- At the end of the NFL regular season, six teams from each of the team's two conferences play in the playoffs. Four division champions and two wild-card teams earn spots in the postseason and they get to compete for the championship. The two division champions with the best records in each conference get a bye in the first round and await the winners of the wild-card round. The division champion with the best record hosts the wild-card winner with the poorest record and the second division champion hosts the other wild-card winner. The winners of those two games meet for the conference championship and the two conference champions meet in the Super Bowl to determine the league champion.
- While it has been tweaked from time to time and teams have been added, the current format of the playoffs began when the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) merged in 1970. The Super Bowl matched the champions of the two leagues starting in 1966. While that game is wildly popular today, it wasn't until Super Bowl III in January 1969 that the game took its place in history. In that game, the underdog New York Jets of the AFL upset the powerful Baltimore Colts of the NFL. The following year, the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs beat the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and ended the competition between the two leagues as the merger took effect the following season.
- Playoff games have provided the NFL with some of its most memorable moments, including Miami's double overtime win over Kansas City in the 1971 playoffs, Pittsburgh's Immaculate Reception win over the Raiders in 1972, the Steelers' dramatic AFC championship win over the Houston Oilers in the 1979 AFC title game, the Bears' dominant 24-0 win over the Rams in the 1985 NFC championship game and John Elway leading the Broncos on a last-minute drive to tie the Cleveland Browns and ultimately give them the 1986 title in overtime.
Following the 1992 season, the Buffalo Bills registered the biggest comeback in playoff history when they rallied to defeat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in overtime. The Tennessee Titans used a last-second kickoff return for a touchdown to defeat the Buffalo Bills in the 1999 divisional playoffs. Baltimore's punishing defense overpowered the Oakland Raiders in the 2000 AFC title game. The Patriots went on the road to punish the the Steelers in the 2004 AFC title game and Peyton Manning and the Colts finally earned a spot in the Super Bowl when they overcame the Patriots in the 2006 AFC title game. - The one common element in all NFL postseason games is pressure because of the finality of the game. The winner stays alive and moves on to the next round, but the loser goes home and the season is over. This pressure leads to moments of great individual achievement but also some huge mistakes. Those big moments are often remembered for decades because of the importance and popularity of the game.
- No matter how well a team or a player performs in the regular season, reputations are formed in the postseason. To be remembered as an all-time great player, a quarterback almost always has to be associated with a Super Bowl championship team. Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins and Fran Tarkenton of the Minnesota Vikings are two notable exceptions, but winning in the final postseason game of the year will ensure a player's and a team's reputation. The 2007 New England Patriots went undefeated in the regular season and won two playoff games. They were hailed and celebrated for their great play. However, they lost their matchup with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII and their regular-season accomplishment will end up as a line in history. If they had won, they would have been remembered as perhaps the greatest champions ever, but that dream went up in smoke when they failed to hold the lead in the fourth quarter. At the same time, the 2007 Giants will be remembered forever for coming up with the 17-14 win in that postseason game.
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