The National Football League playoffs for the 1978 season began on December 24, 1978. The postseason tournament concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII, 35–31, on January 21, 1979, at the Orange Bowl in Miami. This was the first year that the playoffs expanded to a ten-team format, adding a second wild card team (a fifth seed) from each conference. The two wild card teams from each conference (the 4 and 5 seeds) played each other in the first round, called the "Wild Card Playoffs." The division winners (seeds 1, 2, and 3) automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs, which became the second round of the playoffs. However, the league continued to prohibit meetings between two teams from the same division in the divisional playoffs. Thus, there could be times when the pairings in that round would be the no. 1 seed vs. the no. 3 seed and no. 2 vs. no. 4. Participants Bracket Schedule In the United States, CBS televised the NFC playoff games, while NBC broadcast the AFC games and Super Bowl XIII. Wild Card playoffs Sunday, December 24, 1978 NFC: Atlanta Falcons 14, Philadelphia Eagles 13 This was a matchup of two teams that had ended prolonged postseason droughts. The Falcons were in the playoffs for the first time in their 13-year history while the Eagles were playing their first playoff game since their victory in the 1960 NFL Championship Game. Philadelphia had been decimated by problems at the placekicker position all year long. Starting kicker Nick Mike-Mayer had made just 8 of 17 field goal attempts before suffering a season-ending injury in week 12. To replace him, coach Dick Vermeil used punter Mike Michel. Michel had done some placekicking in college, so Vermeil assigned him both roles. This did not pay off, as Michel missed 3 of 12 extra points during the remainder of the season, performing so poorly that the Eagles started attempting fourth down conversions deep in opponent territory rather than field goals. Coming into this playoff game, Michel had not attempted a single field goal, and the Eagles' issues in the kicking game played a decisive role in their loss. Coincidentally, the Falcons kicker in this game, rookie Tim Mazzetti, had been cut by Philadelphia in the preseason. The Falcons won their first playoff game in team history after they overcame a 13–0 deficit by scoring