2012 – 13 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 2012 season began on January 5 , 2013 and ended with Super Bowl XLVII on February 3 at Mercedes - Benz Superdome in New Orleans , Louisiana . With the exception of the Indianapolis Colts , all teams from the AFC returned to the playoffs . In addition , all teams in both conferences won at least 10 games , the first time since 2005 . In the United States , NBC broadcasted the first two Wild Card playoff games . Fox then televised the rest of the NFC games . CBS broadcasted the rest of the AFC playoff games and the Super Bowl . All games were broadcasted by Dial Global radio . " Unless otherwise noted , all times listed are Eastern Standard Time ( ) " Wild Card playoffs . Saturday , January 5 , 2013 . AFC : Houston Texans 19 , Cincinnati Bengals 13 . For the second year in a row , Houston dominated Cincinnati in the first game of the playoffs , outgaining them in total yards 428 – 198 and holding their offense to just two field goals in nine drives ( including 0 / 9 on third downs ) . The win was especially satisfying for Texans quarterback Matt Schaub , who was playing in his first playoff game in his 9 - season career . On the Texans ' second drive of the game , they moved the ball 65 yards and scored on a 48 - yard field goal from Shayne Graham ( a former Bengal ) . Then , after forcing a punt , they drove the ball all the way to the Bengals 9 - yard line , but once again settled for a Graham field goal a few minutes into second quarter . Following another Cincinnati punt , the Bengals took their first lead of the game when defensive back Leon Hall intercepted a pass intended for James Casey on the left sideline and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown . But the Texans took it back with a 61 - yard drive to the Bengals 4 - yard line , 46 coming from Arian Foster , that resulted in Graham ' s third field goal , making the score 9 – 7 at the end of the half . Early in the third quarter , a fair catch interference penalty on Bengals defensive back Chris Lewis - Harris gave Houston the ball on the Cincinnati 49 - yard line . Houston then drove 51 yards , featuring a 22 - yard completion from Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson , and scored on a 1 - yard touchdown run by Foster . The Bengals struck back with Andy Dalton ' s 45 - yard completion to A . J . Green setting up Josh Brown ' s 34 - yard field goal to cut the score to 16 – 10 . Cincinnati managed to force a punt on Houston ' s next drive , but with just over 3 minutes left in the third period , defensive back Johnathan Joseph ( another former Bengal ) intercepted Dalton ' s pass and returned it 16 yards to the Bengals 24 - yard line . This led to Graham ' s fourth field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter Bengals receiver Brandon Tate returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to the 39 - yard line , sparking a drive that ended with Brown ' s 47 - yard field goal that trimmed the lead to one score , 19 – 13 . Cincinnati then forced a punt and drove into Texans territory , but on 4th down and 11 from the Houston 36 - yard line , rookie receiver Marvin Jones was tackled by Joseph and Shiloh Keo 3 yards short of the first down marker . Houston then took over and held the ball for the final 2 : 44 of the game to clinch the victory . Foster finished the game with 32 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown , along with 8 receptions for 32 . He became the first player ever to rush for over 100 yards in each of his first three career playoff games . Tight end Owen Daniels was the top receiver of the game with 9 receptions for 91 yards , while Green had 5 receptions for 80 yards to lead Cincinnati . With this loss , Cincinnati ' s playoff win drought was extended to 23 years and remains the longest among all 32 NFL teams . NFC : Green Bay Packers 24 , Minnesota Vikings 10 . Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder had started all 16 games during the season , but just hours before this game he was declared inactive due to injury and replaced by Joe Webb . Webb became the first quarterback to start a playoff game without throwing a single pass during the season . After this game , however , his amount of completions did not increase by much . Webb was held to just 11 / 30 completions and lost two turnovers to a Green Bay defense that dominated the game the whole way through . Minnesota ' s Marcus Sherels returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to the 35 - yard line . From there , the Vikings drove to the Packers 15 with eight running plays , including a 17 - yard scramble by Webb . Rookie kicker Blair Walsh finished the drive with a 33 - yard field goal to give Minnesota a 3 – 0 lead . After an exchange of punts , Green Bay drove 82 yards and scored on an 8 - yard touchdown run by DuJuan Harris with 33 seconds left in the first quarter . Harris was