2004 – 05 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 2004 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXXIX . Wild Card playoffs . Saturday January 8 , 2005 . NFC : St . Louis Rams 27 , Seattle Seahawks 20 . Although the Rams barely made the playoffs with an 8 – 8 record , two of their regular season wins were against Seattle . And they proved they were up to the task again , beating the Seahawks in a back and forth game by scoring a touchdown with 2 : 11 left to go and then forcing a turnover on their own 5 - yard line . With the win , the Rams became the first team in NFL history to win a playoff game after going . 500 ( 8 – 8 ) in the regular season . St . Louis ' defense held Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander , the NFL ' s second leading rusher during the season , to only 40 yards on 15 carries . Shortly after the opening kickoff , Rams quarterback Marc Bulger completed a 52 - yard pass to Torry Holt at the Seahawks 11 - yard line . Three plays later , he threw a 15 - yard touchdown pass to Holt to give the Rams an early 7 – 0 lead . Then on Seattle ' s first play of the game , defensive back Travis Fisher intercepted a pass from Matt Hasselbeck at the Seahawks 44 - yard line . Bulger once again tried to go deep , but the Seahawks were ready and Ken Hamlin picked off his pass at the 4 . After an exchange of punts , Seattle drove 46 yards in 9 plays ans scored with Josh Brown ' s 47 - yard field goal , cutting their deficit to 7 - 3 . Early in the second quarter , Bulger ' s 52 - yard completion to Kevin Curtis set up a 1 - yard touchdown run by Marshall Faulk . But Seattle responded by driving 84 yards in 9 plays . On the eighth play of the drive , Hasselbeck ' s pass was intercepted , but a 15 - yard penalty on Trev Faulk nullified the play and gave Seattle the ball at the Rams 19 - yard line . Taking advantage of his second chance , Hasselbeck threw a 19 - yard touchdown completion to Bobby Engram on the next play , making the score 14 – 10 . On the opening drive of the third quarter , the Seahawks moved the ball 64 yards in 14 plays and scored with Brown ' s 30 - yard field goal , cutting their deficit to 1 point . The Rams responded with a field goal from Jeff Wilkins to retake their 4 - point lead , but Hasselbeck stormed back , completing five consecutive passes for 75 yards on Seattle ' s ensuing drive and finishing it off with a 23 - yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson , giving his team their first lead of the game 1 : 17 into the fourth quarter . But the Rams struck back with an 11 - play , 60 - yard drive to tie the game with a second field goal from Wilkins . Then after forcing a punt , St . Louis drove 76 yards in seven plays , featuring two key receptions by players who had not caught a pass yet in the game . The first was a 31 - yard completion from Bulger to Shaun McDonald on third down and 2 . Then three plays later , Bulger threw a 17 - yard touchdown pass to Cam Cleeland with 2 : 11 left in regulation . Hasselbeck started out the ensuing drive with three of four completions for 54 yards , moving the ball to the Rams 11 - yard line . But over the next two plays , he threw an incompleted pass and was sacked for a 6 - yard loss by St . Louis lineman Jimmy Kennedy . After that , he completed a 12 - yard pass to Engram , bringing up fourth down and four on the Rams 5 - yard line . With 27 seconds left , Hasselbeck tried to connect with Engram in the end zone , but the pass zipped through his hands and the Seahawks turned the ball over on downs . Bulger finished the game with 313 passing yards and 2 touchdowns , with 1 interception . Holt caught 6 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown , while Curtis added 4 receptions for 107 yards . Hasselbeck completed 27 of 43 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns , with 1 interception , and rushed for 26 yards . Jackson caught 12 passes for 128 yards . AFC : New York Jets 20 , San Diego Chargers 17 ( OT ) . New York entered the game after losing their last two regular season games , but managed to defeat the Chargers with a Doug Brien field goal in overtime . This game proved to be as close and competitive as the earlier playoff game in Seattle , featuring numerous key plays in the fourth quarter and in overtime that kept it going until 14 : 55 had elapsed in the extra period . New York took the opening kickoff and drove to the Chargers 11 - yard line . But San Diego ' s defense kept them out of the end zone and Brien missed a 31 - yard