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1982–83 NFL playoffs
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1982–83 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1982 season began on January 8, 1983. The postseason tournament concluded with the Washington Redskins defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, 27–17, on January 30, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
A players' strike reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff format (dubbed the "Super Bowl Tournament"), just for this year. Division standings were ignored (although each division did send at least one team to the playoffs). Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular-season records.
Because of the eight-game first round, this was the first time that NFL playoff games were regionally televised across the United States instead of nationwide. The NFL could have televised all eight games nationwide had it scheduled one game in each conference in the four broadcast windows; instead, AFC games were held late Saturday and early Sunday, with NFC games played early Saturday and late Sunday. (Since the 2022-23 NFL season, one first round playoff game is regionally televised in the primary markets only of the two playing teams, with the game available via streaming nationwide.) This year was also the only season in which the conference championship games were played on separate days, although the NFL has announced in case both conference championship games are held in the same city, with the two teams that share a stadium (in East Rutherford, New Jersey or Inglewood, California), one conference championship game would be played on Saturday and the other played on a Sunday.
With the altered format and expanded playoff field, this season saw the first playoff berths given to teams with losing records (win percentage < .500), as both Cleveland and Detroit finished with 4–5 records (.444). Both teams lost in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks, 2014 Carolina Panthers, 2020 Washington Football Team, and 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won their division with losing records, with the 2010 Seahawks becoming the first sub-.500 team to make the playoffs in a full-length season and becoming the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff game.
The expanded playoff format made it possible for a team to host three games in the postseason, which Washington and Miami both did. Under the typical playoff format at the time, this was not possible as all wild-card round winners would always play away games in the divisional round. With the expansion to fourteen playoff teams starting in 2020–21, it is once again possible for a team to host three playoff games in the same season. This was first exemplified in the 2021 Kansas City Chiefs.
Under the special 16-team postseason "Super Bowl Tournament" used for the 1982 strike-shortened season, the top eight teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs, and were seeded 1–8, regardless of division. Like previous seasons, the NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system: in each conference during the first three rounds, the surviving club with the best seed hosted the lowest surviving seed. For Super Bowl XVII, the championship round of the playoffs, the designated home team was still based on the annual rotation by conference (NFC for this season).
In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XVII.
The players' strike and the reduced regular season caused the playoffs and Super Bowl to be delayed by one week than what they were originally scheduled for (the playoffs in the 1980s usually began at or near the last weekend of December). Because of the eight-game first round, this was the first time that NFL playoff games were regionally televised across the United States instead of nationwide. The league still used the two traditional weekend 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST time slots, and did not hold prime time postseason games until the 2001–02 playoffs. Furthermore, scheduling conflicts with college basketball on CBS that had been previously set before the NFL playoffs were rescheduled following the resumption of play forced the conference championship games to be played on separate days.
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1982–83 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1982 season began on January 8, 1983. The postseason tournament concluded with the Washington Redskins defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, 27–17, on January 30, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
A players' strike reduced the regular season to nine games. Thus, the league used a special 16-team playoff format (dubbed the "Super Bowl Tournament"), just for this year. Division standings were ignored (although each division did send at least one team to the playoffs). Eight teams from each conference were seeded 1–8 based on their regular-season records.
Because of the eight-game first round, this was the first time that NFL playoff games were regionally televised across the United States instead of nationwide. The NFL could have televised all eight games nationwide had it scheduled one game in each conference in the four broadcast windows; instead, AFC games were held late Saturday and early Sunday, with NFC games played early Saturday and late Sunday. (Since the 2022-23 NFL season, one first round playoff game is regionally televised in the primary markets only of the two playing teams, with the game available via streaming nationwide.) This year was also the only season in which the conference championship games were played on separate days, although the NFL has announced in case both conference championship games are held in the same city, with the two teams that share a stadium (in East Rutherford, New Jersey or Inglewood, California), one conference championship game would be played on Saturday and the other played on a Sunday.
With the altered format and expanded playoff field, this season saw the first playoff berths given to teams with losing records (win percentage < .500), as both Cleveland and Detroit finished with 4–5 records (.444). Both teams lost in the first round of the playoffs. Since then, the 2010 Seattle Seahawks, 2014 Carolina Panthers, 2020 Washington Football Team, and 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won their division with losing records, with the 2010 Seahawks becoming the first sub-.500 team to make the playoffs in a full-length season and becoming the first sub-.500 team to win a playoff game.
The expanded playoff format made it possible for a team to host three games in the postseason, which Washington and Miami both did. Under the typical playoff format at the time, this was not possible as all wild-card round winners would always play away games in the divisional round. With the expansion to fourteen playoff teams starting in 2020–21, it is once again possible for a team to host three playoff games in the same season. This was first exemplified in the 2021 Kansas City Chiefs.
Under the special 16-team postseason "Super Bowl Tournament" used for the 1982 strike-shortened season, the top eight teams from each conference qualified for the playoffs, and were seeded 1–8, regardless of division. Like previous seasons, the NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system: in each conference during the first three rounds, the surviving club with the best seed hosted the lowest surviving seed. For Super Bowl XVII, the championship round of the playoffs, the designated home team was still based on the annual rotation by conference (NFC for this season).
In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XVII.
The players' strike and the reduced regular season caused the playoffs and Super Bowl to be delayed by one week than what they were originally scheduled for (the playoffs in the 1980s usually began at or near the last weekend of December). Because of the eight-game first round, this was the first time that NFL playoff games were regionally televised across the United States instead of nationwide. The league still used the two traditional weekend 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST time slots, and did not hold prime time postseason games until the 2001–02 playoffs. Furthermore, scheduling conflicts with college basketball on CBS that had been previously set before the NFL playoffs were rescheduled following the resumption of play forced the conference championship games to be played on separate days.
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