Every 2008 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 2008 title from a regular season record of 12-4. 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 | San Diego Chargers | 23-17 | Indianapolis Colts | January 3, 2009 |
| Wild Card Round | Arizona Cardinals | 30-24 | Atlanta Falcons | January 3, 2009 |
| Wild Card Round | Baltimore Ravens | 27-9 | Miami Dolphins | January 4, 2009 |
| Wild Card Round | Philadelphia Eagles | 26-14 | Minnesota Vikings | January 4, 2009 |
| Divisional Round | Baltimore Ravens | 13-10 | Tennessee Titans | January 10, 2009 |
| Divisional Round | Arizona Cardinals | 33-13 | Carolina Panthers | January 10, 2009 |
| Divisional Round | Philadelphia Eagles | 23-11 | New York Giants | January 11, 2009 |
| Divisional Round | Pittsburgh Steelers | 35-24 | San Diego Chargers | January 11, 2009 |
| Conference Championship | Pittsburgh Steelers | 23-14 | Baltimore Ravens | January 18, 2009 |
| Conference Championship | Arizona Cardinals | 32-25 | Philadelphia Eagles | January 18, 2009 |
| Super Bowl | Pittsburgh Steelers | 27-23 | Arizona Cardinals | February 1, 2009 |
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