field goal attempt . In the second quarter , San Diego drove 88 yards and scored with Drew Brees ' 26 - yard touchdown pass to Keenan McCardell , which was initially ruled an incompletion , but overturned to a touchdown after a replay challenge . Later in the quarter , a 15 - yard unsportsmanlike penalty against the Chargers on a punt gave New York the ball on the San Diego 37 - yard line . Five plays later , quarterback Chad Pennington completed a 13 - yard touchdown pass to Anthony Becht , tying the game at 7 . On their ensuing drive , the Chargers mounter a scoring threat by moving the ball to the Jets 37 - yard line , but Reggie Tongue intercepted a pass from Brees and the score remained tied at halftime . After forcing a punt on the opening second half drive , Pennington completed three consecutive passes for 68 yards , the last one a 47 - yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss . Then after forcing a punt , New York drove 42 yards in eight plays , featuring two receptions by Curtis Martin for 33 yards and scored with a 42 - yard field goal from Brien , giving them a 17 – 7 lead going into the fourth quarter . In the final period , the Chargers managed to rally back . First they drove 54 yards in 12 plays and scored with a 35 - yard field goal by Nate Kaeding . The Jets responded with a drive to San Diego ' s 33 - yard line , Pennington threw an incomplete pass on third down and they decided to punt rather than risk a 51 - yard field goal . The Chargers subsequently moved the ball 80 yards in 10 plays to tie the game on a thrilling drive in which they nearly turned the ball over twice . One the first play , Brees fumbled the ball while being sacked by linebacker Jonathan Vilma , but he recovered it himself . Then he completed a 21 - yard pass to tight end Antonio Gates to pick up the first down . One play later , he completed a 44 - yard pass to Gates at the Jets 22 - yard line . Two runs by LaDainian Tomlinson for 13 yards and a 7 - yard run by Brees brought up third down on the Jets 2 - yard line . After Tomlinson was tackled for a 1 - yard loss , A fourth - down pass Brees with under 20 seconds left fell incomplete into the end zone , but Jets linebacker Eric Barton was penalized for roughing the passer , giving the Chargers a first down from the one - yard line . Brees threw a touchdown pass to Gates on the following play , sending the game into overtime . After an exchange of punts in overtime , the Chargers drove to the Jets 22 - yard line , but Kaeding missed a 40 - yard field goal attempt late in the extra period , allowing the Jets to come back down the field . Two Pennington completions for 29 yards and a 19 - yard run by LaMont Jordan then set up a 28 - yard field goal from Brien with five seconds remaining in overtime . Pennington completed 23 of 33 passes for 272 yards and 2 touchdowns . Moss finished the game with 4 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown . Brees completed 31 of 42 passes for 319 yards and 2 touchdowns , with 1 interception . Tomlinson rushed for 80 yards and caught 9 passes for 53 yards . Sunday January 9 , 2005 . AFC : Indianapolis Colts 49 , Denver Broncos 24 . The Colts followed up their wild - card blowout of the Broncos in the previous year ' s Wild Card Round , and also made up for a loss in Denver ' s INVESCO Field at Mile High a week earlier with another thrashing . Indianapolis scored a franchise playoff record seven touchdowns and led 35 – 3 at the half . Colt quarterback Peyton Manning , who threw a record 49 touchdown passes in the 2004 regular season , completed 27 of 33 passes for 457 yards ( the second highest total ever in a playoff game ) and four touchdowns , including two to receiver Reggie Wayne ( who had 10 receptions for 221 yards receiving on the day ) , and one each to tight end Dallas Clark ( who caught 6 passes for 113 yards ) and running back James Mungro . Manning and running backs Edgerrin James and Dominic Rhodes scored rushing touchdowns . For Denver , quarterback Jake Plummer threw for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns , with 1 interception , while receiver Rod Smith caught 7 passes for 99 yards and a score . Manning dominated the Broncos in the first quarter , completing 11 of 14 passes for 156 yards . On the Colts second drive of the game , he completed two passes to Wayne for 41 yards and a 25 - yard pass to tight end Marcus Pollard before throwing a 2 - yard touchdown pass to Mungro . Then after a Denver punt , Manning completed three passes to Clark for 63 yards