National Football League playoffs , 2008 - 09 The National Football League playoffs for the 2008 season began on January 3 , 2009 and led up to Super Bowl XLIII on February 1 , 2009 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa , Florida . Wild Card playoffs . Saturday , January 3 , 2009 . NFC : Arizona Cardinals 30 , Atlanta Falcons 24 . Playing in their first playoff game at home since 1947 , Arizona outgained the Falcons in total yards 357 - 250 and forced three turnovers . Atlanta running back Michael Turner , who rushed for 1 , 699 yards during the season , was held to 42 yards on 18 carries . One minute into the game , Atlanta receiver Harry Douglas gave his team a scoring opportunity by returning a punt 21 yards to the Cardinals 48 - yard line . But two plays later , rookie quarterback Matt Ryan ' s pass was intercepted by Ralph Brown . The Cardinals offense started off their ensuing drive with three runs for 21 yards by Edgerrin James , and then took the lead over the Falcons with a 42 - yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald on a flea flicker play . In the second quarter , Ryan led Atlanta 80 yards to the Cardinals 12 - yard line where Jason Elam finished the drive with a 30 - yard field goal to cut the score , 7 - 3 . But three plays after the kickoff , Warner threw a short pass to receiver Anquan Boldin , who caught the ball and cut away from Lawyer Milloy , taking off down the left sideline for a 71 - yard touchdown reception to give his team a 14 - 3 lead . At the end of the play , Boldin didnt pulled his hamstring , an injury that would nag him throughout the playoffs . Atlanta responded with touchdowns on their next two drives to take the lead before halftime . First , Ryan threw for 67 yards on a 77 - yard drive that ended with Turner ' s 7 - yard touchdown run . Then , Falcons defensive back Chevis Jackson intercepted a pass from Warner on the Cardinals 23 - yard line . Five plays later , Ryan threw a 2 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Justin Peelle , giving Atlanta a 17 - 14 lead with 23 seconds left in the second quarter . However , Arizona would score 16 unanswered points in the second half . Three plays after the second half kickoff , Darnell Dockett burst up the middle on a running play , knocking the ball out of Ryan ' s hands before he could hand it off . Antrel Rolle ( who was blitzing on the play ) snagged the ball out of midair and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown . Then following two Atlanta punts and a missed 51 - yard field goal by Neil Rackers , Arizona running back Tim Hightower finished a 76 - yard drive with a 4 - yard touchdown run , making the score 28 - 17 . Early in the fourth quarter , the Cardinals increased their lead to 30 - 17 when defensive end Antonio Smith sacked Ryan in the end zone for a safety . With 4 : 14 left in the game , Atlanta managed to get back within one touchdown with a 5 - yard touchdown pass from Ryan to Roddy White . But with the aid of a key 24 - yard reception by reserve tight end Stephen Spach ( who caught only two passes for 15 yards during the season ) on third down and 16 , the Cardinals managed to run out the rest of the clock with their ensuing drive . AFC : San Diego Chargers 23 , Indianapolis Colts 17 ( OT ) . Chargers running back Darren Sproles had 328 all - purpose yards ( 105 rushing , 45 receiving , 106 kickoff return yards , 72 yards on three punt returns ) , the third highest total in playoff history , and two touchdowns , including the game winning score in overtime . Late in the first quarter , three receptions by Colts receiver Anthony Gonzalez for 59 yards set up a 1 - yard touchdown run by Joseph Addai , putting Indianapolis on the board . In the second quarter , an 18 - yard punt return by Sproles gave the Chargers good field position on the Colts 44 - yard line . A few plays later , Philip Rivers ' 30 - yard completion to tight end Antonio Gates set up a 1 - yard touchdown run by LaDanian Tomlinson to tie the game . But two more receptions by Gonzalez , for gains of 20 and 11 yards , led to an Adam Vinatieri field goal . After an exchange of punts , Hunter Smith ' s 34 - yard punt from his own 11 - yard line gave San Diego the ball on the Colts 45 . Five plays later , Sproles scored on a 9 - yard touchdown run , giving his team a 14 - 10 halftime lead . Midway into the third quarter , Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning managed to hurry his offense onto the line of scrimmage for a play while San Diego ' s defense was making substitutions . As a result , receiver Reggie Wayne ran past defensive back Antonio Cromartie ( who didn ' t even realize the play had started ) , caught a pass from Manning , and took off for a 72 - yard touchdown catch , retaking the lead for the Colts at 17 - 14 . This would be the last score from both teams until late in fourth quarter . San Diego responded on their ensuing drive by moving the ball to the Colts 9 - yard line . But Sproles fumbled the ball into the end zone while being tackled by Tim Jennings and defensive tackle Raheem Brock recovered it for a touchback . With under three minutes left in the game , Mike Scifres ' s 52 - yard punt pinned the Colts back at their own 1 - yard line . The Colts managed to get away from their own end zone with their first two plays , but on third down and two , linebacker Tim Dobbins drove them back to the 1 by sacking Manning for an 8 - yard loss . Sproles then returned the ensuing punt 26 yards to the Colts 38 - yard line . Following two receptions by Gates for 22 yards and an 8 - yard run by Sproles , Nate Kaeding ' s field goal tied the game with 31 seconds left , sending it into sudden death . In overtime , the Chargers won the coin toss and drove for the winning score , aided by two key penalties against the Colts defense . First Sproles returned the kickoff 31 yards to his own 25 - yard line , and two plays later he caught a 13 - yard pass on third down and 11 . Six plays later from the Indianapolis 40 - yard line , Jennings was called for defensive holding while trying to cover Chris Chambers on a third down play , giving the Chargers a first down . On the next play , a 15 - yard facemask penalty on Clint Session moved the ball to the 20 . Sproles was tackled for a 2 - yard loss on the next play , but after that he ran 22 yards for a game winning touchdown to win the game for San Diego . Sunday , January 4 , 2009 . AFC : Baltimore Ravens 27 , Miami Dolphins 9 . The game featured a Dolphins offense which had an NFL - low 13 giveaways against a Ravens defense that led the league in takeaways with 34 . The Ravens defense ended up triumphant , forcing five turnovers en route to victory . On the game ' s opening drive , Baltimore running back Le ' Ron McClain lost a fumble which linebacker Joey Porter recovered and returned to midfield . Several plays later , Miami advanced to the Ravens 1 - yard line , but was unable to get into the end zone with two consecutive plays and ended up settling for a Dan Carpenter field goal to take a 3 - 0 lead . Baltimore responded with a drive to the Dolphins 5 - yard line , featuring a 31 - yard reception by tight end Todd Heap and scored with Matt Stover ' s 23 - yard field goal to tie the game . Midway through the second quarter , Ravens safety Ed Reed intercepted a pass from Chad Pennington and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown . Then after forcing a punt , Joe Flacco ' s 31 - yard completion to Derrick Mason set up Stover ' s second field goal to give the Ravens a 13 - 3 halftime lead . Miami ' s misfortunes continued in the second half . On their first drive of the second half , Pennington threw his third interception of the game . Then after a punt , Dolphins running back Patrick Cobbs lost a fumble while being tackled by Marques Douglas and linebacker Terrell Suggs recovered it on Miami ' s 19 - yard line . Three plays later , McClain scored on an 8 - yard touchdown run , making the score 20 - 3 . The Dolphins responded with a drive to the Ravens 13 - yard line , only to lose the ball on Pennington ' s fourth interception of the game , and his second to Reed . Early in the fourth quarter , Pennington ' s 45 - yard completion to Davone Bess set up his 2 - yard touchdown pass to Ronnie Brown , cutting the score to 20 - 9 after Frank Walker blocked the extra point attempt . But the Ravens defense shut out Miami for the rest of the game . Meanwhile , a 48 - yard run by Willis McGahee set up a 5 - yard touchdown by Flacco , making the final score 27 - 9 . NFC : Philadelphia Eagles 26 , Minnesota Vikings 14 . Brian Westbrook ' s 71 - yard touchdown reception in the second half gave the Eagles a two - score lead they never relinquished . Philadelphia ' s special teams unit also played a key role in their victory , as David Akers kicked four field goals , while