NFL playoffs , 1981 - 82 The NFL playoffs following the 1981 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XVI . Both conference champions had losing records the previous season , the only time this has happened . All four of the AFC playoff games were between teams who had never faced each other in the postseason before . This was the only time this happened in either conference since the playoffs were expanded to ten teams in 1978 . Wild Card playoffs . December 27 , 1981 . AFC : Buffalo Bills 31 , New York Jets 27 . Bills defensive back Bill Simpson ' s interception at the Buffalo 1 - yard line with 2 seconds left in the game preserved a 31 - 27 victory and gave Buffalo their first playoff win since 1965 . The Bills jumped to a 24 - 0 lead by the second quarter . First New York ' s Bruce Harper fumbled the opening kickoff while being tackled by Ervin Parker , and Charles Romes returned the ball 26 - yards to the end zone . Then after a punt , quarterback Joe Ferguson completed a 50 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Frank Lewis , while interceptions by Simpson and linebacker Phil Villapiano led to a 29 - yard field goal by Nick Mike - Mayer and a 26 - yard scoring reception by Lewis . However , Jets quarterback Richard Todd threw a 30 - yard touchdown to tight end Mickey Shuler , and kicker Pat Leahy added two field goals to cut Buffalo ' s lead , 24 - 13 . With about 10 minutes left in the game , running back Joe Cribbs ran for a 45 - yard touchdown , increasing the Bills lead to 31 - 13 . But Todd then led the Jets 80 yards in 8 plays and completed a 30 - yard touchdown to Bobby Jones . Then after forcing a punt , New York drove for another score , aided by a pass interference call against Bills defensive back Mario Clark that nullified an interception . Kevin Long finished the drive with a 1 - yard touchdown run to cut the score to 31 - 27 . The Jets got the ball back with 2 : 36 remaining and then drove 69 yards to the Buffalo 11 - yard line , aided by a holding penalty that wiped out an interception by defensive back Steve Freeman . However , Simpson ' s interception at the 1 - yard line halted New York ' s comeback with 2 seconds left . Simpson recorded 2 interceptions , while Lewis caught 7 passes for a franchise postseason record 158 yards and 2 touchdowns . Shuler caught 6 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown . Todd threw for 377 yards , while Ferguson threw for 268 . Both quarterbacks threw 2 touchdowns and were intercepted four times . NFC : New York Giants 27 , Philadelphia Eagles 21 . The Giants jumped to a 20 - 0 lead in the first quarter , but had to withstand an Eagles comeback at the end to hold on to a 27 - 21 win . In the first quarter , Eagles kick / punt returner Wally Henry fumbled a punt and Beasley Reece recovered the ball at the Philadelphia 26 - yard line . A few plays later , quarterback Scott Brunner then threw a 9 - yard touchdown to running back Leon Bright ( the extra point attempt failed ) . Later in the first period , Brunner threw a 10 - yard touchdown to wide receiver John Mistler , Henry then fumbled the ensuing kickoff , and Mark Haynes recovered the ball in the end zone to give New York a 20 - 0 lead . In the second quarter , Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski completed a 15 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Harold Carmichael , but it was countered by Brunner ' s 22 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Tom Mullady to give the Giants a 27 - 7 halftime lead . However , New York was shut out in the second half , while the Eagles opened the third period by marching 82 yards to score on running back Wilbert Montgomery ' s 6 - yard rushing touchdown . Montgomery added another touchdown with 2 : 51 left in the game , but the Giants were able to run out the rest of the clock to preserve the victory . It marked the Giants first post season victory since 1956 . Divisional playoffs . January 2 , 1982 . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 38 , Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 . The Cowboys crushed the Buccaneers , limiting them to 24 rushing yards and forcing 4 interceptions and 4 sacks . After the first quarter remained scoreless , Dallas wide receiver Tony Hill made a 9 - yard touchdown reception from quarterback Danny White , and Rafael Septien later added a 32 - yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 10 - 0 halftime lead . Dallas then took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 80 - yards to score on running back Ron Springs ' 1 - yard rushing touchdown . Two interceptions later in the third quarter led to two more touchdowns by the Cowboys . AFC : San Diego Chargers 41 , Miami Dolphins 38 ( OT ) . Chargers placekicker Rolf Benirschke kicked the winning 29 - yard field goal after 13 : 52 of overtime , ending a game that became known in NFL lore as the Epic in Miami . This game set playoff records for the most points scored in a playoff game ( 79 ) , the most total yards by both teams ( 1 , 