2024-2025 NFL Playoff Bracket – Early NFL Playoff Picture After Week 5

The 2024-25 NFL regular season kicked off on Thursday, September 5, 2024. The regular season will conclude after all Week 18 games are played on January 5, 2025. The 2025 NFL playoffs will begin January 11 with Super Wildcard Weekend. The 2025 Super Bowl will be played Sunday, February 9, 2025.

The image above – which will be updated after each week of the 2024-25 NFL season – displays the very early look at the 2025 NFL playoff bracket following Week 5. In filling this out so early, we are leaning on some tiebreakers, as more teams have identical records this early in the season.

You’ll find much more NFL playoff information on this page as the season goes on. The only thing we don’t have here is NFL playoff odds, which include odds to make and miss the playoffs. You can jump to a specific section using the links below:

NFL Playoff Picture | NFL Playoff Dates & Schedule | Clinched Playoffs | Clinching Scenarios | Remaining Schedules | Eliminated | NFL Playoff FAQs

NFL Playoff Picture

The top seven teams from the AFC will make the playoffs. The very early look at the AFC playoff teams leaves out a few teams who made the playoffs last year. Those teams are the Browns and Dolphins.

They are being replaced by the Denver Broncos and LA Chargers in the current playoff bracket.

The top seven seeds in the NFC will make the playoffs. The mid-Week 5 look at the playoff bracket leaves out four teams who made the playoffs last season. The 49ers, Eagles, Rams, and Packers made the playoffs last season but are not currently holding a playoff spot this season. They are currently being replaced by the Vikings, Seahawks, Commanders, and Falcons.

The Lions, Buccaneers, and Cowboys are the only teams who made the NFC playoffs last year that are currently holding a spot in this year’s playoffs.

NFL Playoff Dates & Schedule

The 2024-25 NFL Playoffs will be the fourth year to feature “Super Wild Card Weekend,” where there will only be two games played on the Saturday so there’s a game to be played on Monday night of Wild Card Weekend. It will be the fifth year of the “new” playoff format that sees seven teams get in from each conference and only the top seed from each conference receiving a bye.

The 2025 Super Bowl will likely kick off at 6:30pm ET on Sunday, February 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Teams Who Have Clinched a Playoff Spot

The order the teams will eventually be listed in above is not indicative of their playoff seeding, rather the order they clinched playoff berths in. No teams have clinched a playoff spot yet, obviously. When they do, we will include them in the list above.

We didn’t see any team clinch a playoff spot last year until after Week 14. I suspect we will have to wait until around that same time before we see our first team clinch a playoff spot for the 2024-25 NFL playoffs.

NFL Playoff Clinching Scenarios

Once we get to Week 16 and have some clear NFL playoff clinching scenarios, we will detail them above.

Remaining Schedules for Teams in Playoff Hunt

With every team still in the playoff hunt, since we haven’t even completed Week 1 yet, I will hold off on listing out each team’s schedule. Once we get down to Week 16 and have some clear teams in and out of the playoff hunt, I will detail remaining schedules for teams in the hunt.

Teams Eliminated from Playoff Contention

In each of the last two seasons, we have seen our first team eliminated from postseason contention after Week 13. When we have our first team eliminated from 2025 playoff contention, I will feature them above.

How Many Teams Make the NFL Playoffs?

Starting in the 2020 NFL season (2021 NFL Playoffs), seven teams from each conference get into the NFL playoffs. This makes a total of 14 teams in the playoffs.

Prior to this, only six teams from each conference made the playoffs, and 12 total. The format change starting in the 2020-21 NFL season was made to add two more teams to the postseason, one in each conference.

How Many Teams Get a First-Round Bye in the NFL Playoffs?

The change to the NFL playoff format ahead of the 2020-21 NFL season also saw an adjustment to the number of teams who get a first-round bye. With seven teams from each conference making the playoffs, only one team—the top seed—from each conference gets a bye through the wildcard round.

Prior to the change, the top two seeds in each conference would get a bye through the wildcard round. With only one team from each conference getting a first-round bye, the NFL added another wildcard game to each conference, totaling six wildcard games now instead of four.

How Do the NFL Playoffs Work?

As mentioned above, seven teams from each conference (the AFC and NFC) make the NFL playoffs. Each team who makes the playoffs is seeded from 1-7 in their respective conference. The two conferences do not mix or meet until the Super Bowl.

The top four seeds in each conference are given to the teams who win their division. These four division winners are ordered 1-4 based on their records. The final three spots—seeds 5 to 7—in each conference are called “wildcard spots”. These are given to the three non-division winners who have the best records in their conference.

The NFL playoffs begin with the Wildcard Round. The top seed in each conference gets a bye through this round, leaving three games to be played in each conference. The matchups are as follows: 7-seed vs 2-seed, 6-seed vs 3-seed, and 5-seed vs 4-seed.

The NFL playoffs are not a traditional bracket, where teams move through to a fixed spot. The second round of the NFL playoffs is called the Divisional Round. The 1-seed in each conference, who was given a bye through the Wildcard Round, will get matched up with the worst remaining team in their respective conference. If the 7-seed were to upset the 2-seed, they would have to play the 1-seed in the Divisional Round. After setting the best-vs-worst matchup, the remaining two teams in each conference (second-best and second-worst seeds remaining) will battle it out in the other Divisional Round matchup.

After the Divisional Round comes the Conference Championships, where there are only two teams remaining in each conference. These two teams will play for the right to go to the Super Bowl and play the conference champion from the other side.

Best Promos for Betting on NFL Playoffs

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Hit the links in the left column to get more information on the best promo codes from each sportsbook, or use the links in the right column to start the registration process and unlock the listed offer. If you’re looking for a new app to bet on the NFL this season, look no further than the ESPN Bet sportsbook with a bonus available using this ESPN Bet promo code for new users.

These sign-up promos will get you started at some of the best sportsbooks for betting on the NFL playoffs. Operators like DraftKings, Bet365, BetMGM, FanDuel, and Caesars Sportsbook offer attractive welcome offers to attract new customers who want to wager on all the post-season action.