DeSean Jackson returned 5 punts for a franchise playoff record 106 yards . Early in the first quarter , Jackson ' s 62 - yard punt return set up a field goal from Akers . Then after a punt , Donovan McNabb ' s 27 - yard completion to Correll Buckhalter set up a 51 - yard field goal by Akers on the last play of the quarter , making the score 6 - 0 . But Minnesota took the lead on their next drive with a 40 - yard touchdown run from Adrian Peterson . However , this turned out to be the only lead the Vikings would have for the entire game , and it would be short - lived . First , a 34 - yard reception by Jackson set up Akers ' third field goal . Then on Minnesota ' s next drive , defensive back Asante Samuel intercepted a pass from Tarvaris Jackson and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown , giving the Eagles a 16 - 7 lead . With less than two minutes left in the first half , Peterson scored his second touchdown on a 3 - yard run to cut deficit to 16 - 14 . But after a scoreless third quarter , Westbrook ' s 71 - yard touchdown reception put the Eagles back up by nine points . Then with less than 3 minutes left in the game , a low snap by center Matt Birk in shotgun formation bounced off Tarvaris Jackson ' s foot and was recovered by Eagles lineman Juqua Parker . Five plays later , Akers kicked his fourth field goal , this one from 45 yards , to put the game away . Divisional playoffs . Saturday , January 10 , 2009 . AFC : Baltimore Ravens 13 , Tennessee Titans 10 . Matt Stover kicked a 43 - yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining to send the Ravens into the AFC Championship Game at the expense of the Titans , as quarterback Joe Flacco became the first rookie quarterback to win two playoff games in a single postseason . Tennessee turned the ball over three times , which proved to be the difference between the two teams , as Baltimore never gave the ball away . The Titans took the lead on their second drive of the game with Kerry Collins completing a 28 - yard pass to rookie running back Chris Johnson and a 20 - yarder to Justin Gage before Johnson finished the drive with an 8 - yard touchdown run . But the Ravens answered back with a 48 - yard touchdown Flacco pass to former Titan Derrick Mason . Early in the second quarter , Tennessee drove to the Ravens 25 - yard line , only to turn the ball over on downs due to a fumbled snap on a fourth down conversion attempt . Then after forcing a punt , their drive to the Ravens 32 - yard line also ended with no points when a pass from Collins was picked off by former Titan Samari Rolle . Following another punt , the Titans moved the ball into scoring range for the third time in a row , this time driving to the Baltimore 22 . But once again they came up empty after LenDale White ' s fumble was recovered by Ravens safety Jim Leonhard with 25 seconds left in the half . In the second half , a 29 - yard punt return by Leonard and a 37 - yard reception by Mark Clayton set up a Stover field goal to take a 10 - 7 lead . Meanwhile the Titans failed to score again , as Rob Bironas missed a 51 - yard field goal and after Stover ' s field goal , and Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington forced and recovered a fumble from tight end Alge Crumpler on Baltimore ' s 1 - yard line . However , the Ravens were unable to gain any yards with their ensuing drive and Tennessee got the ball back with great field position at the Ravens 42 - yard line . This time , they managed to drive to the 10 - yard line and score with a Bironas field goal to tie the game at 10 . Two plays after the ensuing kickoff , Baltimore faced 3rd down and 2 . On the next play , the play clock appeared to expire before the snap , but no penalty flag was thrown and Flacco ended up completing a 23 - yard pass to Todd Heap . Five plays later , Stover ' s 43 - yard field goal gave the Ravens a 13 - 10 lead with 53 seconds left . Baltimore ' s defense then sealed the victory by forcing Tennessee to turn the ball over on downs on their own 40 - yard line . NFC : Arizona Cardinals 33 , Carolina Panthers 13 . Jake Delhomme was intercepted five times and lost a fumble as the Cardinals reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time in their history , winning for the first time in the Eastern time zone this season , and handing the Panthers their first home defeat of the season . Delhomme , playing on his 34th birthday , became the