initially ruled down at the 1 , but the call was changed to a touchdown by Mike McCarthy ' s replay challenge . In the second quarter , Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers hit James Jones for 20 yards and Greg Jennings for 32 on a 72 - yard drive that ended with a 20 - yard field goal by Mason Crosby . After forcing a punt with under two minutes left in the half , Rodgers completed passes to Jordy Nelson for 22 yards , Jennings for 14 , and Nelson again for 23 before fullback John Kuhn completed the drive with a 3 - yard touchdown run , making the score 17 – 3 halftime . Green Bay scored another touchdown on their opening drive of the second half , moving the ball 80 yards in 12 plays and closing it out with Rodgers ' 9 - yard toss to Kuhn . Meanwhile , all that lay in store for the Vikings was three consecutive turnovers . First , they drove to the Packers 38 - yard line , but then linebacker Clay Matthews forced a fumble while sacking Webb and recovered it . Then , following a punt , they drove to the Green Bay 46 , only to lose the ball again on an interception by Sam Shields . The Vikings defense forced another punt early in the fourth quarter , but Sherels muffed the kick and Green Bay ' s Dezman Moses recovered the ball . Later on , another drive into Green Bay territory was ended with no points when the Vikings failed to convert a fourth down and four on the Packers 43 - yard line . Minnesota eventually managed to score a touchdown on a 50 - yard pass from Webb to receiver Michael Jenkins . But by then , there was only 3 : 39 left in the game . Rodgers completed 23 / 33 passes to ten different players for 274 yards and a touchdown . Harris was the team leader in rushing yards ( 47 ) and receptions ( 5 for 53 yards ) . Matthews had four tackles , two sacks , a forced fumble , and a fumble recovery . Shields had seven tackles and an interception . Webb finished with 180 passing yards , with one touchdown and one interception , while also rushing for 68 yards . Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was the top rusher of the game with 99 rushing yards . He also caught a pass for 8 . Jenkins had 3 receptions for 96 yards and a score . Sunday , January 6 , 2013 . AFC : Baltimore Ravens 24 , Indianapolis Colts 9 . Despite racking up 419 yards and 25 first downs , Indianapolis was unable to dent the end zone and against a stingy Ravens defense , who recorded three sacks , forced two turnovers , and limited them to just four field goal attempts . Meanwhile , Baltimore ' s offense rolled up 441 yards and 24 points Both teams blew scoring chances in the first half . After forcing a punt on the opening drive ( which Jacoby Jones returned 34 yards to the 48 ) , Baltimore drove all the way Colts 11 - yard line . But then lineman Cory Redding stripped the ball from Ray Rice and Lawrence Guy recovered it for the Colts . Then Indy took over and drove to the Ravens 30 , only to lose their own fumble when quarterback Andrew Luck was sacked by Paul Kruger and defensive end Pernell McPhee dove on the ball . In the second quarter , a 22 - yard reception by Ravens receiver Torrey Smith and an 18 - yard run by rookie Bernard Pierce set up a 23 - yard field goal by Justin Tucker . Following an exchange of punts , Luck completed 4 / 4 passes for 50 yards on a drive that ended with Adam Vinatieri ' s 47 - yard field goal to tie the game . Jones responded with a 37 - yard kickoff return . Four plays later , Rice caught a screen pass from Joe Flacco and ran it 47 yards to the Colts 2 - yard line . On the next play , fullback Vonta Leach scored a 2 - yard touchdown run to give the Ravens a 10 – 3 lead with 55 seconds left in the half . But Luck quickly lead his team back , completing 4 / 5 passes for 62 yards to set up Vinatieri ' s 52 - yard field goal , cutting the score to 10 – 6 at halftime . For Vinatieri , the NFL ' s all - time leader in postseason scoring , it was the longest playoff field goal of his career . Midway through the third quarter , Flacco ' s 46 - yard completion to Anquan Boldin moved the ball to the Colts 15 - yard line . Following an incompletion and a false start penalty , he hit tight end Dennis Pitta for a 20 - yard touchdown throw , increasing the lead to 17 – 6 . Indianapolis responded with another drive deep into Ravens territory , but it was halted on the 8 - yard line where Vinatieri kicked his third field goal of the game ( and 48th postseason field goal of his career ) . Early in the fourth quarter , Colts linebacker Pat Angerer recovered a fumble from Rice , leading to another drive into the Ravens red zone . But this time they came up empty when Vinateri missed a field goal from 40 yards out . This was Vinatieri ' s first postseason miss against Baltimore . He had been 18 / 18 when playing against the Ravens up to this point . The miss turned out to be devastating . Just two plays later , Pierce ran the ball 43 yards to the Colts 