Every single team in the National Football League begins the new pre-season training camp cycle with an equal, clean slate, meaning mathematically no franchise has been eliminated from postseason contention yet. At the conclusion of each grueling regular-season campaign, exactly fourteen out of the thirty-two league teams secure playoff berths, meaning more than half the league misses out on the postseason tournament. Disappointment typically hits struggling rebuilding franchises and teams plagued by injuries, but official elimination outcomes are only determined during the final weeks of the regular season in late December and January.