1982 NFL Season — Final Standings
A special 9-game season: a 57-day players' strike cut the regular season from 16 games to 9 (7 games per team cancelled outright, not made up). For this one season only, the NFL abandoned division-based playoff seeding entirely and instead took the top 8 teams in each conference by overall record, regardless of division, into a one-time 16-team "Super Bowl Tournament" seeded 1-8 per conference — the seed numbers below reflect that conference-wide seeding, not the usual division-winner/wild-card split used in every other season on this site. Two teams with losing records (Cleveland and Detroit, both 4-5) made the playoffs, a first in NFL history. Washington went on to win Super Bowl XVII.
AFC East
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | MDMiami Dolphins | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | - |
| 6 | NYJNew York Jets | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 1 |
| 7 | NEPNew England Patriots | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 2 |
| — | BBBuffalo Bills | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 3 |
| — | BCBaltimore Colts | 0 | 8 | 1 | .056 | 6.5 |
AFC Central
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | CBCincinnati Bengals | 7 | 2 | 0 | .778 | - |
| 4 | PSPittsburgh Steelers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 1 |
| 8 | CBCleveland Browns | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 3 |
| — | HOHouston Oilers | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 | 6 |
AFC West
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LARLos Angeles Raiders | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | - |
| 5 | SDCSan Diego Chargers | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2 |
| — | SSSeattle Seahawks | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 4 |
| — | KCCKansas City Chiefs | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 5 |
| — | DBDenver Broncos | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 6 |
NFC East
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WRWashington Redskins | 8 | 1 | 0 | .889 | - |
| 2 | DCDallas Cowboys | 6 | 3 | 0 | .667 | 2 |
| 6 | SLCSt. Louis Cardinals | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 3 |
| — | NYGNew York Giants | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 4 |
| — | PEPhiladelphia Eagles | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 5 |
NFC Central
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | GBPGreen Bay Packers | 5 | 3 | 1 | .611 | - |
| 4 | MVMinnesota Vikings | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 0.5 |
| 7 | TBBTampa Bay Buccaneers | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | 0.5 |
| 8 | DLDetroit Lions | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1.5 |
| — | CBChicago Bears | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 2.5 |
NFC West
| Seed | Team | W | L | T | PCT | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | AFAtlanta Falcons | 5 | 4 | 0 | .556 | - |
| — | NOSNew Orleans Saints | 4 | 5 | 0 | .444 | 1 |
| — | SF4San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 6 | 0 | .333 | 2 |
| — | LARLos Angeles Rams | 2 | 7 | 0 | .222 | 3 |
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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