The National Football League playoffs for the 1978 season began on December 24, 1978. The postseason tournament concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII, 35–31, on January 21, 1979, at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

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 three division winners were seeded 1–2–3, and the two wild cards teams were seeded 4–5. The two wild card teams from each conference played each other in the first round. Dubbed the "Wild Card Playoffs", the games were hosted by the #4 seeds. In most years, both the AFC and NFC wild card games were played on Sunday (with occasional exceptions when they conflicted with Christmas Day).

The three division winners (seeds 1, 2, and 3) in each conference received a bye for the wild card weekend, and automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs. The surviving wild card team in each conference advanced to the Divisional Round and played at the #1 seed. However, a rule remained in place which prohibited two teams from the same division meeting in the Divisional Round. If the surviving wild card team was from the same division as the #1 seed, that team would instead play at the #2 seed, while the #1 seed would host the #3 seed.

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 met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Finally the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, with the designated home team based on an annual rotation by conference.

In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XIII.

at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta

This was a matchup of two teams that had ended prolonged postseason droughts. The Falcons were in the playoffs for the first time in their 13-year history while the Eagles were playing their first playoff game since their victory in the 1960 NFL Championship Game.

Philadelphia had been decimated by problems at the placekicker position all year long. Starting kicker Nick Mike-Mayer had made just 8 of 17 field goal attempts before suffering a season-ending injury in week 12. To replace him, coach Dick Vermeil used punter Mike Michel. Michel had done some placekicking in college, so Vermeil assigned him both roles. This did not pay off, as Michel missed 3 of 12 extra points during the remainder of the season, performing so poorly that the Eagles started attempting fourth down conversions deep in opponent territory rather than field goals. Coming into this playoff game, Michel had not attempted a single field goal, and the Eagles' issues in the kicking game played a decisive role in their loss. Coincidentally, the Falcons kicker in this game, rookie Tim Mazzetti, had been cut by Philadelphia in the preseason.