first player to have five picks in the playoffs since Rich Gannon in Super Bowl XXXVII , with Dominique Rodgers - Cromartie , Gerald Hayes , Antrel Rolle , Ralph Brown , and Roderick Hood all hauling the ball in . Meanwhile , Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald set a franchise postseason record with 166 yards on 8 receptions including a touchdown . Panthers receiver Mark Jones gave his team good field position on their first drive , returning the opening kickoff 39 yards to the Arizona 48 - yard line . A few plays later a 31 - yard burst from DeAngelo Williams set up a 9 - yard touchdown run by Jonathan Stewart giving Carolina a 7 - 0 lead . But this would be short lived as the Cardinals would respond with 33 unanswered points . After an exchange of punts , Kurt Warner ' s 48 - yard completion to Fitzgerald set up a 3 - yard touchdown run by Tim Hightower . Then on the first play of the Panthers next drive , Cardinals defensive end Antonio Smith knocked the ball out of Delhomme ' s hand as he was about to throw and recovered it on the Carolina 13 - yard line . One play later , Edgerrin James ' 4 - yard touchdown run gave Arizona a 14 - 7 lead . Later on , a 45 - yard pass interference penalty on Rolle gave the Panthers the ball on the Arizona 13 - yard line . But on the first play of the second quarter , Delhomme ' s pass was intercepted by Rogers - Cromartie , who returned the ball 20 yards to the 20 - yard line . Arizona then drove to the Panthers 31 - yard line where Neil Rackers made a 49 - yard field goal . Following a Carolina punt , two receptions by Fitzgerald for 42 yards set up another Rackers field goal . Then Hayes intercepted a pass from Delhomme , which led to another Arizona score , this one a 29 - yard touchdown pass from Warner to Fitzgerald , making the score 27 - 7 by halftime . The situation didn ' t get any better for the Panthers in the second half . Six minutes into the third quarter , Rolle ' s 46 - yard interception return led to Rackers ' third field goal . Then in the fourth quarter , Delhomme was intercepted on two consecutive drives . After the second one , The Cardinals executed 12 consecutive running plays with Hightower , gaining 48 yards and setting up Rackers ' fourth field goal . Carolina managed to respond with an 8 - yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to Steve Smith , but by then there were only 53 seconds left in the game . Sunday , January 11 , 2009 . NFC : Philadelphia Eagles 23 , New York Giants 11 . In what would turn out to be the final playoff game ever played at Giants Stadium , The Eagles defense forced three turnovers and only allowed the Giants to score three field goals despite five drives inside the Philadelphia 20 - yard line . Meanwhile , Eagles kicker David Akers ' three field goals gave him an NFL record 18 consecutive field goals in the postseason without a miss . New York running back Ahmad Bradshaw returned the opening kickoff 65 yards , giving his team the ball on the Eagles 35 - yard line . The Giants eventually drove to the 4 - yard line , but ended up settling for a John Carney field goal to take a 3 - 0 lead . The Giants subsequently forced a punt , but on the first play of their next drive , Eli Manning ' s pass was intercepted by defensive back Asante Samuel and returned 25 yards to the Giants 2 - yard line . A few plays later , quarterback Donovan McNabb gave his team a 7 - 3 lead with a 1 - yard touchdown run . Early in the second quarter , Jeff Feagles ' 45 - yard punt pinned the Eagles back at their own 5 - yard line . One play later , McNabb committed an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone , giving New York a safety . Following the free kick , the Giants drove to the Philadelphia 28 - yard line , but came up empty when Carney ' s 46 - yard field goal attempt sailed wide right . With just under four minutes left in the second quarter , Giants defensive back Kevin Dockery intercepted a pass from McNabb on his own 20 - yard line . Following a 25 - yard run by Brandon Jacobs and Manning ' s 25 - yard completion to tight end Kevin Boss , Carney kicked a 34 - yard field goal to give New York a 1 - point lead . But the Eagles responded with a 25 - yard field goal from Akers as time expired in the half , making the score 10 - 8 . Early in the second half , New York defensive tackle Fred Robbins intercepted a pass from McNabb and returned it 17 yards to the Eagles 33 - yard line , setting up Carney ' s third field goal to take a 11 - 10 lead . But McNabb led the Eagles back with four completions for 57 yards on their ensuing drive en route to a 35 - yard field goal from Akers . After receiving the ensuing kickoff the Giants got a first down at the Philadelphia 30 thanks to a 34 - yard over - the - shoulder catch by Domenik Hixon on third and 5 . But the drive stalled and the Giants came up empty as Carney missed a second field goal try , this one from 47 yards . After the missed field goal , McNabb led the Eagles 63 yards in 10 plays and finished the drive with a 1 - yard touchdown pass to reserve tight end Brent Celek on the first play of the fourth quarter , giving the Eagles a 20 - 11 lead . The Eagles defense then went on to dominate the fourth quarter , forcing two turnovers on downs , an interception and a fumble . Meanwhile , DeSean Jackson ' s 48 - yard reception set up Akers ' third field goal , making the final score 23 - 11 , the first time in NFL history a game has ever ended with that score . For the second straight year , the No . 1 seed in the NFC lost in the divisional round as the Cowboys lost to the Giants in the 2007 playoffs . The top seed in the NFC had advanced to the championship game every year from 1988 to 2006 . The Eagles also became the third No . 6 seed to advance to the conference championship game and first in the NFC . AFC : Pittsburgh Steelers 35 , San Diego Chargers 24 . Pittsburgh gained 342 yards , did not commit any turnovers , held the ball for 36 : 30 , and scored a touchdown in every quarter to defeat the Chargers . Willie Parker led the Steelers offense with 147 rushing yards and two touchdowns . However , the Chargers took the opening kickoff and scored with Philip Rivers ' 48 - yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson just two minutes into the game . Pittsburgh responded with a drive to the San Diego 34 - yard line . On fourth down , rather than risk a long field goal attempt , they faked attempting to gain a first down and ran a surprise pooch punt with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , who kicked the ball 25 yards to the San Diego 9 - yard line . Following a three - and - out , Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes returned Mike Scifres ' punt 65 yards for a touchdown to tie the game . Late in the second quarter , Pittsburgh tried to fool the Chargers with another trick play , this one a fake punt with a direct snap to safety Ryan Clark . But the Chargers back - up linebacker Antwan Applewhite tackled Clark for a 4 - yard loss on the Steelers 44 - yard line . Several plays later , Nate Kaeding ' s 42 - yard field goal gave San Diego a 10 - 7 lead on the first play after the two - minute warning . But with less than one minute left , Roethlisberger ' s 41 - yard completion to Hines Ward moved the ball to the Chargers 3 - yard line . On the next play , Parker ' s 3 - yard touchdown run gave the Steelers a 14 - 10 halftime lead . Pittsburgh dominated the third quarter , starting it out with a 77 - yard drive that ended with Roethlisberger ' s 8 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller . Meanwhile , their defense limited San Diego to just one play in entire quarter , an interception by linebacker Larry Foote that negated a 63 - yard kickoff return by Darren Sproles . In the fourth quarter , San Diego managed to make a goal line stand , tackling fullback Carey Davis for no gain on fourth down and 1 on the Chargers 1 - yard line . After taking over at their own 1 - yard line , the Chargers appeared to escape the shadow of their own endzone when Rivers hit Jacob Hester with a pass for 11 - yard gain . But a 10 - yard sack by LaMarr Woodley and two incompletions forced San Diego to punt from their own 2 , and Holmes returned the ball 6 yards to the 49 - yard line . One play later , a 44 - yard pass interference penalty on Eric Weddle in the end zone moved the ball to the 1 - yard line , and running back Gary Russell scored a 1 - yard touchdown run on the next play , increasing Pittsburgh ' s lead to 28 - 10 . Rivers then led the Chargers 73 yards in 10 plays and finished the drive with an 4 - yard touchdown pass to Legedu Naanee . But the Steelers stormed right back , with Parker rushing five times for 53 yards and finishing the drive with a 16 - yard touchdown run . Following an exchange of punts , Rivers threw a 62 - yard touchdown pass