Consider the obvious geometric plane graph associated with a generic n-line configuration in a plane (no two lines are parallel and no three are concurrent). This graph has exactly (2n)=21n(n−1) vertices, exactly e=n2 edges and exactly f=21n(n+1)+1 faces.
Let fk be the number of k-edge faces (faces with exactly k edges), so f=∑k=2nfk (no face has more than n edges). Fix an integer m in the range 4 through n, to write
2n2=2e=k=2∑nkfk=k=2∑m−1kfk+k=m∑nkfk≥k=2∑m−1kfk+mk=m∑nfk=k=2∑m−1kfk+m(f−k=2∑m−1fk)=k=2∑m−1(k−m)fk+mf,
so
2n2≥k=2∑m−1(k−m)fk+21m(n2+n+2),
wherefrom
k=2∑m−1(m−k)fk≥21m(n2+n+2)−2n2=21((m−4)n2+mn+2m).
Next, write fk=bk+uk, where bk and uk are the numbers of bounded and unbounded k-faces, respectively. Thus, bk is the number of k-gons. Clearly, b2=0 and ∑k=2nuk=2n, so
k=2∑m−1(m−k)fk=k=3∑m−1(m−k)bk+k=2∑m−1(m−k)uk≤≤k=3∑m−1(m−k)bk+(m−2)k=3∑m−1uk≤≤k=3∑m−1(m−k)bk+(m−2)k=2∑nuk=k=3∑m−1(m−k)bk+2(m−2)n.
Consequently,
k=3∑m−1(m−k)bk≥k=2∑m−1(m−k)fk−2(m−2)n≥≥21((m−4)n2+mn+2m)−2(m−2)n==21((m−4)n2−(3m−8)n+2m)=21((m−4)n−m)(n−2),
so
max(b3,…,bm−1)≥21⋅(m−3)+⋯+1((m−4)n−m)(n−2)=(m−3)(m−2)((m−4)n−m)(n−2).
The coefficient of n2 in the lower bound is maximized at m=5 and m=6, so
max(b3,b4)≥61(n−5)(n−2)andmax(b3,b4,b5)≥61(n−3)(n−2).