on an 87 - yard drive that ended with a 1 - yard touchdown run by James , giving Indianapolis a 14 – 0 lead with 38 seconds left in the first quarter . On Denver ' s opening drive of the second quarter , safety Mike Doss intercepted a pass Plummer on the Colts 41 - yard line . One play later , Manning threw a 49 - yard completion to Wayne at the Denver 9 . Rookie defensive back Kelly Herndon ended the drive by intercepting a pass from Manning in the end zone , but it did not matter . Denver was forced to punt after three plays and Troy Walters returned the ball 9 yards to the Colts 48 - yard line . Manning then completed three consecutive passes for 48 yards , the last one a 19 - yard touchdown throw to Clark . This time the Broncos managed to respond . Smith caught 2 passes for 41 yards on a 51 yard drive that ended with a 33 - yard field goal by Jason Elam , cutting the score to 21 - 3 . Then the Broncos tried to fool the Colts with a surprise onsided kick , but it did not work . Indianapolis ' Nick Rogers recovered the ball on the Denver 40 - yard line , and one play later , Manning threw a 35 - yard touchdown pass to Wayne . Before the end of the half , the Colts put together another touchdown drive . This time Manning went to Marvin Harrison , who had been dominated all game , completing two passes to him for 41 yards before a 20 - yard catch by Wayne moved the ball to the Broncos 1 - yard line . Manning finished the drive with a 1 - yard touchdown run with 6 seconds left in the half , increasing the Colts lead to 35 – 3 . The Broncos scored on the opening drive of the second half , moving the ball 75 yards and scoring with Plummer ' s 9 - yard touchdown pass to Smith . Then after forcing a punt , they drove 85 yards and scored with Plummer ' s 35 - yard touchdown pass to Jeb Putzier , cutting the score to 35 - 17 . But on the Colts ensuing drive , Wayne caught a screen pass from Manning and took it 43 yards for a touchdown , giving Indianapolis a 42 – 17 lead early in the fourth quarter . Denver receiver Triandos Luke returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the 43 - yard line , setting up a 57 - yard scoring drive that ended with a 1 - yard touchdown run by Tatum Bell . But Harrison recovered Elam ' s onside kick attempt and the Colts subsequently closed out the scoring with a 2 - yard touchdown run by Rhodes . This was the last nfl game on astroturf . NFC : Minnesota Vikings 31 , Green Bay Packers 17 . The Vikings , like the Rams , were a . 500 ( 8 – 8 ) franchise during the regular season . Furthermore , they had stumbled into the post - season losing 7 of their last 10 games , the worst performance in NFL history by a playoff team in a final 10 - game span . Two of their losses , by identical 34 – 31 scores , came in last - second games to the Packers . This time , however , there was no denying the Vikings as they avenged their regular - season sweep , coming out with a stellar performance on both sides of the ball . Quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw for 284 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards , while the Vikings defense , who only intercepted 11 passes all season , picked off Green Bay counterpart Brett Favre four times . Wide receiver Randy Moss caught two touchdowns for Minnesota , but drew controversy for his celebration after his second , which decided the outcome of the contest . Moss pretended to " moon " Packer fans by pretending to pull down his pants , mocking a move done by Packer fans to the losing team ' s bus as they left Green Bay . The NFL was not amused , and fined Moss $ 10 , 000 ( US ) for his actions a few days later . On the Vikings ' opening drive , Culpepper narrowly avoided a sack with a short completion to running back Moe Williams , who then dodged a tackle attempt from safety Darren Sharper and took off for a 68 - yard touchdown reception . The Packers were forced to punt after Favre was sacked for a 10 - yard loss on third down by Chris Claiborne , and Nate Burleson returned the ball to the 45 - yard line . Three plays later , Culpepper threw a 20 - yard touchdown pass to Moss , giving Minnesota a 14 – 0 lead after just 5 : 05 had elapsed in the game . A 30 - yard kickoff return by Najeh Davenport gave the Packers good field position on their 42 - yard line , but two plays later , defensive back Antoine Winfield intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it to the Vikings 43 . After that , Culpepper completed two passes for 19 yards and rushed for 23 , setting up a 35 - yard