18 - yard line , and then Flacco finished the drive with an 18 - yard touchdown pass to Boldin , giving the team a 24 – 9 lead . Then their defense closed out the game by forcing two turnovers inside their own 40 . First , they stopped the next drive when defensive back Cary Williams intercepted a pass from Luck on Ravens 15 - yard line and returned it 41 yards . Then , after a punt , Indianapolis turned the ball over on downs at the Baltimore 37 with 2 : 10 left in the game . Flacco finished the game 12 / 23 for 282 yards and two touchdowns . Boldin caught 5 passes for a franchise playoff record 145 yards ( all in the second half ) . Pierce rushed for 103 yards , while Rice had 70 rushing yards and a 47 - yard catch . Jones returned 4 punts for 57 yards , two kickoffs for 60 yards , and caught an 8 - yard pass . Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis , who returned for this game after missing most of the season with injuries and had recently announced his intention to retire after the postseason , finished with a team leading 13 tackles and a pass deflection . Kruger had four tackles and 2 . 5 sacks . For the Colts , Luck finished his first playoff game 28 / 54 for 288 yards with 1 interception , while also rushing for 35 yards . Receiver Reggie Wayne caught 9 passes for 114 yards . NFC : Seattle Seahawks 24 , Washington Redskins 14 . Seattle overcame a 14 - point deficit in the first quarter to earn their first playoff win on the road since 1983 . Seattle has now won three straight playoff games against Washington , who were playing in their first home playoff game since 1999 . Coincidentally , the Seahawks also ended another playoff futility streak against the Redskins in the 2005 season ( game played in 2006 ) when they beat them 20 – 10 at home in the divisional game for their first playoff victory at all ( home or road ) since 1984 on their way to their only Super Bowl appearance . Robert Griffin III faced off against Russell Wilson for the second such instance of both teams starting with rookie quarterbacks in the playoffs , in the Super Bowl era ; after T . J . Yates and Andy Dalton had previously done so for the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals respectively , in the 2011 – 12 playoffs . Washington stormed out of the game with touchdowns on their first two drives . After receiving the opening kickoff , they drove 80 yards , featuring a 30 - yard reception by Pierre Garçon and an 18 - yard run by Alfred Morris . Griffin finished the drive with 4 - yard touchdown pass to reserve running back Evan Royster . Then the Redskins defense forced a three - and - out , and Richard Crawford gave them good field position with a 12 - yard punt return to the 46 - yard line . Washington subsequently moved the ball 54 yards and scored on Griffin ' s 4 - yard toss to tight end Logan Paulsen . But Seattle dominated the rest of the game , holding the Redskins to a final total of just 202 offensive yards . The Seahawks responded with a 66 - yard drive , including a 19 - yard scramble by Wilson , that ended on a field goal by Steven Hauschka . Following a punt , running back Marshawn Lynch ' s 20 - yard gain on a fumble recovery set up their first touchdown of the game . Fullback Michael Robinson also made a big impact on the drive , catching a 19 - yard pass from Wilson and capping the drive with a 4 - yard touchdown catch . On the next possession , safety Earl Thomas intercepted a pass from Griffin on the Seattle 26 - yard line . Wilson ' s subsequent completions to Doug Baldwin and Zach Miller for gains of 33 and 22 yards set up Hauschka ' s second field goal , cutting the score to 14 – 13 at the end of the half . Seattle started the third quarter with a drive to the Redskins 1 - yard line , but then Lynch lost a fumble that was recovered by Washington lineman Jarvis Jenkins . In the fourth quarter , he managed to redeem himself with a 27 - yard touchdown run . Then Wilson completed a pass to Miller for the two point conversion , giving his team a 21 – 14 lead . Then , after the kickoff , Bruce Irvin sacked Griffin for a 12 - yard loss . On the next play , Griffin fumbled the snap and suffered a game - ending injury . Seahawks lineman Clinton McDonald recovered the ball on the Redskins 5 - yard line , setting up Hauschka ' s third field goal to make the final score 24 – 14 . Washington responded with a drive to the Seattle 20 , but turned the ball over on downs with 1 : 08 left in the game . Wilson finished his first playoff game 15 / 26 for 187 yards and a touchdown , along with 67 rushing yards . Lynch rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown , and caught a pass for 9 yards . For the Redskins , safety Reed Doughty had 11 tackles and 2 sacks . Morris was their top rusher with 80 yards . After the game , an MRI revealed Griffin had torn his lateral collateral ligament and would have to undergo surgery to repair it . In response , Washington coach Mike Shanahan faced criticism for not pulling Griffin from the game earlier , despite warning signs he was playing injured . Divisional playoffs . Saturday , January 12 , 2013 . AFC : Baltimore Ravens 38 , Denver Broncos 35 ( 2OT ) . Baltimore defensive back Corey Graham ' s interception from Peyton Manning set up Justin Tucker ' s 47 - yard game winning field goal 1 : 42 into double overtime to stun the heavily - favored Broncos . This brought Denver ' s 11 - game winning streak to an end and sent the Ravens to their third AFC title game in the last five years . It was the sixth double overtime game in history , the first since 2003 , and the fourth - longest game in NFL history at a total of 76 : 42 of game time , which coincidently also featured head coach John Fox . With the loss , the Broncos became the seventh # 1 seed in the last six years to lose their first playoff game . Broncos receiver Trindon Holliday opened up the scoring by returning a Sam Koch punt 90 yards for a touchdown , the first postseason punt return score in franchise history . Things seemed to get even better for Denver when Jacoby Jones fumbled the ensuing kickoff and was downed on the 6 - yard line . But two plays later , defensive back Tony Carter was hit with a 25 - yard pass interference penalty on third down . Then Joe Flacco tied the game with a 59 - yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith . The situation only got worse for Denver on the next drive , as Graham picked off a deflected pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown , making the score 14 – 7 . But Manning rallied his team back , completing 5 / 7 passes for 69 yards on a 74 - yard drive that ended on his 15 - yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley . Later in the second quarter , a 32 - yard reception by Broncos receiver Eric Decker set up Manning ' s 14 - yard touchdown pass to Knowshon Moreno . Denver then forced a punt and drove to the Ravens 34 - yard line , but this time they failed to score as Matt Prater missed a 52 - field goal . Taking the ball back on their own 42 with 1 : 16 remaining , Flacco hit Anquan Boldin for 11 yards and tight end Dennis Pitta for 15 before finding Smith in the end zone on a 32 - yard score , tying the score at 21 at the end of the half . Holliday quickly broke the tie just 13 seconds into the third quarter by returning the second half kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown , making him the first player ever to return a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in a postseason game . Later in the quarter , Manning lost a fumble while being sacked by Pernell McPhee , and Ravens lineman Paul Kruger recovered it on the Broncos 37 - yard line . Running back Ray Rice took it to the end zone from there with five consecutive running plays ( one of them for 32 yards ) , the last one a 1 - yard touchdown run to tie the game back up at 28 . Midway through the fourth quarter , Denver drove 88 yards and scored on a 17 - yard pass from Manning to Demaryius Thomas , taking a 35 – 28 lead with just over 7 minutes left in regulation . Baltimore responded with a drive to the Broncos 31 - yard line , but turned the ball over on downs with 3 : 16 left . The Ravens defense had to use all their timeouts on Denver ' s ensuing drive , but managed to force a punt and get the ball on their own 23 - yard line at the 1 : 09 mark . After an incomplete pass and a 7 - yard scramble , Flacco tossed a 70 - yard touchdown pass to Jones , sending the game into overtime . After the first three drives of overtime ended in punts , Graham intercepted a pass from Manning on the Broncos 45 - yard line . On the last play of the first overtime period , Rice ' s 11 - yard run moved the team into field goal range . A few plays later , Tucker kicked a 47 - yard field goal to win the game . Flacco threw for 331 yards and 3 touchdowns . Smith caught 3 passes for 98 yards and two scores . Rice rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown . Graham had 8 tackles , 2 interceptions , and a touchdown . Linebacker Ray Lewis had 17 tackles , the most by any player in the postseason up to this point , while linebacker Terrell Suggs recorded 10 tackles and 2 sacks . For Denver , Manning finished 28 / 43 for 290 yards and three touchdowns , with 2 interceptions . Holliday ' s 90 - yard punt return and 104 - yard kickoff return were the longest ever in each NFL postseason category . His 248 total special teams return yards were an NFL postseason record as well , breaking Andre Coleman ' s record of 244 return yards in Super Bowl XXIX ( and later tied by Desmond Howard in Super Bowl XXXI ) NFC : San Francisco 49ers 45 , Green Bay Packers 31 . In his first career playoff game , 25 - year old 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns , setting both the NFL single - game record for rushing yards by a quarterback and the 49ers postseason record