to Sproles , cutting the score to 35 - 24 , but by then there was less than two minutes left in the game . Conference championships . Sunday , January 18 , 2009 . NFC Championship : Arizona Cardinals 32 , Philadelphia Eagles 25 . Arizona built up an 18 - point halftime lead , but had to fight off an Eagles comeback attempt to earn their first ever Super Bowl appearance and their first trip to a championship game since 1948 . Arizona also became the second team ever to make it to the Super Bowl with a 9 - 7 record , joining the 1979 Los Angeles Rams . Arizona also became the first # 4 seed to host a conference championship game . Arizona took the opening kickoff and stormed down the field with a 9 - play , 80 - yard drive . Edgerrin James rushed four times for 33 yards on the drive , while Kurt Warner completed 4 of 4 passes for 44 yards , the last one a 9 - yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald . Philadelphia responded on their ensuing possession , starting it off with a 21 - yard scramble by Donovan McNabb to the Arizona 39 - yard line and finishing it with a 45 - yard field goal by David Akers . Following a punt , McNabb threw an interception to Aaron Francisco , but DeSean Jackson forced Francisco to fumble the ball during the return and Eagles lineman Jon Runyan recovered it . After the fumble , Philadelphia drove into scoring range , but they ended the drive with no points when Akers missed a 47 - yard field goal attempt , ending his postseason record streak of consecutive field goals at 19 . On the next play , Warner threw a 62 - yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald off of a double pass play , turning what could have been a 7 - 6 score into a 14 - 3 Cardinals lead . It was the second time Arizona found pay - dirt on a trick play during the playoffs ( after a flea flicker in the wild card game ) . Two plays into the Eagles next drive , McNabb completed a 47 - yard pass to Kevin Curtis on the Arizona 19 - yard line . But Arizona halted the drive at the 15 , forcing Philadelphia to settle for a 33 - yard field goal from Akers . Then the Cardinals took the ensuing kickoff and stormed down the field for another score . First James rushed for 22 yards , then Tim Hightower ran for 5 , and then Warner completed a 16 - yard pass to J . J . Arrington at the Eagles 30 - yard line . Following two more Warner completions for 22 yards , he finished with drive with his third touchdown pass to Fitzgerald , making the score 21 - 6 . After a Philadelphia punt , Warner led the Cardinals down the field again for more points . Starting with 1 : 31 left in the half , an unnecessary roughness penalty on Quintin Demps moved the ball to the Arizona 36 . Then Warner completed a pair of passes to Jerheme Urban and Fitzgerald for 32 yards . A sack by linebacker Trent Cole pushed them out of field goal range , but on the next play , Warner ' s 13 - yard completion to Anquan Boldin set up a 49 - yard field goal by Neil Rackers , making the score 24 - 6 at halftime . Philadelphia ' s defense made a major improvement in the third quarter , limiting Arizona to 9 rushing yards , one completion , and no first downs . Meanwhile the Eagles cut the score to 24 - 13 with a 90 - yard scoring drive . The Eagles converted three third downs on the drive , including McNabb ' s 50 - yard completion to Curtis on 3rd and 19 , and finished it off with a 6 - yard touchdown reception by tight end Brent Celek . The Eagles quickly forced a punt on Arizona ' s ensuing possession , and Jackson returned it 13 yards to the Philadelphia 39 - yard line . Five plays later , McNabb ' s threw a 31 - yard touchdown pass to Celek . Rather than try to cut their deficit to three points , Philadelphia decided to kick the extra point , but Akers ' kick was no good , keeping the score at 24 - 19 . It was the first time Akers had missed an extra point all season . Early in the fourth quarter , Philadelphia took their first lead of the game with McNabb ' s 62 - yard touchdown pass to Jackson , giving his team a 1 - point lead after the two - point conversion attempt failed . But the Cardinals responded with a 14 - play , 74 - yard drive to retake the lead for good , featuring a 6 - yard run by Hightower on fourth down and 1 on the Eagles 49 - yard line . Warner completed all five of his passes for 56 yards on the drive and finished it off with an 8 - yard touchdown pass to Hightower with less than three