field goal by Morten Andersen and increasing the lead to 17 – 0 . After being completely dominated up to this point , the Packers managed to rally back . First Davenport returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the 38 - yard line . Then a 21 - yard completion from Favre to Javon Walker set up a 43 - yard field goal by Ryan Longwell . The Vikings were forced to punt after Culpepper was sacked on third down by Michael Hawthorne , and Green Bay subsequently drove 54 yards in 12 plays and scored on Favre ' s 4 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Bubba Franks , cutting their deficit to 17 – 10 with 10 : 24 left in the second quarter . But on the Vikings ' next drive , a 29 - yard reception by Burleson and a 23 - yard run by Culpepper helped move the ball to the Packers 9 - yard line . Green Bay seemed to catch a break when Anderson slipped on a field goal attempt , resulting in a block . But on the next play , safety Brian Russell intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it 14 yards to the Packers 28 - yard line . One play later , Culpepper threw a 19 - yard touchdown pass to Burleson , putting the Vikings up 24 – 10 . The Packers subsequently drove to Minnesota ' s 8 - yard line , but while scrambling around looking for an open receiver , Favre threw an illegal forward pass when he could have run for a first down . On the next play , Longwell missed a 28 - yard field goal . After a scoreless third quarter , Davenport ' s 1 - yard touchdown run cut the Packers deficit to 24 - 17 . But the Vikings responded by driving 66 yards and scoring with a 34 - yard touchdown completion for Culpepper to Moss . Then after forcing a punt , Minnesota put the game away with an 8 - minute drive that ran the clock down to 8 seconds . Divisional playoffs . Saturday January 15 , 2005 . AFC : Pittsburgh Steelers 20 , New York Jets 17 ( OT ) . The Jets came out on the losing end of this overtime game when placekicker Doug Brien missed two consecutive field goal s at the end of regulation , setting an NFL record of 3 missed game winning field goals in a single post - season . Despite a subpar performance by Steelers ' rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , the Steelers managed to win after Jeff Reed made a game - winning 33 - yard field goal 11 : 04 into the extra period . Steelers running back Jerome Bettis finished the game with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown , along with a 21 - yard reception . The Steelers opened up the scoring with a 43 - yard field goal by Reed . Then after the ensuing kickoff , Steelers safety Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass from Chad Pennington and returned it 15 yards to the Jets 25 - yard line , setting up a 3 - yard touchdown run by Bettis . New York Responded with a 42 - yard field goal from Brien on their next drive to cut their deficit to 10 - 3 . Later in the second quarter , Jets receiver Santana Moss returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown to tie the game . Midway through third quarter , Jets defensive back Reggie Tongue intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown . On Pittsburgh ' s next drive , they drove all the way to New York ' s 23 - yard line . But then Bettis fumbled the ball and New York ' s Erik Coleman recovered it . After forcing a punt , the Steelers drove into scoring range for the third consecutive drive , this time scoring with Roethlisbeger ' s 4 - yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward , tying the game at 17 . The Jets responded with a drive inside the Steelers 30 - yard line , but Brien missed a 47 - yard field goal attempt with 2 minutes left in regulation . Two plays later , New York defensive back David Barrett gave his team another chance to score the winning points by intercepting a pass from Roethlisberger and returning it 25 yards to Pittsburgh ' s 36 - yard line . But Brien missed another field goal , this one from 43 yards , as time expired in the fourth quarter , and the game went into overtime . The Jets won the coin toss , but were forced to punt . Pittsburgh then drove 72 yards in 14 plays and won the game with a 33 - yard field goal from Reed . NFC : Atlanta Falcons 47 , St . Louis Rams 17 . In a classic rout , quarterback Michael Vick and the Falcons steamrolled over the Rams in their first home playoff game since 1999 , racking up 327 rushing yards and 232 yards on special teams . Vick combined for 201 yards ( including 119 rushing yards , a playoff record for a quarterback ) and