NFL Schedule Divisional Playoff Round

Saturday, January 20, 2024
Sunday, January 21, 2024

All times are in ET. Tap on each match's time to view it in your local timezone.

About NFL Schedule Divisional Playoff Round

NFL Divisional Playoff Round | Week 20


NFL Divisional Playoffs Schedule 2024 Image courtesy - nfl.com
Image courtesy - nfl.com



The NFL season is truly coming to an end soon. The first round of the postseason - the Wild Card Round is well and truly behind us and now, it is time for the Divisional Round. The postseason had started with 14 teams out of the 32 from the regular season. After the first round of the playoffs, we are now down to the final 8 teams.


The Divisional Round is also the time when the two number-one seeds from the respective AFC and NFC conferences step foot on the turf for the first time in the playoffs. These teams are coming off fresh from their first round bye-week and have had precious time to recover, rejuvenate, and are raring to go. These teams also control the home-field advantage for the remainder of the playoffs until they lose or reach the Super Bowl.


This round of the playoffs has a little bit of history associated with why it is called the Divisional Round. Back in 1967, the NFL split teams into 4 different divisions, and as per the new structure, the four divisional champions played against each other for the opportunity to play in the Championship game. This is how the name Divisional Round came about.


However, later on, several changes took place and more teams were added to the playoffs. Thus the playoffs were no longer between only the division winners yet the name of the round has not changed even to this day.


Divisional Round

In the Divisional Round, there are a total of 4 games that are played between the 8 teams. The number-one seeded teams from each conference will take on the lowest remaining seeded teams from their respective conference, while the other match will feature the remaining teams within the respective conferences.


For example, consider the below two situations, where -


  1. AFC teams in the Divisional Round are seed 1, seed 5, seed 3, and seed 7, then:

Seed 1 will play seed 7 (lowest remaining seed) and seed 3 will play seed 5.


  1. NFC teams in the Divisional Round are seed 1, seed 2, seed 3, and seed 4, then:

Seed 1 will play seed 4 (lowest remaining seed) and seed 2 will play seed 3.


Also, it is important to note that both seed 1 teams will have home-field advantage and in the other games, the home-field advantage will go to whichever team is seeded higher. In the above example, seed 3 will have a home field for the AFC, and seed 2 will have a home field for the NFC.


Divisional Round schedule for the 2023 NFL season:

DateGameTime (ET)Broadcast partner
Saturday, January 20Houston Texans (4) at Baltimore Ravens (1)4:30 p.m.ESPN/ABC
Saturday, January 20Green Bay Packers (7) at San Francisco 49ers (1)8:15 p.m.FOX
Sunday, January 21Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4) at Detroit Lions (3)3:00 p.m.NBC
Sunday, January 21Kansas City Chiefs (3) at Buffalo Bills (2)6:30 p.m.CBS



FAQs

Q. How many divisions are there in the NFL?

A. There are a total of 8 divisions in the NFL which are: AFC East, AFC West, AFC North, AFC South, and NFC East, NFC West, NFC North, and NFC South.

Q. Which round is the Divisional Round?

A. The Divisional Round is the second round of the NFL playoffs.

Q. Which round comes before the Divisional Round?

A. The round before the Divisional Round is the Wild Card Round in the NFL playoffs.

Q. Which round comes after the Divisional Round?

A. The round after the Divisional Round is the Conference Championship Round in the NFL playoffs.

Q. How many teams are in the NFL’s Divisional Round?

A. There are a total of 8 teams in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.