036 ) , and most passing yards by both teams ( 809 ) . The Chargers jumped to a 24 - 0 lead by the end of the first quarter , but after Don Strock replaced starting quarterback David Woodley , the Dolphins scored 17 unanswered points in the second period . On the final play of the first half , Strock threw a pass to Duriel Harris , who then lateraled the ball to Tony Nathan , who then ran 25 yards to the end zone . In the third quarter , Miami tied the game , 24 - 24 , with Strock ' s 15 - yard touchdown completion to tight end Joe Rose . Each team then scored two touchdowns , with San Diego quarterback Dan Fouts ' s 9 - yard tying score to James Brooks with about a minute left in regulation . Dolphins kicker Uwe von Schamann had a chance to win the game on the last play of regulation , but his field goal attempt was blocked by Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow . In overtime , the Chargers took the opening kickoff and advanced to the Miami 8 - yard line , but Benirschke missed a 27 - yard field goal attempt . Then after both teams exchanged punts twice , the Dolphins reached the San Diego 17 - yard line , only to see von Schamann ' s 34 - yard attempt get blocked by defensive lineman Leroy Jones . The Chargers then drive to the Miami 10 - yard line , where Benirschke eventually kicks the winning field goal . Strock turned in the best game of his life , completing 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards and 4 touchdowns , while Fouts put on one of the best performances of his hall of fame career , completing 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards and 3 touchdowns . The image of an exhausted Winslow , who finished the game with 13 receptions for 166 yards and a touchdown , being helped off the field by two of his Chargers teammates has been constantly replayed ever since . January 3 , 1982 . AFC : Cincinnati Bengals 28 , Buffalo Bills 21 . The Bengals won their first playoff game in team history after Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson ' s fourth - down pass fell incomplete , thus enabling Cincinnati to take over and run out the clock . Two key plays allowed the Bengals to start their first two drives in Buffalo territory , and they took advantage of their field position with touchdowns on each one . First , defensive back Mike Fuller returned a punt 27 yards to the Bills 42 - yard line . Six plays later , Charles Alexander scored a 1 - yard touchown run . On Buffalo ' s ensuing drive , defensive back Ken Riley intercepted a pass from Ferguson and returned it to the Bills 48 - yard line . Cincinnati then drove 48 yards in 8 plays and scored with fullback Pete Johnson ' s 1 - yard run to take an early 14 - 0 lead . Late in the second quarter , Ferguson ' s 54 - yard completion to Jerry Butler set up a 1 - yard touchdown run by Joe Cribbs , cutting the score to 14 - 7 by halftime . In the third quarter , a 44 - yard touchdown run by Cribbs tied the game , but he was injured on the play and was forced to sit the rest of the game out . Cincinnati scored again with Alexander ' s 20 - yard touchdown run , but was countered by Ferguson ' s 20 - yard touchdown pass to Butler . With 10 : 39 remaining in the game , Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson threw a 16 - yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Cris Collinsworth , giving Cincinnati the lead , 28 - 21 . The Bills drove to the Cincinnati 21 - yard line with about three minutes left to play , and it appeared that Ferguson completed a fourth - down pass to Lou Piccone to gain a first down . However , Buffalo was called for a delay of game penalty , and Ferguson ' s pass attempt on the next snap fell incomplete . The Bengals were then able to take over and run out the clock . Anderson finished the game with 14 of 21 completions for 192 yards and a touchdown . Johnson , the team ' s leading rusher with 1 , 077 yards during the season , was held to just 45 yards , but it did not matter as the Bengals still racked up 136 yards on the ground , 72 of them and two touchdowns from Alexander . Ferguson threw for 202 yards and a touchdown , but completed only 15 of 31 passes and was intercepted twice . Cribbs finished with a career postseason high 90 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns . Butler caught 4 passes for 98 yards and a score . NFC : San Francisco 49ers 38 , New York Giants 24 . 