In the National Football League (NFL), a wild card refers to a team that does not win its division but still qualifies for the playoffs. The NFL has two wild-card teams in each conference, for a total of four wild-card teams across the league.
Wild-card teams are typically lower seeded than division winners and must play their first playoff game on the road. In recent years, however, the NFL has changed its playoff format so that the top seed in each conference gets a bye week while the two wild-card teams face off against each other.
The term wild card comes from poker, where it refers to a card that can be used to represent any other card. In football, the term is used because these teams are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and must earn their way in.
The current NFL playoff format was introduced in 2002 and last modified in 2010. Under this system, there are six total seeds in each conference: The four division winners and two wild cards. The top two seeds get a bye week while the remaining four seeds play each other in the Wild Card round.
The Wild Card round is essentially a mini-tournament within the larger tournament of the playoffs. The winner of each Wild Card game moves on to face one of the bye week teams in the Divisional Round. From there, things proceed as usual until only two teams remain for the Conference Championships and then finally the Super Bowl.