NFC - First Round
1989 San Francisco 49ers 35 - 1991 Detroit Lions 10 Box
(Roger Craig totals 131 yards and 3 TD's to lead the 49ers over the Lions. Joe Montana threw for 346 yards and 3 scores and the San Francisco defense held Barry Sanders to 51 yards on 18 carries.)
2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 - 1986 New York Giants 3 Box
(The Buccaneer defense suffocated the Giants all day, allowing New York only 217 yards total offense. Brad Johnson threw 2 TD's and Michael Pittman totaled 111 yards and a TD in the victory)
1996 Green Bay Packers 27 - 2005 Seattle Seahawks 17 Box
(Brett Favre hit on 24 of 29 for 255 yards and a score and the Packers picked off Matt Hasselbeck 3 times. Shaun Alexander rushed for 146 yards a score in the loss for the Seahawks)
2004 Philadelphia Eagles 27 - 2009 New Orleans Saints 24 Box
(Brian Westbrook ran for 146 yards and the Eagles held off a furious Saints rally to pull off the upset. The Eagles rush for 234 yards and sack Drew Brees 4 times in the win)
1992 Dallas Cowboys 30 - 2003 Carolina Panthers 27 OT Box
(Lin Elliott's 42 yard FG in overtime helps the Cowboys survive and advance. Emmitt Smith totaled 222 yards and 2 scores and Troy Aikman hit Michael Irvin for 22 yards on 3rd in 10 to set-up the game-winner from Elliott)
1999 St. Louis Rams 44 - 1998 Minnesota Vikings 13 Box
(Kurt Warner dissected the Vikings defense for 302 yards and 4 TD's, while Marshall Faulk added 163 yards on the ground and caught a TD in the blowout. Randall Cunningham threw 2 INT's and Minnesota gave up 492 yards in the loss)
1991 Washington Redskins 21 - 1998 Atlanta Falcons 7 Box
(Earnest Byner rushed for 103 yards and scored 2 TD's as the Redskins D shut down the Falcons all day. Mark Rypien threw for 2 scores for the winners)
1985 Chicago Bears 45 - 2008 Arizona Cardinals 10 Box
(The Bears out rushed the Cardinals 247-41 in an easy victory. Walter Payton rushed for 128 yards and 2 TD's, while Jim McMahon had 304 yards and 3 TD's for Chicago)
AFC - First Round
2007 New England Patriots 27 - 1986 Cleveland Browns 20 Box
(Tom Brady threw for 267 yards and 2 TD's as the Patriots held off the Browns. Bernie Kosar had 304 yards and 3 TD's in the loss, but was sacked 7 times, including twice on the potential game-tying drive)
2006 San Diego Chargers 24 - 1999 Tennessee Titans 16 Box
(LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 174 yards and 2 TD's for the victorious Chargers. Steve McNair overthrew Eddie George on 4th and 11 with a minute to go to seal the Titans fate)
1988 Cincinnati Bengals 21 - 1983 Los Angeles Raiders 9 Box
(Ickey Woods shuffled for 3 TD's and the Bengals defense held the Raiders to 9 points in the win. Marcus Allen ran for 147 yards, but Los Angeles made mistake after mistake in Cincinnati territory)
1998 New York Jets 48 - 2006 Indianapolis Colts 27 Box
(Curtis Martin gashed the Colts for 222 yards and 3 TD's, while Leon Johnson added 151 yards and a score on just 9 carries as the Jets shocked the Colts a la Super Bowl III. Peyton Manning threw 2 TD's in the loss, but could not overcome 388 yards rushing from New York)
1998 Denver Broncos 24 - 2009 Houston Texans 21 Box
(Terrell Davis scored from 12 yards out with 1:29 to play, his second TD of the 4th quarter, to lead the Broncos to victory. Houston could not muster anything on a final drive and wasted 364 yards passing by Matt Schaub. John Elway hit Rod Smith for 15 yards on 4th and 8 prior to the winner from Davis)
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers 19 - 1990 Buffalo Bills 0 Box
(The Steelers defense held Buffalo to 184 total yards and pitched a shutout on the high-powered Bills offense. Jeff Reed kicked 4 FG's and Willie Parker had the lone TD in the win)
1999 Jacksonville Jaguars 27 - 1984 Miami Dolphins 24 Box
(Mike Hollis hit a 54 yard FG as time expired as the Jaguars shocked the Dolphins in the first round. Jacksonville rushed for 232 yards and Mark Brunell passed for a pair of TD's and also hit two passed for 42 yards to set-up Hollis for the game-winner)
2000 Baltimore Ravens 62 - 2003 Kansas City Chiefs 10 Box
(Jamal Lewis ran for 210 yards and 4 TD's as the Ravens thumped the Chiefs. In an oddity, Priest Holmes the Raven outgained Priest Holmes the Chief 126-50 as Baltimore tallied 384 yards rushing)
