Fill out the NFL playoff bracket once. Later rounds are worth more.
Pick all 13 NFL playoff games before Wild Card weekend, Super Bowl champion included, for 1, 2, 4 and 8 points by round. PikSheet handles the rules, pick submission, lock timing, field reveal, standings, and commissioner controls from one place.
Updated
How it works
The format stays familiar to your league; PikSheet keeps the weekly mechanics clear and consistent.
- 1The 14-team field is seven seeds per conference. Each conference's 1 seed has a bye; the other six play on Wild Card weekend, then come the Divisional round, the conference championships and the Super Bowl: 13 games in all.
- 2Fill out the whole bracket once, before the first Wild Card kickoff: a winner for every game, through the Super Bowl champion. Your bracket must be consistent — a team can only win a game you've picked it to reach.
- 3The Divisional round reseeds, as the NFL's does: in each conference the 1 seed hosts the lowest seed left from your Wild Card picks, and the other two winners meet. Your Divisional games fill in as you pick the Wild Card round.
- 4A correct pick earns its round's points: by default 1 in the Wild Card round, 2 in the Divisional round, 4 in the conference championships and 8 in the Super Bowl, so a perfect bracket is worth 30. A correct winner scores whoever it beats.
- 5The tiebreaker (on by default) is total points in the Super Bowl, entered with your bracket. The closest prediction wins a tie.
- 6Brackets stay hidden until the first Wild Card kickoff, when every bracket locks. PikSheet records each result as the game goes final, and the standings update from there.
Member flow
Members fill in all 13 games and the tiebreaker before the first Wild Card kickoff and can change anything until then.
Field reveal
After lock, the pool can see who picked what without chasing text threads or screenshots.
Scoring
Game results update the leaderboard according to this format's rules and history.
2025 playoffs example (default round points)
A quick scoring example for this format.
- 1.Wild Card: 4 of 6 right (NE, HOU, CHI and LAR; JAX and PHI lost) → 4 × 1 = 4 points
- 2.Divisional: DEN, NE and SEA right, CHI missed → 3 × 2 = 6 points (this bracket had DEN hosting HOU; DEN beat BUF instead and still scores)
- 3.Conference: SEA right, DEN missed (NE won the AFC) → 1 × 4 = 4 points
- 4.Super Bowl: SEA right → 8 points
- 5.Total: 22 of a possible 30.
How to win an NFL Playoff Bracket pool
Strategy that separates the season winners from the pack.
- 1The late rounds carry the bracket: the two conference champions and the Super Bowl winner are worth 16 of the 30 points. Spend most of your thinking on who comes out of each conference.
- 2Reseeding moves your matchups. A Wild Card upset sends the lowest seed left to the 1 seed, so look at the Divisional games your picks create before you advance anyone.
- 3A miss only costs the picks that needed that team. Your Divisional pick still scores if that team wins a Divisional game against someone else, so one Wild Card upset doesn't sink the round.
- 4Don't treat the tiebreaker as an afterthought. In a close pool the Super Bowl's total points decides ties at the top.
What the commissioner controls
Every setting is editable until the first Wild Card kickoff, when brackets, new entries and settings all lock for the playoffs.
- Round points: 1 to 1,000 per round (default 1, 2, 4, 8)
- Tiebreaker: total points in the Super Bowl (default) or off
- Entry fee (optional — you collect, we don't touch it)
- Max entries per member
NFL Playoff Bracket pool FAQ
What is an NFL playoff bracket pool?+
A pool where each member predicts the whole NFL postseason before it starts: the winner of all 13 games, from Wild Card weekend to the Super Bowl. Correct picks score more in later rounds — 1, 2, 4 and 8 points on PikSheet by default — and the highest total wins.
How does reseeding work in an NFL bracket?+
The NFL reseeds after Wild Card weekend: in each conference the 1 seed hosts the lowest seed left, and the other two winners play. PikSheet does the same with your picks, so your Divisional games depend on the Wild Card winners you chose. In the 2025 playoffs that sent Buffalo to Denver and Houston to New England; a fixed bracket would have sent Houston to Denver.
What if my Divisional winner beats a different team than my bracket had?+
You still get the points. A pick scores when that team wins a game in that round, whoever it beats, so a Wild Card miss only costs the later picks that needed the team you missed.
How is it different from NFL Playoff Pick'em?+
NFL Playoff Pick'em is picked round by round as the matchups are set, with optional spreads and totals. NFL Playoff Bracket is straight up and filled out once, before the playoffs start, so you call the Super Bowl champion before Wild Card weekend. Groups often run both.
When do picks open and lock?+
Pools can be created and joined any time. Picks open once the 14-team field is set at the end of the regular season (Week 18 ends January 10, 2027) and lock at the first Wild Card kickoff. Until then you can change your bracket as often as you like; after it, brackets, new entries and settings are locked and everyone's bracket becomes visible.