Every 2005 NFL playoff game, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Pittsburgh Steelers won the 2005 title from a regular season record of 11-5. 12 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every game below is taken from the nflverse open data project; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card Round | New England Patriots | 28-3 | Jacksonville Jaguars | January 7, 2006 |
| Wild Card Round | Carolina Panthers | 23-0 | New York Giants | January 8, 2006 |
| Wild Card Round | Pittsburgh Steelers | 31-17 | Cincinnati Bengals | January 8, 2006 |
| Wild Card Round | Washington Redskins | 17-10 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | January 7, 2006 |
| Divisional Round | Pittsburgh Steelers | 21-18 | Indianapolis Colts | January 15, 2006 |
| Divisional Round | Denver Broncos | 27-13 | New England Patriots | January 14, 2006 |
| Divisional Round | Seattle Seahawks | 20-10 | Washington Redskins | January 14, 2006 |
| Divisional Round | Carolina Panthers | 29-21 | Chicago Bears | January 15, 2006 |
| Conference Championship | Pittsburgh Steelers | 34-17 | Denver Broncos | January 22, 2006 |
| Conference Championship | Seattle Seahawks | 34-14 | Carolina Panthers | January 22, 2006 |
| Super Bowl | Pittsburgh Steelers | 21-10 | Seattle Seahawks | February 5, 2006 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.
The races that filled this bracket: AFC Wild Card NFC Wild Card