2021–22 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2021 season was the first time that the league featured a 17-game regular season schedule, and consequently the start of the playoffs was pushed a week later to January 15, 2022. The postseason concluded with Super Bowl LVI on February 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California with the NFC's fourth seed, the Los Angeles Rams, defeating the AFC's fourth seed, the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cincinnati Bengals won their first playoff game since 1990 by defeating the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dates | January 15 – February 13, 2022 | ||||
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Season | 2021 | ||||
Teams | 14 | ||||
Games played | 13 | ||||
Super Bowl LVI site |
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Defending champions | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | ||||
Champions | Los Angeles Rams | ||||
Runners-up | Cincinnati Bengals | ||||
Conference runners-up | |||||
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This was the first postseason since 2010–11 where neither of the first-seeded teams made it to their respective championships, and was also the first postseason since 2009–10 in which neither Aaron Rodgers nor Tom Brady reached a conference championship game. This was also the first postseason since 2012–13 to have a Super Bowl to not feature Brady, Peyton Manning, or Patrick Mahomes. For the first time in history, both teams competing in the Super Bowl finished below the second seed.
Of the 13 games played in the playoffs, nine were decided by seven or fewer points. For the final seven postseason games, six were decided by three points. Five of those six were decided with game-winning field goals. The only game that was not decided by three points was the divisional round game between the Bills and Chiefs, which was decided with a game-winning touchdown in overtime.