Within each conference, the three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record qualified for the playoffs. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card team was seeded 4. The first round, dubbed the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division could not meet: the surviving wild card team visited the highest-seeded division champion that was outside its own division, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
| Playoff seeds | ||
| Seed | AFC | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | [[{{{AFC 1}}}]] ([[AFC {{{AFC 1 div}}}|{{{AFC 1 div}}}]] winner) | [[{{{NFC 1}}}]] ([[NFC {{{NFC 1 div}}}|{{{NFC 1 div}}}]] winner) |
| 2 | [[{{{AFC 2}}}]] ([[AFC {{{AFC 2 div}}}|{{{AFC 2 div}}}]] winner) | [[{{{NFC 2}}}]] ([[NFC {{{NFC 2 div}}}|{{{NFC 2 div}}}]] winner) |
| 3 | [[{{{AFC 3}}}]] ([[AFC {{{AFC 3 div}}}|{{{AFC 3 div}}}]] winner) | [[{{{NFC 3}}}]] ([[NFC {{{NFC 3 div}}}|{{{NFC 3 div}}}]] winner) |
| 4 | [[{{{AFC 4}}}]] (wild card) | [[{{{NFC 4}}}]] (wild card) |