Trav's
NFL
Postseason Mixed Reality

If I ran the NFL, this would be the postseason format.

It applies actual results for seeding & odds, re-values the regular season, hands out more hardware, and rewards consistently good franchises.

You can simulate any postseason from the past 20 years. Full methodology is listed at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

NFL Group Stage (Seeds 1–8)

— No simulation yet —

Super Bowl & 3rd Place Game

— No simulation yet —

NFL Cup (Seeds 9–24)

— No simulation yet —

NFL Draft Lottery (Seeds 25–32)

— No simulation yet —

Final Postseason Standings

— No simulation yet —

Legacy Trophy — Multi-Year Leaderboard

Each season, teams earn legacy points based on their final postseason rank (see chart above for details). Totals are summed across the past 5, 10, and 20 simulated seasons. The leaders get to carve their name into the base (Stanley Cup style) and host the Trophy until they are surpassed by a new team.

— Simulating all 20 seasons… —

Trophy Case

— Simulating seasons… —

Methodology

How matchups are decided

Seeding based on league-wide regular-season wins, then point differential, then "points for".

Postseason matchup priority order: (1) Actual postseason matchup if these teams really played in the NFL postseason. (2) Marble race: each team gets 5 base marbles, +1 marble per win-differential, +1 marble per 40 points of point-differential gap, +2 marbles per net regular-season head-to-head win, +1 marble per real-life playoff-win-differential (counting a first-round bye as a win). 2 "break" marbles also run. Marbles finishing before the 1st break = 7 pts. Marbles between break 1 and break 2 = 3 pts. Marble after break 2 wins OT (+3) for non-group games when tied. Click any matchup to see its marble breakdown.

Legacy points are awarded based solely on final postseason rank each year: 10 pts (SB champion), 9 pts (2nd/3rd — podium), 8 pts (4th–8th — playoff teams), 7 pts (NFL Cup winner), 6 pts (Cup finalist), 5 pts (Cup semis, 11th–12th), 4 pts (Cup quarters, 13th–16th), 3 pts (Cup R1 better seeds, 17th–20th), 2 pts (Cup R1 worse seeds, 21st–24th), 1 pt (lottery better seeds, 25th–28th), 0 pts (lottery worse seeds, 29th–32nd). Multi-year leaderboards sum across 5, 10, and 20 simulated seasons.

Actual Season Results
— Select a year above —