2022–23 NFL playoffs
Dates | January 14 – February 12, 2023 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | 2022 | ||||
Teams | 14 | ||||
Games played | 13 | ||||
Super Bowl LVII site | |||||
Defending champions | Los Angeles Rams (did not qualify) | ||||
|
The National Football League playoffs for the 2022 season are scheduled to begin on January 14, 2023, and will conclude with Super Bowl LVII on February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Fourteen teams will participate in the playoffs. In each of the two conferences – the NFC and the AFC – the four division winners advance to the playoffs, along with three wild card teams, which are the teams with the best won-loss records that did not win their divisions. The division winner with the best record gets a first round bye.[1]
The format of the playoffs was changed to accommodate the cancellation of the January 2, 2023 game between Buffalo and Cincinnati with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter, caused by a life-threatening injury to Damar Hamlin during that game.[2]
Format changes following Week 17 canceled Bills–Bengals game
During the Week 17 game on January 2 between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and remained motionless after making a tackle on Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins. At the time of Hamlin's collapse, there was 5:58 remaining in the first quarter with Cincinnati leading 7–3. It was later revealed that he had suffered cardiac arrest and was in critical condition. The remainder of the game was then postponed for the rest of the night, and on the following day the NFL initially said that it would not be resumed that week.[3] Then on January 5, the league announced that the game would be canceled entirely, and both teams would finish the regular season with only 16 regular season games, saying that it was "difficult, but necessary" under the "extraordinary circumstances."[4]
The cancelation of the Bills–Bengals game, however, affected the playoff implications involving four teams: the Bills, Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens. Going into the game, Cincinnati held an 11–4 record and only needed a win to clinch the AFC North division title over Baltimore (which was 10–6 after finishing their week 17 game, and losing the conference record tiebreaker to the 10–6 Los Angeles Chargers for wild card seeding). The Bengals and the 12–3 Bills were still fighting the 13–3 Chiefs for the top seed in the AFC.[2]
The league confirmed that for the purpose of determining playoff matchups, seeding would still be determined by winning percentage, which the NFL has always formally used to rank teams. By canceling the game, the Bengals automatically clinched the AFC North division championship based on winning percentage. (Had Cincinnati lost the canceled game to go to 11–5, the Week 18 Raven–Bengals game would have been for the AFC North championship, with the Ravens having the head-to-head victory tiebreaker if both teams finished at 11–6.) The Chiefs were then put into a position to clinch the AFC top seed with a win against the Las Vegas Raiders to go to 14–3, or for the Bills to finish at 12–4 by losing to the New England Patriots. (Had Buffalo won the canceled game, and both the Bills and Kansas City ended the season at 14–3, Buffalo held the head-to-head victory tiebreaker; had Cincinnati won the canceled game, and both the Bengals and Chiefs ended the season at 13–4, Cincinnati would have held the better conference record at 9–3 vs. a Kansas City 8–4.)[2][5]
Therefore during a special league meeting on January 6, NFL owners approved the following changes for this postseason:[6]
- The AFC Championship Game will be held at a neutral site in the following circumstances:
- Buffalo and Kansas City both win or tie in Week 18 and both teams advance to the AFC Championship.
- Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati loses or ties in Week 18, and Buffalo and Kansas City advance to the AFC Championship.
- Buffalo and Kansas City both lose and Cincinnati wins in Week 18, and Kansas City and either Buffalo or Cincinnati advance to the AFC Championship.
- The site of the Wild Card game between Baltimore and Cincinnati will be determined by coin flip if Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers both win in Week 18.
Otherwise, the playoff format would be same as previous seasons.
The results of Week 18 simplified these possibilities greatly:
- If the AFC Championship Game is Buffalo vs. Kansas City, it will be held at a neutral site.
- The other situations covered by the January 6 decision are no longer possible.