minutes left . Then his 2 - point conversion pass to Ben Patrick made the score 32 - 25 . Finally , the Cardinals defense sealed the victory by forcing a turnover on downs at the Arizona 47 - yard line . By the time Philadelphia got the ball back , only 10 seconds remained . In a desperate lateral play , Darnell Dockett intercepted DeSean Jackson ' s lateral , ending the game . Fitzgerald finished the game with 9 receptions for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns . This gave him an NFL postseason record 419 total receiving yards in his three playoff games . Both teams combined for an NFC postseason record 823 yards . For the second time in five years , an all - Pennsylvania Super Bowl was denied . The Steelers lost the 2004 AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots , who went on to win Super Bowl XXXIX over the Eagles 24 - 21 . AFC Championship : Pittsburgh Steelers 23 , Baltimore Ravens 14 . Pittsburgh held the Ravens to 184 yards and forced five turnovers , including three in the last 3 : 13 of the game , en route to their seventh Super Bowl appearance in franchise history . Baltimore became the third consecutive road team , the 11th out of 19 since the 1990 season , to lose the AFC title game and thus unable to duplicate their success in 2000 as a wild card team advancing to the Super Bowl . On the first drive of the game , Ben Roethlisberger ' s 45 - yard completion to Hines Ward set up a 34 - yard field goal by Jeff Reed . Later in the first quarter , Steelers defensive back Deshea Townsend intercepted a pass from Joe Flacco and returned it to the Ravens 35 - yard line . A few plays later , Santonio Holmes appeared to catch a 23 - yard pass on the 1 , but it was overruled by a Baltimore replay challenge and they ended up settling for a 42 - yard field goal to make the score 6 - 0 . Later on , the Ravens got a scoring opportunity when linebacker Ray Lewis forced a fumble from Pittsburgh running back Willie Parker and safety Jim Leonhard recovered it on the Steelers 43 - yard line . But Baltimore turned the ball over on downs after failing to convert a first down on third and fourth down and 1 . Pittsburgh increased their lead to 13 - 0 on the second play of the second quarter with Roethlisberger ' s 65 - yard touchdown pass to Holmes . But after several punts , a 45 - yard punt return from Leonard gave the Ravens a first down on the Pittsburgh 17 - yard line . Two plays later , Willis McGahee scored a 3 - yard touchdown run . Following an exchange of punts , Holmes returned a punt 25 yards to midfield . But the Steelers blew two chances to score before halftime . First , receiver Limas Sweed dropped a wide open pass near the end zone and the team ended up punting . However , a roughing the punter penalty allowed the Steelers to retain possession . Heath Miller ' s 14 - yard reception on the next play moved the ball to the Ravens 21 - yard line with 23 second left in the half and no timeouts left . Pittsburgh decided to run a few more plays before attempting a field goal , but Mewelde Moore ' s 8 - yard reception in the middle of the field took too much time off the clock , and Pittsburgh could not spike the ball before time in the half expired . Midway through the third quarter , Pittsburgh drove 51 yards and scored with Reed ' s third field goal of the game , making the score 16 - 7 . But in the fourth quarter , the Ravens took advantage of another key special teams play when Mitch Berger ' s punt went just 21 yards to the Baltimore 42 - yard line . Flacco then led the Ravens 58 yards , completing 4 of 4 passes for 44 yards on the way to a 1 - yard touchdown run by McGahee , cutting their deficit to 16 - 14 . Baltimore ' s defense subsequently forced a punt and got the ball back on their own 14 - yard line with just over six minutes left in the game . But four plays later , safety Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass from Flacco , ran all the way across the field , and took off for a 40 - yard touchdown return , making the score 23 - 14 . Pittsburgh then put the game away by forcing two more turnovers of the Ravens next two drives . First , a hit by Ryan Clark on McGahee forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Lawrence Timmons ; McGahee suffered a concussion and was removed from the field on a stretcher . Then after a punt , Tyrone Carter intercepted a pass from Flacco with less than a minute left in the game .