NFL playoffs, 1997-98
| Dates | December 27, 1997–January 25, 1998 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1997 | ||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Games played | 11 | ||||
| Super Bowl XXXII site | |||||
| Defending champions | Green Bay Packers | ||||
| Champions | Denver Broncos | ||||
| Runners-up | Green Bay Packers | ||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 1997 season began on December 27, 1997. The postseason tournament concluded with the Denver Broncos defeating the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII, 31–24, on January 25, 1998, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
Within each conference, the three division winners and the three wild card teams (the top three non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The three division winners were seeded 1 through 3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams were seeded 4 through 6. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there were no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosted the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosted the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then received a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosted the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5 or 6), while the number 2 seed played the other team (seed 3, 4 or 5). 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 fourth and final round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
The 1997 playoffs were notable for featuring four teams from the NFC Central. At fourth place were the Vikings, who had started the year a promising 8-2 before losing five straight games and barely making the postseason with a 9-7 record. The Vikings had made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, but had lost each time in the first round. This time, however, they managed to earn a win by scoring 10 points in the final 90 seconds of the game.
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