1988 – 89 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1988 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXIII . Due to Christmas , the two wild card playoff games were held in a span of three days . " Note : As per the rules of the NFL playoffs prior to the 1990 season ( notwithstanding the strike - shortened 1982 season ) , the Cincinnati Bengals ( the AFC 1 seed ) did not play the Houston Oilers ( the 5 seed ) , nor did the Chicago Bears ( the NFC 1 seed ) play the Minnesota Vikings ( the 4 seed ) , in the Divisional playoff round because those teams were in the same division . " Wild Card playoffs . December 24 , 1988 . AFC : Houston Oilers 24 , Cleveland Browns 23 . Oilers cornerback Richard Johnson ' s interception set up kicker Tony Zendejas ' game - clinching 49 - field field goal with 1 : 54 left in the game . After the Browns scored first on a 33 - yard field goal by Matt Bahr , Houston marched 91 yards to score on quarterback Warren Moon ' s 14 - yard touchdown pass to running back Allen Pinkett . Then on Cleveland ' s next drive , Oilers defensive lineman Richard Byrd recovered quarterback Don Strock ' s fumble to set up Pinkett ' s 16 - yard touchdown run . Bahr later made two field goals to cut Houston ' s lead , 14 - 9 , before halftime . In the third quarter , backup quarterback Mike Pagel , who replaced an injured Strock , threw a 14 - yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Webster Slaughter to put the Browns ahead , 16 - 14 . However , the Oilers marched on a 76 - yard drive that was capped with running back Lorenzo White ' s 1 - yard rushing touchdown . After Johnson ' s interception and Zendejas ' subsequent game - clinching 49 - yard field goal , Slaughter caught a 2 - yard touchdown reception to close out the scoring . December 26 , 1988 . NFC : Minnesota Vikings 28 , Los Angeles Rams 17 . Vikings safety Joey Browner recorded two interceptions in the first quarter to set up a two touchdown lead that the Rams could never recover from . Browner ' s first interception led to a Minnesota 73 - yard drive that was capped by running back Alfred Anderson ' s 7 - yard rushing touchdown . Browner returned his second interception to the Los Angeles 17 - yard line , where Allen Rice took it in for a touchdown on the next play . In the second quarter , Rams quarterback Jim Everett cut the lead in half with a 3 - yard touchdown completion to tight end Damone Johnson . But in the third quarter , Anderson scored another touchdown , this time a 1 - yard run , to extend the Vikings lead , 21 - 7 . The Rams responded with a 33 - yard field goal by Mike Lansford , but Minnesota put the game out of reach with tight end Carl Hilton ' s 5 - yard touchdown reception from quarterback Wade Wilson . Wilson finished the game with 253 passing yards and a touchdown , while receiver Anthony Carter caught 4 passes for 102 yards . Divisional playoffs . December 31 , 1988 . NFC : Chicago Bears 20 , Philadelphia Eagles 12 . In a game known as The Fog Bowl , the Bears defeated the Eagles , 20 - 12 , in a contest in which a heavy , dense fog rolled over Chicago ' s Soldier Field during the second quarter and cut visibility to about 15 - 20 yards for the rest of the game . Chicago scored first with quarterback Mike Tomczak ' s 64 - yard touchdown pass to Dennis McKinnon . The Eagles responded by driving to the Chicago 26 - yard line , but kicker Luis Zendejas missed a 43 - yard field goal attempt . Philadelphia quickly got the ball back after linebacker Seth Joyner intercepted a pass from Tomczak , and this time they managed to score with Zendejas ' 42 - yard field goal , but only after committing two costly mistakes : twice on the drive Philadelphia had touchdowns nullified by penalties . The Bears then drove to the Eagles 33 - yard line on their ensuing drive , but it stalled and kicker Kevin Butler missed a 51 - yard field goal attempt , giving the ball back to Philadelphia with great field position . Cunningham then led the Eagles inside Chicago ' s 20 - yard line where Zendejas kicked a 29 - yard field goal to cut the team ' s deficit to one point , 7 – 6 . Two possessions later , the Bears drove 44 yards and scored with Neal Anderson ' s 4 - yard touchdown run to give them a 14 – 6 lead . Both teams scored another field goal before halftime , and they went into their locker rooms with Chicago leading 17 – 9 . By the time the second half began , the heavy fog made it extremely difficult for the teams to move the ball . Each team could only score a short field goal in the second half . Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham finished the game with 407 passing yards , but was unable to lead his team to a single touchdown and was intercepted 3 times . Other than a 64 - yard touchdown pass , Tomczak was dominated the rest of the game by the Eagles defense , completing only 10 of 20 passes for 174 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions . McKinnon finished the game with 4 receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown . Eagles fullback Keith Byars rushed for 34 yards and caught 9 passes for 103 yards . Tight end Keith Jackson caught 7 passes for 142 yards . AFC : Cincinnati Bengals 21 , Seattle Seahawks 13 . Seattle ' s defense completely shut down Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason , the NFL ' s top rated quarterback and MVP during the season , limiting him to just 7 of 19 completions for 108 yards . But they were unable to contain Cincinnati on the ground . The Bengals recorded 254 rushing yards ( 126 of them and a touchdown from fullback Ickey Woods , a franchise postseason record ) , while holding the Seahawks to 22 . Cincinnati jumped to a 21 – 0 halftime lead with Woods ' score and two from running back Stanley Wilson . Meanwhile , the Seahawks could only manage 47 total yards in the first half . But after a scoreless third quarter , Seattle attempted a comeback . First , quarterback Dave Krieg threw a 7 - yard touchdown pass to John L . Williams , who finished the game with 11 receptions for 137 yards . Then Krieg scored on a 1 - yard quarterback sneak . However , Norm Johnson missed the extra point attempt and the Seattle was unable to score again . January 1 , 1989 . AFC : Buffalo Bills 17 , Houston Oilers 10 . The Bills dominated the Oilers throughout most of the game , blocking a punt , converting a turnover into the game - clinching field goal , and forcing a turnover on Houston ' s final drive to defeat a comeback attempt . After a scoreless first quarter , Buffalo safety Leonard Smith blocked a punt to set up running back Robb Riddick ' s 1 - yard touchdown . Houston responded by driving 71 yards and scoring with a 35 - yard field goal from Tony Zendejas . In the third quarter , Bills rookie running back Thurman Thomas scored on an 11 - yard rushing touchdown . Then in the fourth period , Buffalo defensive back Mark Kelso intercepted a pass from Warren Moon and returned it 28 yards to the Oilers 18 - yard line , setting up kicker Scott Norwood ' s 27 - yard field goal to increase their lead to 17 – 3 . With just over 5 minutes left in the game , Oilers running back Mike Rozier capped an 80 - yard drive with a 1 - yard touchdown run , making the score 17 – 10 . The Oilers subsequently forced a punt with two minutes remaining , but Steve Tasker forced a fumble while tackling wide receiver Curtis Duncan , and linebacker Ray Bentley recovered the ball , allowing Buffalo to run out the rest of the clock . NFC : San Francisco 49ers 34 , Minnesota Vikings 9 . San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana threw three touchdowns to wide receiver Jerry Rice , while running back Roger Craig rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and defensive back Ronnie Lott added two interceptions . After Minnesota scored first on a field goal , Montana and Rice connected for first half scores from 2 , 4 , and 11 yards . Meanwhile , the San Francisco defense recorded 5 sacks before halftime . The Vikings finally scored a touchdown in the third quarter with quarterback Wade Wilson ' s 5 - yard pass to wide receiver Hassan Jones . But Minnesota was shut out from that point on as Craig scored on a 4 - yard touchdown run , and an NFL playoff record 80 - yard touchdown run . Conference championships . January 8 , 1989 . AFC Championship : Cincinnati Bengals 21 , Buffalo Bills 10 . The Bengals forced 3 interceptions , and allowed only 45 rushing yards and 136 passing yards , while their offense held the ball for 39 : 29 . Bills starting running back Thurman Thomas was held to just 6 yards on 4 carries , while quarterback Jim Kelly completed only 14 of 30 passes for 161 yards and 1 touchdown , with 3 interceptions . Just like their previous game , the Bengals did not get much of a performance from NFL MVP Boomer Esiason , who completed only 11 of 20 passes for 94 yards , with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions . But once again , their running game was able to pick up the slack , gaining 175 yards on the ground , 102 yards and 2 touchdowns coming from fullback Ickey Woods . Cincinnati took a 7 – 0 lead in the first quarter after defensive back Eric Thomas ' interception set up Woods ' 1 - yard touchdown . Kelly led the Bills back with 4 consecutive completions , the last one a 9 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Reed . Then after forcing a punt , Buffalo drove to the Bengals 26 - yard line , only to have Scott Norwood miss a 43 - yard field goal attempt . Following another punt , Kelly was intercepted again , this time by defensive back Lewis Billups , and the Bengals capitalized with running back James Brooks ' 10 - yard touchdown reception from Esiason . Later on , Bills defensive back Mark Kelso intercepted a pass from Esiason and returned it 25 yards , setting up a 39 - yard field goal by Norwood to cut the Bills deficit to 14 – 10 by halftime . The Bengals took over the game in the second half , forcing Buffalo to start all of their drives from inside their own 23 - yard line and holding them to 53 yards , 2 first downs , and 0 points . Late in the third quarter , Bengals running back Stanley Wilson ran 6 yards for a first down on a fake punt attempt , and Cincinnati drove to score on Woods ' second touchdown of the game , increasing their lead to 21 – 10 . The Bills responded with a drive into Bengals territory , but safety David Fulcher picked off a desperate fourth down pass from Kelly in the end zone . The Bills would not lose another game to the Bengals until Week 4 of the 2011 NFL season . NFC Championship : San Francisco 49ers 28 , Chicago Bears 3 . Despite playing in a game - time temperature of 17°F , a wind chill of - 26°F , and wind gusts up to 30 MPH , the 49ers scored a touchdown in every quarter and gained 406 total yards of offense while limiting Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon to just 121 passing yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception . San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns , the first two to wide receiver Jerry Rice . Late in the first quarter , The 49ers faced a 3rd and long from their own 39 yard line . Despite the high winds , Montana was able to whistle a long pass in to Rice , who , despite double coverage from Bears defenders Mike Richardson and Todd Krumm , was able to catch the pass and outrun both defenders to score a 61 - yard Touchdown . Rice would score his second touchdown midway through the second quarter , a 27 - yard reception in which he caught a low slant pass from Montana in stride and scored untouched . In the third quarter , the 49ers marched 78 yards to score on tight end John Frank ' s 5 - yard touchdown reception from Montana . San Francisco ' s final score was running back Tom Rathman ' s 4 - yard rushing touchdown . Rice finished the game with 5 receptions for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns . The Bears ' lone score was Kevin Butler ' s 25 - yard field goal in the second period .