NFC - Second Round
2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19 - 1989 San Francisco 49ers 14 Box
(Mike Alstott's 3 yard touchdown plunge with 1:40 left lifted Tampa Bay to a surprise victory over the 49ers in Round 2. Joe Montana drove San Francisco to the Tampa 30, but was sacked on 4th and 6 to end the hopes of San Fran. Michael Pittman ran for 109 yards, including a key 40 yard scamper on the game-winning touchdown drive. The 49ers were held to 198 yards total offense and 1.9 YPC in the defeat)
1996 Green Bay Packers 31 - 2004 Philadelphia Eagles 20 Box
(Brett Favre threw for 216 yards and 3 TD's, including two to Antonio Freeman and the Packers clipped the Eagles to advance to play Tampa Bay. The Green Bay defense held Philadelphia to 267 yards of total offense and sacked Donovan McNabb 4 times in the win. The Eagles scored 17 points in the 4th to make the game close, but did not have enough to move on)
1999 St. Louis Rams 21 - 1992 Dallas Cowboys 17 Box
(Justin Watson became an unlikely hero scoring from 11 yards out with 1:10 to play and vaulting the Rams to a mild upset over the Cowboys and into the Quarterfinals. Dallas drove to the St. Louis 13 before a Kevin Carter sack derailed the potential game-winning drive. Kurt Warner threw for 207 yard and 2 scores for the winners, while Michael Irvin had 175 yards receiving and a score for Dallas)
1985 Chicago Bears 16 - 1991 Washington Redskins 12 Box
(Jim McMahon hit Willie Gault on a 7 yard TD pass early in the 4th quarter for the only touchdown of the day to lead the Bears over the Redskins in a defensive battle. Walter Payton ground out 81 rushing yards setting up three Kevin Butler FG's. Chip Lohmiller kicked four FG's for the 'Skins to provide their only points of the day)
AFC - Second Round
2007 New England Patriots 24 - 2006 San Diego Chargers 23 Box
(Tom Brady hit Jabar Gaffney with an 11-yard TD pass with 32 seconds left to vault the Patriots into the Quarterfinals. Brady passed for 253 yards and 2 TD's, and made three key plays on the game-winning drive. First he hit Wes Welker for 5 yards on 4th and 1 to keep the drive alive, then hit Randy Moss with a big 31-yard gain that set-up the TD to Gaffney. LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 129 yards for the Chargers but it wasn't enough)
1998 New York Jets 23 - 1988 Cincinnati Bengals 22 Box
(John Hall kicked a 27-yard FG as time expired and the Jets continued their surprising run with a victory over the Bengals. Aaron Glenn intercepted a Boomer Esiason pass with 1:48 to go and Vinny Testaverde led the Jets on a 9 play 57 yard drive culminating in the Hall FG. Curtis Martin rushed for 112 yards and a TD for New York. Jim Breech kicked 5 FG's in the losing effort for Cincinnati)
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers 23 - 1998 Denver Broncos 15 Box
(Ben Roethlisberger outplayed John Elway to lead the Steelers over the Broncos and into the NFL Quarterfinals. Roethlisberger passed for 234 yards and 2 first half scores as Pittsburgh led 17-0 at the break. Elway threw for only 91 yards on the day and his only TD came with 1:21 to play in the game. Pittsburgh recovered the ensuing on-side kick and ran out the clock)
2000 Baltimore Ravens 13 - 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars 9 Box
(The relentless Raven defense held the Jaguars to 193 total yards and Kim Herring intercepted Mark Brunell twice as the Ravens scored enough to support the defense and advance. Obafemi Ayanbadejo barreled in from 2 yards out in the second quarter for the only TD of the day. The Jaguars got to the Raven 32 on their final possession, but a Peter Boulware sack of Brunell put a nail in the Jaguars)
NFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
1996 Green Bay Packers 20 - 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7 Box
(Andre Rison took a quick screen pass 91 yards for a touchdown on Green Bay's 2nd offensive play and the Packers never looked back in advancing to the NFC Championship Game. Brett Favre added a 2nd TD pass to Don Beebe later in the first quarter and ended the day 14-26 for 278 yards and zero interceptions. The Buccaneers closed the gap to 14-7 on a 2 yard TD pass from Brad Johnson to Keenan McCardell, but Tampa was held out of the endzone the rest of the day.)
1999 St. Louis Rams 20 - 1985 Chicago Bears 10 Box
(Arguably the greatest offensive force in the last 30 years won out over arguably the greatest defensive force. Marshall Faulk escaped the Bears defense for two long TD runs and the Rams advanced to the NFC Championship Game against Green Bay. For the day, Faulk had 110 yards on 18 carries, but he was bottled up for most of the day except for the two defining plays. Faulk took a hand-off 52 yards for the games first TD in the 2nd quarter and put away a 13-3 game in the 4th quarter with a 23 yard TD scamper. The Bears finally got a TD on a 66 yard pass from Jim McMahon to Willie Gault, but had no offensive answers in the games first 55 minutes)
AFC DIVISONAL PLAYOFFS
2007 New England Patriots 30 - 1999 New York Jets 27 OT Box
(Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 35 yard FG in overtime to vault the Patriots to the AFC Championship Game. Tom Brady threw for 283 yards and 2 TD's, both to Wes Welker for New England. Vinny Testaverde had 4 TD passes to keep the Jets in the game, including a 15 yarder to Wayne Chrebet with 6:39 to play to tie the game at 27. Both teams went 3 and out on their first OT possession before the Patriots marched 39 yards to set-up Gostkowski's game-winner.)
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers 14 - 2000 Baltimore Ravens 10 Box
(One-third of the Steelers yards came on one play, but that was the play they needed to advance to the AFC Championship against New England. Ben Roethlisberger connected with Hines Ward on a 79 yard TD catch and run to give the Steelers a 14-10 lead early in the 3rd quarter, a margin that stood-up over the final 26 minutes. Tony Banks hit Shannon Sharpe from 17 yards out on Baltimore's first possession, but that would be the last TD of the day for the Ravens.)
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
1999 St. Louis Rams 37 - 1996 Green Bay Packers 23 Box
(Kurt Warner threw for 256 yards and two long TD passes and the Rams scored the last 20 points and downed the Packers to advance to the NFL Championship. Warner hit Marshall Faulk for a 71 yard score and then Torry Holt for a 66 yard score, Holt's putting the Rams ahead for good 30-23 on the last play of the third quarter. Brett Favre was intercepted 3 times for Green Bay, who could only muster 281 yards of offense. Marshall Faulk had 78 yards rushing and 103 receiving for St. Louis.)
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
2008 Pittsburgh Steelers 29 - 2007 New England Patriots 27 Box
(Jeff Reed's 38 yard field goal as time expired sent the Steelers over the Patriots and into the NFL Championship Game against St. Louis. Tom Brady had put the Patriots ahead 27-26 with a 15 yard TD pass to Jabar Gaffney with 1:40 to play, but Ben Roethlisberger and Willie Parker led the Steelers 56 yards to set-up Reed's game-winner, his 5th FG of the day. Roehtlisberger finished the day with 260 yards passing and 2 TD's, while the Pittsburgh defense held Tom Brady to just 154 yards passing and New England to just 265 yards total offense. The defensive effort appeared to be wasted after the Gaffney TD, but the Steelers had one more scoring drive left in them.)
NFL CHAMPIONSHIP
1999 St. Louis Rams 16 - 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers 14 Box
(The "Greatest Show of Turf" relied on a surprisingly suffocating defense and the St. Louis Rams knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the 30 Year NFL Championship. The Rams defense held the Steelers to 247 total yards and intercepted Ben Roethlisberger 3 times. The St. Louis offense could only muster 226 yards on the day and did not break into the end zone until Marshall Faulk ran in from 14 yards with 2:15 seconds to play. The Rams won the field position battle in the first half, but had to settle for 2 Jeff Wilkins FG's and a 6-0 halftime lead. Pittsburgh broke on top on the 2nd play of the fourth quarter on a TD pass from Roethlisberger to Mewelde Moore. St. Louis responded with a drive culminating in Wilkins 3rd FG of the day to make it 9-7. After the Steelers punted, the Rams took it 50 yards, with Faulk covering the final 14 to make it 16-7. Pittsburgh scored a TD on the games final play to account for the final margin.)
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