1980 – 81 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1980 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XV . " Note : As per the rules of the NFL playoffs prior to the 1990 season ( notwithstanding the strike - shortened 1982 season ) , the San Diego Chargers ( the AFC 1 seed ) did not play the Oakland Raiders ( the 4 seed ) in the Divisional playoff round because both teams were in the same division . " Wild Card playoffs . December 28 , 1980 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 27 , Houston Oilers 7 . Even though the Oilers recorded more yards , more first downs , and more time of possession , the Raiders scored on big plays to win , 27 - 7 . Houston running back Earl Campbell lost a fumble on the first play of the game , setting up Oakland kicker Chris Bahr ' s 47 - yard field goal . The Oilers responded with a 55 - yard drive to score on Campbell ' s 1 - yard touchdown run . In the second quarter , Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett threw a 1 - yard touchdown pass to Todd Christensen . Oakland did not score again until the fourth quarter when Plunkett threw a 44 - yard touchdown to Arthur Whittington , followed by Bahr ' s 37 - yard field goal . With about 6 minutes left in the game , cornerback Lester Hayes returned an interception 20 yards to the end zone to clinch the Raiders ' victory . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 34 , Los Angeles Rams 13 . The Cowboys avenged a 38 - 14 loss to the Rams two weeks earlier ( in a game they trailed 38 - 0 ) as Dallas running back Tony Dorsett rushed for 160 yards , caught 3 passes for 28 yards , and scored 2 touchdowns to lead his team to victory . After Dallas kicker Rafael Septien opened up the scoring with a 28 - yard field goal , the Rams marched 73 - yards to score on running back Jewerl Thomas ' 1 - yard run . However , the ensuing extra point was blocked and Septien later made a 29 - yard field goal to tie the game , 6 - 6 . In the second period , Los Angeles quarterback Vince Ferragamo completed a 21 - yard touchdown pass to receiver Preston Dennard , but the Cowboys tied the game before halftime with Dorsett ' s 12 - yard rushing touchdown . After the game was tied at halftime , 13 - 13 , Cowboys quarterback Danny White threw 3 touchdown passes in the second half . In addition , Dallas coach Tom Landry went to a 5 man defensive front and they dropped various combinations into 7 and 8 man coverage to confuse the Rams potent passing game . The result was a combination of pressure on Ram QB Vince Ferragamo , and Dallas intercepted 3 passes . White then threw touchdown passes on Dallas ' first three drives of the second half : A 10 - yarder to Dorsett , a 35 - yard one to Butch Johnson , and an 11 - yarder to Drew Pearson . Dallas then turned to a potent rushing attack to chew up time and keep the Rams offense off the field . Dallas rushed 46 times for 338 yards , and the Rams were never able to score in the second half . Divisional playoffs . January 3 , 1981 . AFC : San Diego Chargers 20 , Buffalo Bills 14 . With 2 : 08 left in the game , Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts threw the 50 - yard winning touchdown pass to receiver Ron Smith to defeat the Bills , 20 - 14 . Buffalo jumped to a 14 - 3 halftime lead with running back Roosevelt Leaks ' 1 - yard touchdown run and quarterback Joe Ferguson ' s 9 - yard pass to Frank Lewis . However , San Diego took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 70 yards to score on quarterback Dan Fouts ' 9 - yard touchdown completion to Charlie Joiner . Then early in the fourth quarter , the Chargers added a field goal to cut the Bills ' lead , 14 - 13 . San Diego took over at their own 31 - yard line with less than 4 minutes remaining , but Buffalo cornerback Charles Romes almost intercepted Fouts on the play before the winning touchdown . After the game it was revealed that Ferguson had been playing with a fractured ankle , suffered three weeks earlier in a game against the New England Patriots . NFC : Philadelphia Eagles 31 , Minnesota Vikings 16 . The Eagles forced 8 turnovers in the second half en route to a 31 - 16 victory . The Vikings scored 14 unanswered points in the first half with wide receiver Sammy White ' s 30 - yard touchdown reception from quarterback Tommy Kramer and running back Ted Brown ' s 1 - yard touchdown run . However , Philadelphia scored before halftime by finishing off an 85 - yard drive with quarterback Ron Jaworski ' s 9 - yard touchdown completion to wide receiver Harold Carmichael . The Eagles then tied the game on the opening possession of the second half with Wilbert Montgomery ' s 8 - yard touchdown run . Minnesota scored a safety when Jaworski was sacked in the end zone , but Montgomery then scored on a 5 - yard rushing touchdown . Then the Vikings lost two fumbles , which led to 10 points for the Eagles , and Kramer threw interceptions on each of his team ' s final 4 drives . January 4 , 1981 . AFC : Oakland Raiders 14 , Cleveland Browns 12 . In a play that has become to be known as Red Right 88 , Browns quarterback Brian Sipe ' s pass was intercepted in the end zone by Raiders safety Mike Davis with 41 seconds left in the game to preserve Oakland ' s 14 - 12 victory . Instead of opting for a game winning field goal , Cleveland decided to attempt a passing play because Browns kicker Don Cockroft had previously missed two of four field goal attempts , had another aborted following a bad snap , and had one extra point blocked . In addition , the field was frozen and slippery . With the game - time temperature at , the coldest NFL game since the Ice Bowl of December 31 , 1967 , Cleveland scored first when Ron Bolton returned an interception 42 yards to the end zone . However , Cockroft ' s ensuing extra point was blocked by Ted Hendricks and the Raiders responded by driving 64 yards to score on a 1 yard touchdown run by Mark van Eeghen . Cockroft made two field goals in the third quarter , but in the fourth period , Oakland marched 80 yards to score on van Eeghen ' s second touchdown . The quarterbacks of both teams were completely dominated throughout the game . Sipe was held to just 13 of 40 completions for 183 yards and intercepted 3 times , while Oakland ' s Jim Plunkett completed only 14 of 30 passes for 149 yards , with 2 interceptions . