1978–79 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1978 season began on December 24, 1978. The postseason tournament concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII, 35–31, on January 21, 1979, at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
| Dates | December 24, 1978–January 21, 1979 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1978 | ||||
| Teams | 10 | ||||
| Games played | 9 | ||||
| Super Bowl XIII site |
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| Defending champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||||
| Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||
| Runners-up | Dallas Cowboys | ||||
| Conference runners-up | |||||
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This was the first year that the playoffs expanded to a ten-team format, adding a second wild card team (a fifth seed) from each conference. The two wild card teams from each conference (the 4 and 5 seeds) played each other in the first round, called the "Wild Card Playoffs." The division winners (seeds 1, 2, and 3) automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs, which became the second round of the playoffs.
However, the league continued to prohibit meetings between two teams from the same division in the divisional playoffs. Thus, there could be times when the pairings in that round would be the #1 seed vs. the #3 seed and #2 vs. #4 or #5.