NFL Analysis and Explainers
Seeding, tiebreakers and the rules nobody explains properly — how the NFL settles its divisions, its wild cards and its playoff bracket.
What Happens to Super Bowl Losers the Next Season
Of 26 Super Bowl losers since 1999, 14 made the playoffs the next season and one returned to the Super Bowl. Every team, a hangover test and the 2026 Patriots.
Half of NFL Games Are Decided by One Score, and 3 Points Is the Most Common Margin
From 1999 to 2025, 50.6 percent of NFL regular-season games were decided by one score. Three points is the most common margin, and 23-20 the top final score.
How Often NFL Teams Go From Last Place to a Division Title
Since 2002, 27 of the 184 NFL teams that finished last in their division won it the next season, about one in seven. Every case, and how often champions repeat.
How NFL Overtime Works, and How Often It Ends in a Tie
Both teams now get the ball in NFL overtime. From 2002 to 2025, 6.0 percent of regular-season games went to overtime and 15 of 6,223 ended tied: 1 in 415.
Can an 0-3 Team Still Make the NFL Playoffs? History, and Houston
Since 2002, 2 of 112 NFL teams that started 0-3 made the playoffs, both of them Houston. The Texans are 0-3 again: their 2026 odds and every other start.
The NFL's Tiebreakers, and the Four Races They Settled
Head-to-head, division record, common games, strength of victory: the order that separates tied teams, and the four times in five years it took the last seat.
Everything NFL on Vertize Sports
The full NFL schedule week by week, plus a simulator that takes the real standings and lets you play out the rest of the season game by game.