoffs are scheduled to start Jan. 21.
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