Participants
Seed | AFC | NFC |
---|---|---|
1 | Kansas City Chiefs (West winner)[a] | Philadelphia Eagles (East winner) |
2 | Buffalo Bills (East winner)[a] | San Francisco 49ers (West winner) |
3 | Cincinnati Bengals (North winner) | Minnesota Vikings (North winner) |
4 | Jacksonville Jaguars (South winner) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (South winner) |
5 | Los Angeles Chargers (wild card) | Dallas Cowboys (wild card) |
6 | Baltimore Ravens (wild card) | New York Giants (wild card) |
7 | Miami Dolphins (wild card) | Seattle Seahawks (wild card) |
Bracket
Jan 15 – Paycor Stadium | Jan 22 – Highmark Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Baltimore | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Cincinnati | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Cincinnati | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
Jan 29 – Arrowhead Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 15 – Highmark Stadium | 2 | Buffalo | 10 | |||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
7 | Miami | 31 | 3 | Cincinnati | 20 | |||||||||||||
Jan 21 – Arrowhead Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | Buffalo | 34 | 1 | Kansas City | 23 | |||||||||||||
AFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 14 – TIAA Bank Field | 4 | Jacksonville | 20 | |||||||||||||||
1 | Kansas City | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | LA Chargers | 30 | ||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | Feb 12 – State Farm Stadium | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Jacksonville | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
Wild Card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
A1 | Kansas City | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
Jan 16 – Raymond James Stadium | Jan 22 – Levi's Stadium | N1 | Philadelphia | 35 | ||||||||||||||
Super Bowl LVII | ||||||||||||||||||
5 | Dallas | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Tampa Bay | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Dallas | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
Jan 29 – Lincoln Financial Field | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 14 – Levi's Stadium | 2 | San Francisco | 19 | |||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
7 | Seattle | 23 | 2 | San Francisco | 7 | |||||||||||||
Jan 21 – Lincoln Financial Field | ||||||||||||||||||
2 | San Francisco | 41 | 1 | Philadelphia | 31 | |||||||||||||
NFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 15 – U.S. Bank Stadium | 6 | NY Giants | 7 | |||||||||||||||
1 | Philadelphia | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | NY Giants | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Minnesota | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
Schedule overview
The 2022 playoffs are scheduled to begin on January 14–16, 2023 with the wild-card round, with three wild-card games played in each conference. In the Divisional round scheduled for January 21–22, the top seed in the conference will play the lowest remaining seed and the other two remaining teams will play each other. The winners of those games will advance to the Conference Championship games scheduled for January 29. Super Bowl LVII is scheduled for February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.[7]
Schedule
Away team | Score | Home Team | Date | Kickoff (ET / UTC–5) |
TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wild Card playoffs[8] | |||||
Seattle Seahawks | San Francisco 49ers | January 14, 2023 | 4:35 p.m. | Fox | |
Los Angeles Chargers | Jacksonville Jaguars | January 14, 2023 | 8:15 p.m. | NBC | |
Miami Dolphins | Buffalo Bills | January 15, 2023 | 1:05 p.m. | CBS | |
New York Giants | Minnesota Vikings | January 15, 2023 | 4:40 p.m. | Fox | |
Baltimore Ravens | Cincinnati Bengals | January 15, 2023 | 8:15 p.m. | NBC | |
Dallas Cowboys | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | January 16, 2023 | 8:15 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | |
Divisional playoffs | |||||
Lower-seeded team | Higher-seeded team | January 21, 2023 | 4:35 p.m. | Fox, CBS or NBC | |
Lower-seeded team | Higher-seeded team | January 21, 2023 | 8:15 p.m. | ||
Lower-seeded team | Higher-seeded team | January 22, 2023 | 3:05 p.m. | ||
Lower-seeded team | Higher-seeded team | January 22, 2023 | 6:40 p.m. | ||
Conference Championships | |||||
Lower-seeded NFC team | Higher-seeded NFC team | January 29, 2023 | 3:05 p.m. | Fox | |
Lower-seeded AFC team | Higher-seeded AFC team | January 29, 2023 | 6:40 p.m. | CBS | |
Super Bowl LVII State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona | |||||
AFC Champion | NFC Champion | February 12, 2023 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
NOTE: Fox (NFC) and CBS (AFC) are guaranteed one wild card game a piece with Fox (NFC) getting both of their Divisional playoff games.
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 14, 2023
NFC: Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seahawks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
49ers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
AFC: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chargers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jaguars | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sunday, January 15, 2023
AFC: Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
NFC: New York Giants vs. Minnesota Vikings
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Vikings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
AFC: Baltimore Ravens vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ravens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bengals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Monday, January 16, 2023
NFC: Dallas Cowboys vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
- Date: January 16, 2023
- Game time: 8:15 p.m. EST/7:15 p.m. CST
- TV announcers (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Lisa Salters
- Preview
Television coverage
All playoff games will be televised nationally on network television.
During Wild Card Weekend, Fox and NBC will televise two games each, while ESPN and CBS will air one game each. ESPN's game will be simulcast on ABC, with a Manningcast on ESPN2.
Coverage of the AFC Divisional games will be split between CBS and NBC. CBS will have exclusive coverage of the AFC Championship Game. Fox will have exclusive coverage of both NFC Divisional games, the NFC Championship Game, and Super Bowl LVII.
Streaming Coverage of Playoff games follow the game as regular season games with Paramount+ simulcasting all CBS games, Peacock simulcasting all NBC games and ESPN+ streaming all ESPN/ABC games (including Manningcast coverage).
Spanish Language of Playoff games follow the same as the regular season with Fox Deportes airing Fox games, Telemundo (select games) and Universo airing NBC games and ESPN Deportes airing ESPN/ABC and CBS games
Westwood One Radio will air all playoff games on radio nationally alongside local radio stations airing their coverage locally.
Notes
References
- ^ Velázquez, Ariel (January 6, 2023). "What Is the Wild Card in the NFL, How Does It Work, When Is It and How Many Teams Play?". AS USA. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Week 17 Buffalo-Cincinnati game will not be resumed; neutral AFC Championship Game site being considered". NFL.com. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ "NFL announces Bills-Bengals game will not be resumed this week". NFL.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ Vrentas, Jenny (2023-01-06). "N.F.L. Cancels Bills-Bengals Game". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
- ^ Around the NFL Staff (2022-01-06). "Changes to AFC playoffs approved by NFL owners: What you need to know". NFL. NFL. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "NFL owners approve resolution to adjust AFC playoffs, including potential neutral title game site". NFL Media. January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Teope, Herbie (May 23, 2018). "Arizona, New Orleans chosen as Super Bowl hosts". Los Angeles: NFL Media. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
- ^ Gordon, Grant (January 8, 2023). "Super Wild Card Weekend schedule announced". NFL.com.com. Retrieved January 8, 2023.