To determine the champion of the National Football League for the 2010-11 season, the top 12 teams in the league at the conclusion of the regular season participate in a single-elimination playoff. The 2010-11 NFL Playoffs began on January 8, 2011, and continue through February 6, 2011, when Super Bowl XLV is played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.http://www.nfl.com/more/nflcalendar

The teams that compete in the 2010-11 NFL Playoffs were determined at the conclusion of the 2010 regular season on January 2, 2011. Starting with the 2011 NFL Wild Card Weekend, the playoffs run for three consecutive weeks as the field is narrowed to two teams, the American Football Conference Champion and the 2011 National Football Conference Champion, who will play in the Super Bowl.http://www.nfl.com/more/nflcalendar

At the conclusion of the regular season, each of the leaders in the eight conferences in the National Football League will earn an automatic place in the playoffs. Two teams from each the NFC and AFC will also be selected to participate in the playoffs and are selected by the best record among teams that did not finish atop their respective divisions.http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures

In the NFL Wild Card Weekend, the top two teams in each conference based on regular-season record receive a bye and do not play. The bottom four teams in each conference compete in the wild-card round with the two teams in each conference that win their wild-card games continuing on to the NFL Divisional Weekend. That round will eliminate two of the four remaining teams in each conference, leaving two in each the AFC and NFC to play in the respective conference championship games. To determine the champion of the league for the season, the AFC Champion plays against the NFC Champion in the Super Bowl.http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/machine http://www.nfl.com/more/nflcalendar