Question: When did the playoffs begin in the football season where the AFC won their last Super Bowl until Super Bowl XXXII?
Context: The National Football League playoffs for the 1983 season began on December 24, 1983.  The postseason tournament concluded with the Los Angeles Raiders defeating the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, 38–9, on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The 1982 Miami Dolphins season was the team's seventeenth in the National Football League.  The team was coming off an unexpected 11-4-1 1981 season and a devastating loss to the San Diego Chargers in the Divisional Round the previous season in a game dubbed the Epic in Miami.  The Dolphins had clinched the 2 seed and were picked by many to reach the Super Bowl during the 1981 season.  Because of the high number of picks to reach the Super Bowl the previous season, many more fans picked them to win it during the 1982 season.  The Dolphins looked to improve on their 11-4-1 record from 1981.  However, a players strike cancelled 7 of the team's 16 games.  Because of this, the NFL schedule was shrunk to 9 games.  The Dolphins started out fresh, winning their first 2 games prior to the strike.  When season play resumed 2 months later, the Dolphins defeated the Buffalo Bills 9-7 in Buffalo to clinch a 3-0 start.  After a loss to Tampa Bay, they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 22-14.  The next week, they lost a brisk game against the Patriots 3-0 in a game called the Snowplow Game.  The Dolphins would then win 3 straight games to end the season 7-2, tied for 2nd in the AFC with the Cincinnati Bengals.  The Dolphins won 2nd place over them by virtue of a series of tiebreakers.  In the playoffs, they defeated the Patriots in a rematch by the score of 28-13.  They then defeated the Chargers in a rematch of the 1981 Divisional Playoffs by a score of 34-13.  In the AFC Championship game, they shutout the Jets, 14-0 to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1973.  In Super Bowl XVII, they lost to the Redskins 27-17 in a rematch of Super Bowl VII which concluded Miami's perfect 1972 season. Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2002 season.  The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders by the score of 48–21, tied with Super Bowl XXXV for the seventh largest Super Bowl margin of victory, and winning their first ever Super Bowl.  The game, played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, was the sixth Super Bowl to be held a week after the conference championship games (XVII, XXV, XXVIII, XXXIV, and XXXVI).  It was also the last Super Bowl played in the month of January.  Super Bowl XXXVI was the first to be played in February, due to the NFL postponing games for a week after the September 11 attacks.  Starting with Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, the Super Bowl has been permanently played in February.  This was the last Super Bowl until Super Bowl 50 to take place in California. Thunder is the stage name for the horse who is the official live animal mascot for the Denver Broncos football team.  Three purebred Arabians have held this role since 1993, all gray horses whose coats lightened with age until they turned completely white.  Sharon Magness-Blake has owned all three horses, and Ann Judge has been their rider since 1998 and trainer since 1999.  s of 2016 , Thunder has appeared in four Super Bowls with the team since 1998.  The original Thunder performed in Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII and Thunder III appeared in Super Bowl XLVIII and Super Bowl 50.  Thunder III also made appearances in Times Square and on television morning news shows in New York City as part of the pre-game promotion for Super Bowl XLVIII.  He routinely appears in parades, makes hospital and school visits, and attends various other public functions.  He has been flown on airplanes, ridden in elevators, and appeared indoors at press conferences and banquets. Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Los Angeles Raiders to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1983 season.  The Raiders defeated the Redskins by the score of 38–9.  The Raiders, coached by Tom Flores,' 38 points and their 29-point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records; it still remains the most points scored by an AFC team in a Super Bowl.  The game was played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the first time the Super Bowl was held in that city.  This would be the AFC's last Super Bowl win until Super Bowl XXXII, won by the Denver Broncos. Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1997 season.  The Broncos defeated the Packers by the score of 31–24.  The game was played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, the second time that the Super Bowl was held in that city.  Super Bowl XXXII also made Qualcomm Stadium the only stadium in history to have the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same year. Glenn E. Cadrez (born January 2, 1970) is a former American football linebacker who played 11 seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the Denver Broncos.  He played for the Broncos from 1995 to 2000 and was a starter in Super Bowl XXXIII and also played in Super Bowl XXXII.  He was the #154 pick in the 1992 NFL draft out of the University of Houston.  He played for the New York Jets (1992–1995), Denver Broncos (1995–2000) and Kansas City Chiefs (2001–2002).  He was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week 10/11/98-10/17/98. The history of the Denver Broncos American football club began when the team was chartered a member of the American Football League in 1960.  The Broncos have played in the city of Denver, Colorado throughout their entire history.  The Broncos did not win any titles as members of the AFL.  Since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, the Broncos have won 15 division titles, and played in eight Super Bowls, following the 1977, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013, and 2015 seasons.  They won Super Bowl XXXII, Super Bowl XXXIII and Super Bowl 50.  Their most famous player is former quarterback John Elway, starting quarterback in five Super Bowls and holder of many NFL records.  The Broncos currently play in the National Football League's AFC West division.  Their current leadership includes owner Pat Bowlen, CEO Joe Ellis, VP John Elway, head coach Vance Joseph, and quarterback, Trevor Siemian. Dick Hantak (born c. 1938) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 years between 1978 and 2003.  He began his NFL officiating career as a back judge and became a referee eight years later.  During his career, he officiated in two Super Bowls, Super Bowl XVII in 1983 as a back judge and later as a referee in Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, both at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and selected as an alternate for Super Bowl XXXII in 1998.  He was one of the first officials to wear a three-digit uniform number, wearing number 105 except for 1979-81, when officials were numbered separately by position. The 1997 Denver Broncos season was the team's 38th, and 28th in the National Football League (NFL).  The Broncos finished the season with a record of 12–4, finishing second in the AFC West, and winning Super Bowl XXXII.  The Broncos were the second team since the 1970 merger to win a Super Bowl (Oakland Raiders won in 1980) as a Wild Card team; the Kansas City Chiefs were an AFL wild card entrant who won the pre-merger Super Bowl IV in 1969.
Answer: December 24, 1983