Everything you need to follow the National Football League, from how the season works to who has the most rings.
Two conferences, four divisions each, four teams per division. Click any team for a quick profile.
The NFL season runs from late summer to mid-winter, and every game matters because there are so few of them.
Teams trim their rosters down to 53 players and test young talent in exhibition games.
117 games over 18 weeks, with each team getting one bye week to rest.
2Seven teams per conference make it. The top seed gets a bye, and every round after that is win or go home.
3The AFC and NFC champions meet in one game for the Lombardi Trophy.
4The offense gets four downs to move the ball 10 yards. Make it, and you get a fresh set of downs. Don't, and you usually punt it away.
The field: 100 yards long plus two 10-yard end zones, and 53⅓ yards wide.
The most recent title games, plus the franchises with the most championships.
The American Professional Football Association forms in Canton, Ohio. Two years later it renames itself the National Football League.
The NFL champion meets the rival AFL champion in a game that would grow into the biggest event in American sports.
The NFL and AFL officially combine, creating the AFC and NFC conferences that still exist today.