Template:NFL seeds 1978-1989
Within each conference, the three division winners and the two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The NFL did not use a fixed-bracket playoff system. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and received a first-round bye while the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5, and played in the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, with the 4 seed hosting. The second round, the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division could not meet: the surviving wild card team visited the division champion outside its division that had the higher seed, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet 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) |
| 5 | [[{{{AFC 5}}}]] (wild card) | [[{{{NFC 5}}}]] (wild card) |