2005–06 NFL playoffs
| Dates | January 7 – February 5, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2005 | ||||
| Teams | 12 | ||||
| Games played | 11 | ||||
| Super Bowl XL site | |||||
| Defending champions | New England Patriots | ||||
| Champions | Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||
| Runners-up | Seattle Seahawks | ||||
| Conference runners-up | |||||
| |||||
The National Football League playoffs for the 2005 season began on January 7, 2006. The playoffs ended with the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21–10, on February 5, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
Participants[change | change source]
| Playoff seeds | ||
| Seed | AFC | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indianapolis Colts (South winner) | Seattle Seahawks (West winner) |
| 2 | Denver Broncos (West winner) | Chicago Bears (North winner) |
| 3 | Cincinnati Bengals (North winner) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (South winner) |
| 4 | New England Patriots (East winner) | New York Giants (East winner) |
| 5 | Jacksonville Jaguars (wild card) | Carolina Panthers (wild card) |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Steelers (wild card) | Washington Redskins (wild card) |
Bracket[change | change source]
| Jan 8 – Giants Stadium | Jan 15 – Soldier Field | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Carolina | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Carolina | 29 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | NY Giants | 0 | Jan 22 – Qwest Field | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 7 – Raymond James Stadium | 5 | Carolina | 14 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 14 – Qwest Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 34 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 17 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Washington | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Tampa Bay | 10 | Feb 5 – Ford Field | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Seattle | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild Card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 8 – Paul Brown Stadium | N1 | Seattle | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 15 – RCA Dome | ||||||||||||||||||
| A6 | Pittsburgh | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pittsburgh | 31 | Super Bowl XL | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Pittsburgh | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Cincinnati | 17 | Jan 22 – Invesco Field at Mile High | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Indianapolis | 18 | ||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Jan 7 – Gillette Stadium | 6 | Pittsburgh | 34 | |||||||||||||||
| Jan 14 – Invesco Field at Mile High | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Denver | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jacksonville | 3 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | New England | 13 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | New England | 28 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Denver | 27 | ||||||||||||||||
Schedule[change | change source]
| Away team | Score | Home Team | Date | Kickoff (ET / UTC–5) |
TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card playoffs | |||||
| Washington Redskins | 17–10 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | January 7, 2006 | 4:30 p.m. | ABC |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 3–28 | New England Patriots | January 7, 2006 | 8:00 p.m. | ABC |
| Carolina Panthers | 23–0 | New York Giants | January 8, 2006 | 1:00 p.m. | Fox |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 31–17 | Cincinnati Bengals | January 8, 2006 | 4:30 p.m. | CBS |
| Divisional playoffs | |||||
| Washington Redskins | 10–20 | Seattle Seahawks | January 14, 2006 | 4:30 p.m. | Fox |
| New England Patriots | 13–27 | Denver Broncos | January 14, 2006 | 8:00 p.m. | CBS |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 21–18 | Indianapolis Colts | January 15, 2006 | 1:00 p.m. | CBS |
| Carolina Panthers | 29–21 | Chicago Bears | January 15, 2006 | 4:30 p.m. | Fox |
| Conference Championships | |||||
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 34–17 | Denver Broncos | January 22, 2006 | 3:00 p.m. | CBS |
| Carolina Panthers | 14–34 | Seattle Seahawks | January 22, 2006 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
| Super Bowl XL Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan | |||||
| Seattle Seahawks | 10–21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | February 5, 2006 | 6:30 p.m. | ABC |