for rushing , regardless of position . He also passed for 263 yards and two scores . Overall , San Francisco racked up 579 yards , including a franchise record 323 rushing yards , and scored a touchdown in every quarter to earn their second consecutive trip to the NFC championship game . However , Kaepernick didn ' t get off to a good start . Less then two minutes into the game , he threw a pass that was intercepted by Sam Shields and returned 52 yards for a touchdown . But he quickly rallied his team back , completing a 45 - yard pass to running back Frank Gore before taking the ball into the end zone himself on a 20 - yard run . Later in the period , Green Bay took a 14 – 7 lead with Aaron Rodgers ' 44 - yard completion to James Jones setting up an 18 - yard touchdown run by DuJuan Harris . The Packers then forced a punt , but returner Jeremy Ross muffed the kick and C . J . Spillman recovered it for San Francisco on the Packers 9 - yard line . Two plays later , Kaepernick tied the score at 14 with a 12 - yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree . Then defensive back Tarell Brown intercepted a pass from Rodgers , setting up Kaepernick ' s second touchdown pass to Crabtree , this one from 20 yards out . With 2 : 39 left in the half , Rodgers ' 20 - yard touchdown pass to Jones tied the score at 21 . But on the 49ers next drive , a pair of runs by Kaepernick for gains of 19 and 17 yards enabled David Akers to kick a 36 - yard field goal , sending the teams into their lockers rooms with San Francisco leading 24 – 21 . In the third quarter , Green Bay drove 76 yards in 9 plays , featuring a 30 - yard reception by Greg Jennings and scored a Mason Crosby field goal . But the tie turned out to be short lived . On the third play of their next drive , Kaepernick faked a handoff , rolled right , and took off for a career long 56 - yard touchdown run , retaking the lead at 31 – 24 . Then , after a punt , he completed a 44 - yard pass to tight end Vernon Davis , setting up Gore ' s 2 - yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter . Following another punt , Kaepernick led the 49ers back for more points , this time on a 93 - yard drive . First he ran for a 16 - yard gain , and later he completed a 17 - yard throw to tight end Delanie Walker . On the next play , Gore ' s 26 - yard burst moved the ball to the Packers 27 - yard line . Anthony Dixon eventually finished the 11 - play drive with a 2 - yard touchdown run , making the score 45 – 24 . With under a minute left , Rodgers threw a 3 - yard touchdown pass to Jennings . But any hope of a miracle comeback was dashed when Walker recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt . Crabtree was the top receiver of the game , with 9 catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns . Gore rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown , while also catching two passes for 48 yards . Linebacker Patrick Willis had 7 tackles and a sack . Rodgers finished 26 / 39 for 257 yards and two touchdowns , with 1 interception , while also rushing for 28 yards . Kaepernick finished the game responsible for more yards gained ( 444 ) then the entire Packers team ( 352 ) Sunday , January 13 , 2013 . NFC : Atlanta Falcons 30 , Seattle Seahawks 28 . The Atlanta Falcons built up a 20 – 0 first - half lead , but had to overcome a furious Seattle comeback to earn their first trip to the conference championship game since 2004 . Trailing 28 – 27 with 25 seconds left , Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan ' s completions to Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez moved the ball 41 yards in just 12 seconds of game time to set up Matt Bryant ' s 49 - yard game - winning field goal . For Gonzalez , the NFL ' s all time leader among tight ends in nearly every receiving category , it marked the first playoff win in his 16 - season career . Atlanta scored on their opening drive , moving the ball 55 yards on the way to a 39 - yard field goal from Bryant . Later in the quarter , Seattle got a scoring opportunity when linebacker Bobby Wagner intercepted a Ryan pass and returned it to the Falcons ' 33 - yard line . But running back Marshawn Lynch fumbled the ball while being tackled by Sean Weatherspoon and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux recovered it . On Atlanta ' s ensuring drive , a pair of 16 - yard receptions by Roddy White and tight end Chase Coffman set up Ryan ' s 1 - yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez . On the last play of the first quarter , Atlanta running back Jacquizz Rodgers ran the ball 45 yards to the Seahawks 42 - yard line . Atlanta then continued on to the 19 - yard line , where Bryant kicked a 37 - yard field goal . Seattle responded with a drive to the Atlanta 11 - yard line , but turned the ball over when fullback Michael Robinson was dropped for a 1 - yard loss by safety William Moore on fourth down and one . Taking