2011–12 NFL playoffs
| Dates | January 7–February 5, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2011 | ||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Games played | 11 | ||||
| Defending champions | Green Bay Packers | ||||
| Champions | New York Giants | ||||
| Runners-up | New England Patriots | ||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 2011 season began on January 7, 2012. The postseason tournament concluded with the New York Giants defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, 21–17, on February 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
NBC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games and Super Bowl XLVI. CBS telecast the rest of the AFC playoff games and Fox the rest of the NFC games.
The Detroit Lions and Houston Texans both made team history with their clinching of playoff spots. The Lions had not been to the playoffs since 1999 while the Texans, who entered the league in 2002, had never made the playoffs in its nine season history. The Buffalo Bills, who were eliminated from playoff contention for the twelfth straight year, are the only team that have not made the playoffs in the 21st century. This team was tied with the Lions for the overall longest failure streak entering the season (the Bills had also not made the playoffs since qualifying as a wild card in 1999 where they were defeated by the Tennessee Titans).
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05)
This was the second postseason that the modified playoff overtime rules were in effect. Under these rules, instead of a straight sudden death, the game will not immediately end if the team that wins the coin toss scores a field goal on its first possession (the game will end if a touchdown is scored by the offense or if the defense scores a safety on the first possession of the overtime period). Instead, the other team will get a possession. If the loser of the coin toss scores a touchdown on that possession, it will be declared the winner. If the winner of the coin toss does not score on its first possession, or if both teams score field goals on their first possession, the game will revert to sudden death.
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