threw 2 touchdown passes , while running back Warrick Dunn rushed for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns . Allen Rossum set an NFL post - season record with 152 punt return yards and added another 80 on kickoff returns . On the Falcons opening drive , Vick rushed for 47 yards and later threw an 18 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Alge Crumpler , giving his team a 7 - 0 lead after just 3 : 02 had elasped in the game . The Rams responded with Marc Bulger ' s 57 - yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis , but four plays after the ensuing kickoff , Atlanta running back Warrick Dunn scored on a 62 - yard touchdown run . Early in the second quarter , Dunn ' s 19 - yard touchdown run gave the Falcons a 21 - 7 lead . The Rams struck back with Bulger ' s 28 - yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt , and then recovered a fumble from Vick on Atlanta ' s next drive . But the Falcons defense forced a punt and Rossum returned it 68 yards for a touchdown . Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins made a 55 - yard field goal to cut the deficit to 28 - 17 on the last play of the second quarter , but the Falcons dominated the second half . First they forced the Rams to punt , and Rossum returned the ball 39 yards to the St . Louis 32 - yard line . Five plays later , Vick threw a touchdown pass to Peerless Price . Then Rossum returned the Rams next punt 45 yards to the Rams 13 - yard line , setting a 38 - yard field goal by Jay Feely . Throughout the rest of the game , the Falcons intercepted a pass from Bulger , forced him to lose a fumble , and sacked him in the end zone for a safety . After the safety , Atlanta running back T . J . Duckett scored the final point of the game on a 4 - yard run . Bulger finished with 292 passing yards and 2 touchdowns , with 1 interception . Curtis caught 7 passes for 128 yards . Duckett rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown . Sunday January 16 , 2005 . NFC : Philadelphia Eagles 27 , Minnesota Vikings 14 . The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive year on the strength of quarterback Donovan McNabb ( 21 out of 33 completions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns ) . Meanwhile , the Vikings repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties ( including 3 pass interference calls for 78 yards ) , turnovers ( including two third quarter interceptions ) , and other miscues . The most notable was a blown fake field goal attempt which failed because they did not send the right personnel onto the field . Midway through the first quarter , McNabb scored the first points of the game with a 2 - yard touchdown pass to Freddie Mitchell . The next time the Eagles got the ball , McNabb completed a 52 - yard pass to receiver Greg Lewis , setting up his second touchdown pass on a 7 - yard toss to Brian Westbrook . Mewelde Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to his own 42 - yard line , and two plays later , Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw a 40 - yard completion to Marcus Robinson . After that , he finished the drive with a 7 - yard touchdown run , cutting the score to 14 - 7 . But the Eagle struck right back on their next drive . First , J . R . Reed returned the kickoff 48 yards to the Vikings 46 - yard line . After two penalties against Minnesota gave them 33 yards , McNabb completed two passes to tight end L . J . Smith . Smith fumbled the ball on the second pass , but Mitchell recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown , increasing the Eagles ' lead to 21 - 7 . The Vikings responded with a drive to Philadelphia ' s 3 - yard line . On fourth down , coach Mike Tice called a fake field goal that was supposed to involve backup quarterback Gus Frerotte passing the ball . But the lineman next to the long snapper didn ' t hear the call . He remained in and Randy Moss , who was supposed to receive the pass , had to run off the field to avoid a penalty . When the ball was snapped , a confused Frerotte had no receivers to pass too , and was forced to throw the ball away . The Eagles then drove 93 yards the Vikings 4 - yard line , but were unable to stop the clock from running out before they could score . After a scoreless third quarter , Philadelphia kicker David Akers kicked two field goals in the final period . The Vikings managed to respond with an 80 - yard drive capped by Culpepper ' s 32 - yard touchdown pass to Robinson , but they could not recover the onside kick and the Eagles ran out