Greatest set of teams in a single postseason

[Bryan]

Very open-ended question...what do you consider the greatest/strongest set of teams participating in a single postseason? I thought this year's postseason was interesting, because both #6 seeds were very capable of winning the Super Bowl and most every team was strong (Texans and Redskins notwithstanding). Doing some informal 'research', here is what I came up with:

1973 - Dolphins, Raiders, Steelers, Bengals (love this team)...Cowboys, Redskins, Rams (love this team too), Vikings
7 Hall of Fame coaches for the 8 teams, with Chuck Knox being HOVG. 6 HOF QBs (if you count Jurgensen) with Anderson being HOF in all but name and Hadl being HOVG. Just some stacked teams either near or at the peak of their powers.

1976 - Raiders, Steelers, Pats, Colts...Vikings, Rams, Cowboys, Redskins
Another set of great 70's teams. Two things stood out to me about this group...the overall records were fantastic, and two tough 10-4 teams (Bengals & Cards) were left out. The NFC setup is the same as 1973. I think the 1973 group is stronger because they have the Dolphins.

[ChrisBabcock]

1982. Just kidding.

[MatthewToy]

1994 needs to be in the discussion. Look at the AFC wild card games alone. One game had Marino vs Montana while the other had Parcells vs Belichick. The winner of that game had to come to "Blitzburgh" (I hated that nickname). The NFC had the class of the league between Dallas and San Francisco. Plus a young Brett Favre led Packers team making the divisional round.

[Reaser]

Based on league structure and playoff formats alone it really narrows the options, for me.

I assume prior to 1967 defeats the purpose of the question, and I can't stand wild cards (can handle one per conference at most) so '78 and on doesn't work for me. I'd say the period in the original post and the two years mentioned are good choices.

[Todd Pence]

1973 - Dolphins, Raiders, Steelers, Bengals (love this team)...Cowboys, Redskins, Rams (love this team too), Vikings
7 Hall of Fame coaches for the 8 teams, with Chuck Knox being HOVG. 6 HOF QBs (if you count Jurgensen) with Anderson being HOF in all but name and Hadl being HOVG. Just some stacked teams either near or at the peak of their powers.

Yet the 1973 postseason itself was one of the dullest ever, with only the two NFC Divisional games reasonably competitive.

The year that immediately came to mind was '75, when two 10-4 teams (Dolphins and Oilers) were left out. Combined regular season record of the final round of eight: 89-23.

[JohnH19]

1973 was the first year that jumped to my mind. All eight teams were at or near the height of their powers. 1975 was also a good choice.

[JohnTurney]

a good Cards team was left out in NFC

[Rupert Patrick]

a good Cards team was left out in NFC

Along with 10-4 Bengals and 9-5 Browns and Broncos.

[Gary Najman]

Of the post-1978 my favorite is 1980:

AFC: All 5 teams (Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston, San Diego and Oakland) were 11-5.

NFC: Three teams with 12-4 mark (philadelphia, Dallas and Atlanta), one 11-5 (Los Angeles) and the only weak link, Minnesota at 9-7.

[BD Sullivan]

NFC: Three teams with 12-4 mark (philadelphia, Dallas and Atlanta), one 11-5 (Los Angeles) and the only weak link, Minnesota at 9-7.

Ironically, Minnesota made Philly (seven-point favorites) sweat some puddles in their playoff game, leading 14-0 with just under six minutes left in the first half. However, the rest of the game was all Philly, outscoring the Vikes 31-2.

As much as I'd like to say the 1976 Browns were a potential playoff team, they really weren't. Eight of their nine wins came against teams with losing records, with those teams putting together a collective mark of 33-79, and five of the wins were by four points or less. The one win against a winning team was versus the Steelers at home--when Pittsburgh was bottoming out. That game is most famous for Joe Jones nearly breaking Terry Bradshaw's neck with a pile-driving sack.