25 - year old San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana lead the 49ers to victory in his first ever playoff game , completing 20 of 31 passes for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns , with 1 interception . His top target in the game was receiver Dwight Clark , who caught 5 passes for 104 yards . The 49ers jumped to a 24 - 7 lead in the second quarter , and scored 2 touchdowns in the final period to secure the victory . San Francisco took the opening kickoff and advanced 85 yards to score on Montana ' s 8 - yard touchdown to tight end Charle Young . The Giants countered with quarterback Scott Brunner ' s 72 - yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Earnest Gray . Then after the 49ers went ahead , 10 - 7 , in the second quarter , San Francisco defensive back Ronnie Lott intercepted a pass from Brunner to set up wide receiver Freddie Solomon ' s 58 - yard touchdown reception . Linebacker Keena Turner recovered a fumble on the first play after the ensuing kickoff , and Ricky Patton scored on a 25 - yard touchdown run a few plays later to give the 49ers a 24 - 7 lead . Later , a 48 - yard field goal by New York kicker Joe Danelo made the score 24 - 10 at halftime . In the third quarter , Brunner completed a 59 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Johnny Perkins to cut the score , 24 - 17 . But in the fourth quarter , running back Bill Ring scored on a 3 - yard rushing touchdown , and Lott returned his second interception of the game 20 - yards to the end zone . Brunner then made a 17 - yard touchdown to Perkins to close out the scoring . Conference championships . January 10 , 1982 . AFC Championship : Cincinnati Bengals 27 , San Diego Chargers 7 . In a game subsequently known as the Freezer Bowl , the Bengals defeated the Chargers , 27 – 7 . Despite a game - time temperature of and a 35 - mile - per - hour wind that sent wind chill s as low as – 59 °F , Bengals ' quarterback Ken Anderson threw for 161 yards and 2 touchdown passes , with no interceptions , and rushed for 39 yards to lead his team to a victory . Cincinnati ' s defense intercepted San Diego quarterback Dan Fouts twice and recovered 2 fumbles , while their offense didn ' t commit a single turnover until late in the final period when the game was already out of reach . Cincinnati scored first with a 31 - yard field goal from kicker Jim Breech . Then Chargers ' rookie kick returner James Brooks lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff , and the Bengals scored a touchdown on an 8 - yard pass from Anderson to tight end M . L . Harris , increasing their lead to 10 - 0 . In the second quarter , the Chargers cut their deficit to 10 - 7 with Fouts ' 33 - yard touchdown pass to Kellen Winslow . But on the Chargers ' next drive , Fouts was intercepted by Bengals defensive back Louis Breeden . Breeden ' s interception set up another Bengals touchdown on Pete Johnson ' s 1 - yard run , giving them a 17 – 7 lead . The Bengals completely took over the game from that point on . Breech kicked another field goal in the third quarter to increase the lead to 20 – 7 . Then in final period , Anderson put the game away with an 3 - yard touchdown completion to receiver Don Bass . NFC Championship : San Francisco 49ers 28 , Dallas Cowboys 27 . In a play that would become immortalized as The Catch , 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark made a leaping grab at the back of the end zone to score the winning touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game . San Francisco opened the scoring with quarterback Joe Montana ' s 8 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Freddie Solomon . However , Dallas countered with a 44 - yard field goal by Rafael Septien , and then Tony Hill ' s 26 - yard touchdown reception from quarterback Danny White . Montana then threw a 20 - yard touchdown to Clark , to retake the lead , 14 – 10 . Then a controversial pass interference penalty on 49ers defensive back Ronnie Lott nullified his interception and gave the Cowboys a first down at the San Francisco 12 - yard line . Three plays later , running back Tony Dorsett scored on a 5 - yard rushing touchdown to give Dallas a 17 – 14 lead by halftime . In the third quarter , the 49ers regained the lead again with a 2 - yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Davis . However , Septien made a 22 - yard field goal early in the fourth quarter . Then , Cowboys cornerback Everson Walls recovered a fumble to set up White ' s 21 - yard touchdown to tight end Doug Cosbie to give Dallas a 27 – 21 advantage . With 4 : 54 left in the game , San Francisco found themselves with the ball at their own 11 - yard line . They marched 83 yards to the Dallas 6 - yard line , where Montana threw a high pass that Clark just managed to grab for the game winning touchdown . Other contributors on the final 89 - yard drive that led to the play now referred to as “ The Catch ” included Freddie Solomon ( WR ) , Lenvil Elliott ( RB ) , Earl Cooper ( FB ) , Mike Wilson , Charle Young ( TE ) , Dan Audick ( LT ) , John Ayers ( LG ) , Fred Quillan ( C ) , Randy Cross ( RG ) , and Keith Fahnhorst ( RT ) . However , the Cowboys still had enough time left in the game for one last drive . White threw a completion to Drew Pearson that almost went for a touchdown , but 49ers defensive back Eric Wright made a key tackle by getting one hand inside Pearson ' s jersey and dragging him down . Two plays later , Lawrence Pillers sacked White , forcing a fumble that was recovered by 49ers lineman Jim Stuckey , and the 49ers had their victory . Clark finished the game with 8 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns .