The season was impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; the most prominent changes were the cancellation of all preseason games and the postponement and/or rescheduling of multiple games due to positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff. Despite the changes, all 256 regular season games were played within the original 17-week span, with no cancellations.
Wild Card
Division
AFC/NFC Champ.
Super Bowl
The league expanded its playoff system from a 12-team to a 14-team tournament, adding a third wild card team for each conference for the first time since the 1990 season, and only awarding each conference's top seed a first round bye. The Wild Card round was thus extended from two to three games per day. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, 6, or 7), while the other surviving teams play each other, with the higher seeded team hosting.