the ball back on their own 12 , Michael Turner made a 33 - yard run before Ryan ' s 47 - yard touchdown pass to White increased their lead to 20 – 0 . Seattle responded with a drive to the Falcons ' 11 - yard line on a drive that used up all their timeouts . With 17 seconds left in the half , they attempted one last play before sending in the field goal unit , but quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked by Babineaux and the clock ran out before they could run another play . Seattle started out the second half with an 80 - yard touchdown drive , with Wilson rushing for 19 yards and completing a 19 - yard throw to tight end Zach Miller before tossing a 29 - yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate . Atlanta countered with an 80 - yard drive of their own , featuring a 21 - yard reception by Julio Jones and scoring on Ryan ' s 5 - yard pass to fullback Jason Snelling . But it wasn ' t long before Seattle completed the third consecutive 80 - yard possession ; Wilson hit Tate for 24 yards , rushed for 12 , and then completed a 26 - yard pass to Miller on the Falcons 13 - yard line . A few plays later , he took it into the end zone himself on a 1 - yard run , making the score 27 – 14 with 13 : 06 left in regulation . Three plays into Atlanta ' s next drive , safety Earl Thomas intercepted a pass from Ryan at the Seattle 38 . Wilson then moved the ball into the Falcons red zone with a 24 - yard completion to Sidney Rice and a 30 - yarder to reserve running back Robert Turbin . On the next play , his 3 - yard touchdown pass to Miller cut the deficit down to one score , 27 – 21 . With 3 minutes left in the game , Seattle ' s Leon Washington returned a punt 15 yards to his 39 - yard line . Then Wilson went back to work , with completions to Tate and Lynch for gains 19 and 24 yards . Then , with 31 seconds left , Lynch ' s 2 - yard touchdown run gave them their first lead of the game , 28 – 27 . Rodgers returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards to the 28 - yard line , giving the Falcons the ball with 25 seconds and two timeouts left . On their first play , Ryan completed a 22 - yard pass to Douglas near the left sideline , running six seconds off the clock . Then he found Gonzalez over the middle for a 19 - yard gain to the Seattle 31 - yard line that used up six more seconds before the clock was stopped on their final timeout . With 13 seconds left in the game , Atlanta decided to try the game - winning field goal on their next play . Shortly before the ball was snapped , Seahawks coach Pete Carroll called a timeout , giving Bryant a " practice kick " on the field , which he missed . But after the timeout , Bryant ' s 49 - yard field goal kick was good , retaking the lead for Atlanta with 8 seconds left on the clock . However , Seattle was not quite out of the game . Taking the ball on their 46 - yard line after Atlanta ' s squib kick , Wilson ' s 6 - yard completion to Doug Baldwin moved the ball to the Atlanta 48 , where he went out of bounds at 00 : 02 . Rather than attempt a 65 - yard field goal ( which would have been two yards longer then the NFL record for longest field goal ever made ) , Seattle decided to try a Hail Mary pass with their final play . Wilson heaved the ball into the end zone , but Jones , who had been brought in as an extra defensive back , intercepted the pass to seal the victory . Ryan finished 24 / 35 for 250 yards and three touchdowns , with two interceptions . Turner rushed for 98 yards . Rodgers rushed for 64 yards , and added 104 more on five kickoff returns . Wilson threw for 385 yards and two touchdowns with one interception , while also rushing for 60 yards and another score . Miller was the top receiver of the game with 8 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown , while Tate added 6 catches for 103 and one touchdown . Wagner had 8 tackles and 1 pick . AFC : New England Patriots 41 , Houston Texans 28 . In week 14 of the regular season , New England defeated Houtson 42 – 14 . This time around , the Texans managed to keep the score tighter , but the final result didn ' t change . New England quarterback Tom Brady passed for 344 yards and 3 touchdowns as he led the team to their seventh AFC championship game in his 12 years as a starter . This was also his 17th postseason win , surpassing the NFL ' s all time record held by Joe Montana . However , the win did come with a price : Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski , who suffered a season ending arm injury . Houston started out with a huge burst of momentum when Danieal Manning returned the opening kickoff 94 yards to the New England 12 - yard line . But a dropped pass by James Casey and an overthrown pass in the end zone forced them to settled for a 27 - yard field goal from Shayne Graham . Later in the quarter , Brady completed 3 consecutive passes for 51 yards on a 65 - yard drive on the way to a 1 - yard touchdown