the rest of the clock . Culpepper threw for 354 yards and 1 touchdown , but was intercepted twice . Robinson caught five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown . Westbrook rushed for 70 yards and caught five passes for 47 yards and a touchdown . AFC : New England Patriots 20 , Indianapolis Colts 3 . In a snowstorm , the Patriots dismantled the league ' s highest scoring team by forcing three turnovers and holding them to just 276 yards and 3 points , their lowest point total since their opening game of the 2003 season . Peyton Manning suffered his seventh loss in Foxborough , even though he had more yards passing than Brady did in the game . The Patriots limited Manning to 238 passing yards with 1 interception and no touchdowns , and Edgerrin James to just 39 rushing yards . The Patriots also held possession of the ball for 37 : 43 , including 21 : 26 in the second half and recording three long scoring drives that each took over 7 minutes off the clock . New England running back Corey Dillon , playing in his first career playoff game after suffering through 7 losing seasons as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals , rushed for 144 yards and caught 5 passes for 17 yards . Both teams defenses dominated early , as the first five possessions of the game ended in punts . But after that , the Patriots put together a 16 - play , 78 yards scoring drive that took 9 : 07 off the clock . They lost a touchdown when Dillons ' 1 - yard score was overturned by a penalty , but Adam Vinatieri kicked a 24 - yard field goal to give them a 3 - 0 lead . The next time New England got the ball , a 42 - yard run by Dillon set up another Vinatieri field goal , increasing the Patriots lead to 6 - 0 . The Colts responded with a drive to New England ' s 39 - yard line , but linebacker Tedy Bruschi ended it by forcing and recovering a fumble from running back Dominic Rhodes . After a Patriots punt , Manning led the Colts 67 yards to a Mike Vanderjagt field goal , cutting the score to 6 - 3 going into halftime . But the Patriots dominated the second half , holding the ball for nearly all the time in regulation with two long drives . After an exchange of punts , they drove 87 yards in 15 plays on a drive that consumed 8 : 16 and ended with Brady ' s 5 - yard touchdown pass to David Givens . At the end of the Colts next drive , Hunter Smith ' s 54 - yard punt pinned New England back at their own 6 - yard line . But it didn ' t stop them . The Patriots stormed down the field on a 14 - play , 94 - yard drive that ate up another 7 : 24 . Dillon rushed for 35 yards and caught a pass for 9 on the drive , including a 27 - yard run on third down and 8 , while Brady finished it with a 1 - yard touchdown run , gving the Patriots a 20 - 3 lead with just over 7 minutes left in the game . Then two plays after the ensuing kickoff , safety Rodney Harrison stripped the ball from Reggie Wayne and Bruschi recovered it , allowing his team to take more time off the clock . Indianapolis responded with a drive to the Patriots 20 - yard line , but Harrison intercepted Manning ' s pass in the end zone with 10 seconds left . Conference championships . Sunday January 23 , 2005 . NFC Championship : Philadelphia Eagles 27 , Atlanta Falcons 10 . Despite a game - time temperature of and a swirling wind that sent wind chill s into sub - zero temperatures , the Eagles finally succeeded in advancing to the Super Bowl in their fourth consecutive NFC Championship Game appearance . The Eagles ' defense held Michael Vick to a combined total of 162 yards , sacking him four times . Tight end Chad Lewis caught two touchdown passes of three and two yards from Donovan McNabb ; however , he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his foot in the process of catching the second touchdown , and would miss the Super Bowl . On their first drive of the game , the Eagles drove to Atlanta ' s 32 - yard line . But they turned the ball over after trying to convert a fourth down with a fake field goal attempt . The next time they got the ball , a 36 - yard run by Brian Westbrook and a 21 - yard catch by L . J . Smith set up a 4 - yard touchdown run by Dorsey Levens , giving them a 7 - 0 lead . Atlanta responded with a drive to the Eagles 3 - yard line , but was forced to settle for a Jay Feely field goal after Vick was sacked on third down . Six plays after the ensuing kickoff , Greg Lewis ' 45 - yard reception moved the ball to the Falcons 4 - yard line , setting up McNabb ' s 3 - yard touchdown pass to Chad Lewis one play later . Atlanta struck right back on their next drive , moving the ball 70 yards in just five plays and scoring with Warrick Dunn ' s 10 - yard touchdown run with 21 seconds left in the first half . The Eagles dominated the second half , forcing Atlanta to punt on every possession except one which resulted in an interception , and their last one , which ended when they turned the ball over on downs . Philadelphia also added 13 points to their lead with two David Akers field goals and another touchdown pass from McNabb to Lewis . McNabb threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns , while also rushing for 32 yards . Westbrook rushed for 96 yards and caught five passes for 39 . AFC Championship : New England Patriots 41 , Pittsburgh Steelers 27 . The game - time temperature of made it the second - coldest game ever in Pittsburgh and the coldest ever in Steel City playoff annals . However , it was the Patriots that handed Ben Roethlisberger his first loss as a starter after a 14 - game winning streak , the longest by a rookie quarterback in NFL history , as the Steelers became the second NFL team ever to record a 15 - 1 record and fail to reach the Super Bowl . The Patriots converted four Pittsburgh turnovers into 24 points , while committing no turnovers themselves . The Patriots ' win also prevented an all - Pennsylvania Super Bowl from being played . The Steelers never recovered from their poor performance in the first quarter . Patriots defensive back Eugene Wilson intercepted Roethlisberger ' s first pass of the game on his own 48 - yard line , setting up Adam Vinatieri ' s 48 - yard field goal to take a 3 - 0 lead . Pittsburgh responded with a drive to the Patriots 39 - yard line . But then running back Jerome Bettis lost a fumble while being tackled by Rosevelt Colvin and linebacker Mike Vrabel recovered it . On the next play , Tom Brady threw a 60 - yard touchdown pass to receiver Deion Branch . With 1 : 28 left in the first quarter , the Steelers cut their deficit to 10 - 3 with Jeff Reed ' s 23 - yard field goal . But after an exchange of punts , Branch caught a 45 - yard reception on Pittsburgh ' s 14 - yard line . Two plays later , Brady threw a 9 - yard touchdown pass to David Givens . Then on the Steelers ensuing drive , safety Rodney Harrison intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown , giving the Patriots a 24 - 3 halftime lead . In the second half , the teams scored three consecutive touchdowns . New England was forced to punt on the opening drive of the third quarter , and Antwaan Randle El returned the ball 9 yards to the Steelers 44 - yard line . Then on the Steelers ensuing possession , he caught two passes for 46 yards as they drove 56 yards in five plays . Bettis finished the drive with a 5 - yard touchdown run , cutting their deficit to 24 - 10 . New England responded by moving the ball 69 yards in seven plays and scoring with Corey Dillon ' s 25 - yard touchdown run . But Pittsburgh stormed right back , driving 60 yards in ten plays and scoring with Roethlisberger ' s 30 - yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward . Then after forcing a punt , Randle El returned the ball 22 yards to the Steelers 49 - yard line . On their ensuing drive , Ward ' s 26 - yard reception on the last play of the third quarter set up Reed ' s second field goal , making the score 31 - 20 with 13 : 32 left in the game . However , the Patriots took over the rest of the quarter . They responded with a 49 - yard drive that took 5 : 26 off the clock and ended with Vinatieri ' s 31 - yard field goal . Then two plays after the ensuing kickoff , Wilson intercepted another pass from Roethlisberger at New England ' s 45 - yard line . The Patriots subsequently marched down the field on another long scoring drive , taking 5 : 06 off the clock . Branch capped it off with a 23 - yard touchdown run on a reverse play , giving the Patriots a 41 - 20 lead . The Steelers responded with Roethlisberger ' s 7 - yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress on their next drive , but by then there was only 1 : 31 left in the game . Brady completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns . Dillon rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown . Branch caught 4 passes for 116 yards , rushed for 37 yards , and scored two touchdowns . Roethlisberger threw for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns , and rushed for 45 yards , but was intercepted 3 times . Ward caught 5 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown .