2010–11 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2010 season began on January 8, 2011. The postseason tournament concluded with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, 31–25, on February 6, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This was the first Super Bowl in which the NFC representative was a #6 seed, and only the second time one has made the Super Bowl (the previous being the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL).
| Dates | January 8–February 6, 2011 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2010 | ||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Games played | 11 | ||||
| Super Bowl XLV site | |||||
| Defending champions | New Orleans Saints | ||||
| Champions | Green Bay Packers | ||||
| Runners-up | Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||
| Conference runners-up | |||||
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This was only the second postseason in NFL history that included a team with a losing record, and the first to occur with a full regular season. The Seattle Seahawks won their division with a 7–9 record, as all four teams in the NFC West had losing seasons in 2010. Only the 1982–83 NFL playoffs, following the strike-shortened 1982 season, had previously included teams with losing records (under a modified 16-team tournament, with eight from each conference, the 1982 Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions qualified with records of 4–5). Six days after winning the division, the Seahawks defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints to become the first playoff team with a losing record to win in the postseason, although the Carolina Panthers also won their division and made it to the divisional round with a losing record four years later.
In the opening wildcard round of the playoffs, three of the four home teams had fewer wins than the away team. The exception was the Green Bay Packers–Philadelphia Eagles match, where both were 10–6 (the Packers had defeated the Eagles in Week 1 of the season, but were on the road because they were the wild card team). But away teams finished 6–4 this playoff season for wins. This was the second time since the 1979 NFL season where neither of the number one playoff seeds advanced to their conference's respective championship game, the other time being in the 2008–09 NFL playoffs. Also, had the New York Jets also won their conference championship game, it would have been the first Super Bowl between two #6 seeds, let alone two wild card teams.
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05)