Divisional playoffs 1995–96 NFL playoffs

1 divisional playoffs

1.1 january 6, 1996

1.1.1 afc: pittsburgh steelers 40, buffalo bills 21
1.1.2 nfc: green bay packers 27, san francisco 49ers 17


1.2 january 7, 1996

1.2.1 nfc: dallas cowboys 30, philadelphia eagles 11
1.2.2 afc: indianapolis colts 10, kansas city chiefs 7

divisional playoffs
january 6, 1996
afc: pittsburgh steelers 40, buffalo bills 21

at 3 rivers stadium, pittsburgh, pennsylvania

game time: 12:30 p.m. est
game weather: 21 °f (−6 °c), clear
game attendance: 59,072
referee: larry nemmers
tv announcers (nbc): marv albert , cris collinsworth

running bam morris scored 2 touchdowns in fourth quarter steelers stopped bills, minus hall of fame defensive end bruce smith fell ill day before game, coming 20-0 deficit. end of game, steelers outgained them in total yards 409-250 , forced 4 turnovers.

pittsburgh started off scoring 76-yard drive in receiver yancy thigpen caught 43-yard pass , fullback john l. williams finished off 1-yard touchdown run. bills responded drive steelers 21-yard line, darick holmes tackled 13-yard loss defensive carnell lake , steve christie missed 52-yard field goal attempt. morris rushed 44 yards on 58-yard possession ended on neil o donnell s 13-yard touchdown completion ernie mills.

early in second quarter, steelers receiver andre hastings returned punt 12 yards bills 43-yard line, setting norm johnson s 45-yard field goal. facing 17-0 deficit, bills offense self-destructed on next drive. facing 3rd , 8, jim kelly sacked linebacker kevin green , fumbled ball. center kent hull recovered fumble buffalo, didn t much. on next play, lee flowers stormed backfield , tackled punter chris mohr on bills 12-yard line, leading johnson field goal gave pittsburgh 20-0 lead. buffalo responded drive steelers 30-yard line, lose ball when lake forced fumble thurman thomas recovered defensive chris oldham. however, bills got ball excellent field position after rohn stark punted ball 33 yards steelers 49. kelley got team 1-yard line 3 completions, hitting tony cline 17 yards, andre reed 5, , steve tasker 26. thomas ran ball end zone, cutting score 20-7. 45 seconds remained in half, o donnell proved challenge of earning team more points, completing 4 consecutive passes 53 yards team bills 16-yard line. johnson finished drive third field goal, giving steelers 23-7 halftime lead.

in third quarter, lake intercepted pass kelly , returned 3 yards buffalo 25-yard line, leading johnson s fourth field goal put team 26-7. both teams had punt on following drives, , tasker returned stark s 30-yard punt 4 yards steelers 42-yard line. few plays later, took handoff on reverse , ran 40 yards 3. alex van pelt (who replaced injured jim kelly) finished drive 2-yard touchdown pass cline, making score 26-14.

early in fourth quarter, buffalo took advantage of yet poor punt stark, 1 31-yard kick gave them ball on pittburgh 36. van pelt guided team 11-yard line, kelly returned field , hit thomas 9-yard scoring completion, cutting score 26-21 11:23 left in game. pittsburgh marched 76 yards, including o donnell s 3rd down conversion passes thigpen , andre hastings gains of 21 , 17 yards, score on morris 13-yard touchdown run, increasing lead 33-21. following 3 drives result in interceptions, kelly throwing pick jerry olsavsky , matt darby nabbing pass o donnell. on next play, linebacker levon kirkland intercepted pass kelly , returned 4 yards bills 23-yard line set morris 2-yard score 1:58 remaining clinch victory.

with steelers win, snapped bills 10 game postseason winning streak against afc dating 1990. morris rushed 106 yards , caught 2 passes 7. lake had interception , fumble recovery.

nfc: green bay packers 27, san francisco 49ers 17

at 3com park @ candlestick point, san francisco

game time: 4:00 p.m. est/1:00 p.m. pst
game weather: 59 °f (15 °c), clear
game attendance: 69,311
referee: bob mcelwee
tv announcers (fox): dick stockton , matt millen

for first time ever since becoming head coach of packers, mike holmgren coaching against former team offensive coordinator , quarterbacks coach 6 seasons.

the packers jumped 21–0 lead en route 27–17 victory. green bay quarterback brett favre threw 222 yards in first half, , ended completing 21 out of 28 passes 299 yards , 2 touchdowns. receiver robert brooks caught 4 passes 103 yards. meanwhile, defense sacked 49ers quarterback steve young 3 times , intercepted him twice. young ended setting playoff record 65 pass attempts, completed 32 of them 328 yards. added 77 yards on ground. second playoff game in row, green bay did not lose turnovers, while 49ers turned ball on 4 times.

the packers took opening kickoff , held onto ball 7:11 before kicker chris jacke s 44-yard field goal attempt blocked 49ers defensive tim mcdonald. on san francisco s first play, running adam walker fumbled after being hit linebacker wayne simmons. rookie defensive craig newsome picked ball , returned 31 yards touchdown. after forcing 49ers punt, packers advanced 62 yards, favre completing 35-yard pass tight end keith jackson , 20-yarder brooks, score on favre s 3-yard touchdown jackson, finished day 4 receptions 101 yards.

green bay later drive 72 yards in 7 plays score on tight end mark chmura s 13-yard touchdown reception before young s 32-yard completion jerry rice set jeff wilkins 21-3 field goal cut lead 21–3 @ end of half. in second half, jacke kicked 2 field goals while 49ers manage 2 touchdowns: 1-yard run young , 2-yarder running derek loville.

this time during 1990s nfc team won divisional playoff game on road. rice finished game 11 receptions 117 yards, while 49ers tight end brent jones had 8 catches 112.

january 7, 1996
nfc: dallas cowboys 30, philadelphia eagles 11

at texas stadium, irving, texas

game time: 12:30 p.m. est/11:30 a.m. cst
game weather: 32 °f (0 °c), clear
game attendance: 64,371
referee: gerald austin
tv announcers (fox): pat summerall , john madden

with eagles starting quarterback rodney peete injured on, cowboys held philadelphia 227 yards , 11 points.

the cowboys scored on second drive of game, moving ball 37 yards chris boniol s 24-yard field goal. following eagles punt, mark mcmillian intercepted pass dallas quarterback troy aikman , returned 34 yards cowboys 43, setting gary anderson s 26-yard field goal on first play of second quarter. on philadelphia s field goal drive, peete suffered concussion when tackled darren woodson 1 yard short of first down on dallas 9-yard line, knocking him out of game , randall cunningham replaces him.

in second quarter, dallas running emmitt smith rushed 4 times 25 yards , caught 22-yard reception on 70-yard drive deion sanders finished 21-yard touchdown on end-around run. eagles managed 1 first down before punting. cowboys marched 79 yards, including troy aikman s completions of 37 , 26 yards receiver kevin williams , fullback daryl johnston. johnston s catch gave team first down on eagles 1-yard line, , smith ran ball end zone on next play, giving team 17-3 lead 3:42 left in half.

williams returned second half kickoff 24 yards dallas-yard line, , caught 34-yard pass team drove 59 yards score on boniol s 18-yard field goal, making score 20-3. on dallas next drive, upped lead 23-3 boniol s franchise record 51-yard field goal.

in fourth quarter, sanders intercepted pass cunningham , returned 12 yards eagles 21-yard line, leading final score on aikman s 9-yard pass michael irvin. eagles responded cunningham completed 4/5 passes 63 yards before taking ball end zone himself on 4-yard run. completed pass 2-point conversion, 2:36 remained in game.

aikman finished game 17/24 253 yards , touchdown, 1 interception. irvin, double teamed of game, had 1 reception, williams caught 6 passes 124 yards , returned 2 kickoffs 45. smith rushed 99 yards , touchdown, while catching 3 passes 40. eagles running ricky watters, rushed 1,273 yards during season, finished game 39 yards on 13 attempts, though caught 4 passes 45 yards.

afc: indianapolis colts 10, kansas city chiefs 7

at arrowhead stadium, kansas city, missouri

game time: 4:00 p.m. est/3:00 p.m. cst
game weather: 14 °f (−10 °c), clear
game attendance: 77,594
referee: jerry markbreit
tv announcers (nbc): dick enberg, phil simms, , paul maguire

the chiefs, held league s best record during regular season (13–3), heavily favored beat 9–7 colts, particularly since indianapolis star running marshall faulk inactive due injury, along defensive lineman tony siragusa due illness. end of game, kansas city lost 4 turnovers , kicker lin elliot missed 3 field goals en route 10–7 colts upset.

after first 4 possessions of game resulted in punts, kansas city scored on quarterback steve bono s 20-yard touchdown wide receiver lake dawson 29 seconds left in first quarter on drive covered 62 yards in 5 plays. indianapolis countered long methodical 18-play drive in converted 5 third downs , 1 fourth down on way jim harbaugh s 5-yard touchdown pass receiver floyd turner tie game. harbaugh had made several key plays on drive, converting 3rd , 11 18-yard scramble , 3 plays later finding receiver aaron bailey 13-yard completion on 3rd , 10. running lamont warren made big play converting 4th , 1 situation 4-yard gain. later on, colts kicker cary blanchard missed 47-yard field goal attempt 57 seconds left in half. kansas city drove colts 17-yard line, have elliot hit uprights 35 yards out.

in third period, colts defensive ashley ambrose intercepted pass bono @ midfield, setting blanchard s 30-yard field goal give team lead. in fourth quarter, chiefs reached indianapolis 22-yard line, got missed field goal, 1 39 yards 10:36 left play. indianapolis failed gain first down next 2 drives, while bono threw consecutive interceptions, 1 linebacker quentin coryatt , cornerback eugene daniel. after coryatt interception, colts had chance increase lead, blanchard missed field goal attempt 49 yards out. 4:12 left in game, rich gannon replaced bono , led chiefs own 18 colts 25-yard line. 42 seconds left, elliot missed third field goal of day, 42-yard attempt, , indianapolis escaped win.