run by Shane Vereen . On their next drive , a 30 - yard completion to Wes Welker , along with Vereen ' s 22 - yard run and 12 - yard reception , set up a 37 - yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski . Following a punt , Brady completed a 47 - yard pass to Welker , moving the ball to the Texans 8 - yard line . On the next play , he threw a touchdown pass to Vereen , making the score 17 – 3 . On the ensuing kickoff , a 35 - yard return by Manning and a 15 - yard penalty against Gostkowski for a horse collar tackle gave Houston the ball at the Patriots 47 - yard line . Arian Foster took the ball to the end zone from there with five consecutive running plays , the last a 1 - yard touchdown run . Then after forcing a punt , quarterback Matt Schaub completed three passes for 25 yards in a span of just 22 game seconds , moving the ball to the Pats 37 where Graham made a 55 - yard field goal as time expired in the half and cutting the score to 17 – 13 . However , New England dominated the second half with 21 unanswered points . On the first drive of the second half , Brady ' s 40 - yard completion to tight end Aaron Hernandez set up Stevan Ridley ' s 8 - yard touchdown run . Later in the quarter , Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich intercepted a pass and returned it to the 37 - yard line . Ridley then rushed 4 times for 37 yards on a 63 - yard drive that ended with Brady ' s 5 - yard touchdown completion to Brandon Lloyd . Early in the fourth quarter , Houston failed to convert a fourth down and one on their own 33 - yard line , and Brady threw a 33 - yard touchdown pass to Vereen on the next play . Now trailing 38 – 13 , Houston made one last comeback attempt . Manning ' s 65 - yard kickoff return gave them the ball on the Pats 37 - yard line , where they scored on a five play drive that ended with Schaub ' s 25 - yard touchdown pass to receiver DeVier Posey . Then after a punt , they drove 79 yards , including a 24 - yard catch by tight end Owen Daniels and scored on Schaubs 1 - yard completion to Foster . On the next play , he completed a 2 - point conversion pass to Andre Johnson , making the score 38 – 28 with 5 : 11 left in the game . But New England ended their comeback chances when Ninkovich recovered their onside kick attempt , leading to Gostkowski ' s 38 - yard field goal to put the game away . Vereen finished with 124 all - purpose yards and three touchdowns . Welker caught 8 passes for 131 yards . For the Texans , Schaub threw for 352 yards and two touchdowns , with 1 interception . Foster rushed for 90 yards , caught 7 passes for 63 yards , and scored two touchdowns . Johnson caught 8 passes for 95 yards . Manning returned 4 kickoffs for 216 yards . Conference championships . Sunday , January 20 , 2013 . NFC Championship Game : San Francisco 49ers 28 , Atlanta Falcons 24 . San Francisco overcame a 17 - point deficit , the largest comeback ever in an NFC championship game , to earn their sixth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history . It was their first road playoff win in 24 years . Ironically , the previous biggest comeback in NFC championship history was the Falcons overcoming a 13 point deficit in the 1998 NFC title game . Atlanta dominated the first quarter , mainly on plays by receiver Julio Jones , who caught 5 passes in it for 100 yards , including a 46 - yard touchdown catch on their opening drive , and a 27 - yard reception on their next drive to set up a Matt Bryant field goal . Following a punt , Matt Ryan hit Roddy White for a 23 - yard gain on the last play of the first quarter . Then he threw a 20 - yard touchdown pass to Jones on the first play of the second , giving the Falcons a 17 – 0 lead . This time San Francisco struck back with an 80 - yard scoring drive , with Frank Gore rushing for 20 yards and Vernon Davis catching a pass for 27 . LaMichael James finished the drive with a 15 - yard touchdown run . Then , after forcing a three - and - out , Colin Kaepernick rushed for 23 yards and completed three passes to Davis for 48 yards , the last a 4 - yard touchdown pass to make the score 17 – 14 . But Atlanta stormed back as Ryan completed five passes for double - digit gains on their next drive , the last one a 10 - yard score to tight end Tony Gonzalez with 25 seconds left in the half . The 49ers took the opening kickoff and drove 82 yards , with Kaepernick completing two passes to Randy Moss for 38 yards and one to tight end Delanie Walker for 20 . Gore completed the drive with a 5 - yard touchdown run , cutting their deficit to 24 – 21 . On Atlanta ' s ensuing possession , defensive back Chris Culliver gave San Francisco a great chance to tie or take the lead by intercepting a pass from Ryan and returning it to the Falcons 25 - yard line . But San Francisco failed to gain a first down and came up empty when David Akers hit the uprights on a 38 - yard field goal try . Later on , the 49ers got another scoring opportunity when defensive lineman Aldon Smith recovered a fumble from Ryan on his own 40 - yard line . They subsequently drove deep into Falcons territory , but once again they failed to score when defensive back Dunta Robinson stripped the ball from Michael Crabtree on the 1 - yard line as he trying to get in for the go - ahead score , and linebacker Stephen Nicholas recovered it . With 12 minutes left in regulation , Ted Ginn , Jr . ' s 20 - yard punt return gave San Francisco the ball on the Falcons 38 - yard line . Five plays later , Gore scored his second touchdown on a 9 - yard run , giving the 49ers their first lead of the game at 28 – 24 . Atlanta responded with a drive to the 49ers 13 - yard line , but consecutive incompletions on third and fourth down caused a turnover on downs with just 1 : 13 left in the game . Atlanta managed to force a punt and get the ball with 13 seconds to go . Ryan completed a pass to Jones on the final play , but he was tackled at the 49ers 35 - yard line as time expired . Kaepernick finished 16 / 21 for 233 yards and a touchdown , along with 21 rushing yards . Davis caught 5 passes for 106 yards and a score . Gore rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns . Ryan completed 30 of 42 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns , with one interception . Jones caught 11 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns , while White had 7 receptions for 100 yards . Gonzalez caught 8 passes for 78 yards and a score . AFC Championship Game : Baltimore Ravens 28 , New England Patriots 13 . Baltimore ' s defense forced three turnovers , held the Patriots to just 13 points , and shut them out in the second half en route to their first Super Bowl in 12 years , avenging their previous year ' s AFC title loss . The Patriots suffered their worst loss of the season and their lowest scoring total of the season despite six trips inside the Ravens 25 - yard line . Tom Brady suffered his first career loss at home when leading by halftime , in which during that span he was 67 – 0 . In the first quarter , New England receiver Brandon Lloyd caught two passes for 29 yards on a drive that ended with a Stephen Gostkowski field goal . In the second quarter , Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 5 / 6 passes for 64 yards on an 87 - yard drive that ended with Ray Rice ' s 2 - yard touchdown run to take the lead . New England struck back with a 79 - yard touchdown drive . The key player on it was Wes Welker , who caught a 24 - yard pass and later finished it with a 1 - yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady . Baltimore was forced to punt after three plays on their next drive , and Welker returned the ball 15 yards to the Ravens 43 - yard line . New England then drove to the 7 - yard line where Gostkowski kicked his second field goal as time expired in the half , giving the Patriots a 13 – 7 halftime lead . In the second half , New England managed several drives deep into Ravens territory , but were unable to convert any into points . First , they drove to Baltimore ' s 34 - yard line , but were halted there and decided to punt rather then attempt a 52 - yard field goal . Tight end Dennis Pitta subsequently caught 3 passes for 32 yards on Baltimore ' s ensuring 87 - yard drive , the last a 5 - yard touchdown catch . New England was quickly forced to punt and Jacoby Jones returned it 11 yards to the 37 . Baltimore then drove 63 yards , featuring a 23 - yard reception by Torrey Smith and scored on Flacco ' s 3 - yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin on the first play of the fourth quarter . The Ravens dominated the final period , forcing a turnover on every New England drive . First , Pats running back Stevan Ridley lost a fumble while being tackled by Bernard Pollard and defensive end Arthur Jones recovered it on the New England 47 - yard line . Three plays later , Flacco threw an 11 - yard touchdown pass to Boldin , making the score 28 – 13 . The Patriots then drove to the Ravens 19 - yard line , only to turn the ball over on downs after failing to convert a 4th down and 4 . Following a punt , New England moved the ball back to the Ravens 19 , only to lose it again when Brady threw a pass that was tipped by Pernell McPhee at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Dannell Ellerbe . After another Ravens punt , Baltimore defensive back Cary Williams put the game away by intercepting a pass from Brady in the end zone with 1 : 13 left in regulation . Flacco threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns . Linebacker Ray Lewis had 14 tackles , giving him a staggering 44 total tackles in the Ravens three playoff games . Brady threw for 320 yards and one touchdown with 2 interceptions . Welker caught 8 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown , while also returning 4 punts for 56 yards . Pats linebacker Brandon Spikes had 11 tackles .