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 | ||||
| Champion | Pittsburgh Steelers | ||||
| Runner-up | Seattle Seahawks | ||||
| Conference runners-up | |||||
| |||||
The National Football League playoffs for the 2005 season began on January 7, 2006. The postseason tournament concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21–10, on February 5, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
After scrutiny in the Wild Card and Divisional rounds, the league reversed a two-year policy, and returned to "all star" officiating crews for the Conference Championship games. Since the 2003–04 NFL playoffs, postseason officiating had been done by entire crews from the regular season.