SEASONS
| < 1977 | 1979 > |
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.
| AFC East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
new england patriots | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2 |  |
miami dolphins | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | |
| 3 |  |
new york jets | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| 4 |  |
Buffalo Bills | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | |
| 5 |  |
Baltimore Colts | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | |
| AFC Central | |||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
Pittsburgh Steelers | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2 |  |
Houston Oilers | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | |
| 3 |  |
Cleveland Browns | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| 4 |  |
Cincinnati Bengals | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| AFC West | |||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
Denver Broncos | 16 | 12 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2 |  |
Oakland Raiders | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |
| 3 |  |
Seattle Seahawks | 16 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| 4 |  |
San Diego Chargers | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |
| 5 |  |
Kansas City Chiefs | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | |
| NFC East | |||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
Dallas Cowboys | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2 |  |
Philadelphia Eagles | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |
| 3 |  |
Washington Redskins | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| 4 |  |
St. Louis Cardinals | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | |
| 5 |  |
New York Giants | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | |
| NFC Central | |||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
Minnesota Vikings | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2 |  |
Green Bay Packers | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | |
| 3 |  |
Detroit Lions | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |
| 4 |  |
Chicago Bears | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |
| 5 |  |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers* | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | |
| NFC West | |||||||
| RK | TEAM | GP | W | L | T | ||
| 1 |  |
Los Angeles Rams | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2 |  |
Atlanta Falcons | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | |
| 3 |  |
New Orleans Saints | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | |
| 4 |  |
San Francisco 49ers | 16 | 2 | 14 | 0 | |
| Seed | AFC | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers (Central winner) | Los Angeles Rams (West winner) |
| 2 | New England Patriots (East winner) | Dallas Cowboys (East winner) |
| 3 | Denver Broncos (West winner) | Minnesota Vikings (Central winner) |
| 4 | Miami Dolphins (wild card) | Atlanta Falcons (wild card) |
| 5 | Houston Oilers (wild card) | Philadelphia Eagles (wild card) |
Wild Card playoffs |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 24 1978 |
PHI |
13 @ 14 | ATL |
||
HOU |
17 @ 9 | MIA |
|||
Divisional playoffs |
|||||
| Dec 30 1978 |
DEN |
10 @ 33 | PIT |
||
ATL |
20 @ 27 | DAL |
|||
| Dec 31 1978 |
HOU |
31 @ 14 | NE |
||
MIN |
10 @ 34 | LAR |
|||
Conference Championships | |||||
| JAN 07 1979 |
HOU |
5 @ 34 | PIT |
||
DAL |
28 @ 0 | LAR |
|||
 SUPER BOWL XIII |
|||||
| Miami Orange Bowl, MIAMI,FL | |||||
| JAN 21 1979 |
PIT |
35 @ 31 | DAL |
||