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 30 , Atlanta Falcons 27 . The Cowboys scored 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter to come from behind and defeat the Falcons , 30 - 27 . Atlanta jumped to a 10 - 3 lead , aided by quarterback Steve Bartkowski ' s 60 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Alfred Jenkins . In the second quarter , Dallas recovered a fumble in Atlanta territory and tied the game quarterback Danny White ' s 5 - yard touchdown completion to tight end Billy Joe Dupree . However , the Falcons responded with a 1 - yard touchdown run by Lynn Cain to take a 17 - 10 lead . Then after forcing a punt , Atlanta mounted another drive into Dallas territory , but defensive back Steve Wilson intercepted a pass from Bartkowski and the score remained 17 - 10 at halftime . Dallas started out the second half with a drive to midfield , but lost the ball on a play that initially appeared to go in their favor . Running back Preston Pearson caught a short pass from Danny White and took off for a big gain , but linebacker Joel Williams , who initially pressured White into making the pass , managed to chase Pearson down and force a fumble on the 15 - yard line . After recovering the fumble , Atlanta stormed down the field and increased their lead to 24 - 10 with Bartkowski ' s 12 - yard touchdown pass to running back William Andrews . Starting a drive with 3 : 38 left in the third quarter , Dallas mounted an 85 - yard drive that ended with Robert Newhouse ' s 1 - yard touchdown run with 13 : 50 left in the game . Dallas subsequently forced a punt , but Atlanta safety Tom Pridemore intercepted a pass from White and returned it 22 yards to the Cowboys 37 - yard line , setting up an Atlanta field goal to increase the lead 27 - 17 . Dallas then marched 62 yards to score on Drew Pearson ' s 14 - yard touchdown reception with 3 : 04 left in the game . Then two plays after ensuing the kickoff , Dallas lineman Ed " Too Tall " Jones appeared to jump offsides , which would have given the Falcons a first down , but he somehow managed to maintain his footing and avoid crossing the line of scrimmage before the snap . As a result , his sudden movement threw off Atlanta ' s offense and he ended up making a key tackle to end the drive and force a punt . Following the punt , Dallas advanced 70 yards to score on Pearson ' s 23 - yard touchdown catch with 47 seconds left . Charlie Waters fumbled the snap on the extra point attempt , keeping the score at 30 - 27 and giving Atlanta a chance to drive for a tying field goal . But the Falcons turned the ball over on downs before they could move it out of their own territory Jenkins finished the game with 4 receptions for 155 yards . The game is featured as one of the " NFL ' s Greatest Games " as the Duel in Dixie . Conference championships . January 11 , 1981 . AFC Championship : Oakland Raiders 34 , San Diego Chargers 27 . In the first quarter alone , Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett threw 2 touchdown passes and scored a rushing touchdown . By the time the first period ended , Oakland was up 21 - 7 , with Plunkett recording a 65 - yard touchdown on a pass to Raymond Chester that was tipped twice , once by the Raiders and once by the Chargers , a 21 - yard touchdown to running back Kenny King , and a 5 - yard scoring run . The Chargers lone score in the opening period was quarterback Dan Fouts ' s 48 - yard touchdown completion to Charlie Joiner . Early in the second quarter , Oakland ' s Mark van Eeghen rushed for a 3 - yard touchdown , but Fouts responded with an 8 - yard touchdown to Joiner . Then San Diego scored on its first two drives of the second half to cut the Raiders lead , 28 - 24 . However , Oakland scored two field goals by Chris Bahr . The Chargers then scored on a 27 - yard field goal midway through the final period . The Raider defense was exhausted and they implored their offense by saying " don ' t let them have the damn ball back " ! The Raiders then held onto the ball for the last 6 : 43 of the game , with Plunkett scrambling twice on 3rd down to pick up key first downs , to clinch the victory . Plunkett finished the game with 14 of 18 completions for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns . NFC Championship : Philadelphia Eagles 20 , Dallas Cowboys 7 . Although Philadelphia quarterback Ron Jaworski completed only 9 of 29 passes for 91 yards and was intercepted twice , running back Wilbert Montgomery led the Eagles to a victory by rushing for 194 yards and a touchdown . Montgomery scored on Philadelphia ' s first drive of the game with a 42 - yard rushing touchdown , but the Cowboys tied the game in the second quarter with running back Tony Dorsett ' s 3 - yard touchdown . But from that point on , Dallas never posed a threat again . In the third quarter , a fumble recovery by Eagles defensive end Dennis Harrison on the Dallas 11 - yard set up kicker Tony Franklin ' s 26 - yard field goal . Then on the Cowboys next drive , Philadelphia linebacker Jerry Robinson picked up Dorsett ' s fumble and returned it 22 yards to the Dallas 38 - yard line . Six plays later , running back Leroy Harris scored a 9 - yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 17 - 7 lead . Franklin later added another field goal to close out the scoring . The Eagles , as home team , elected to wear their road white jerseys instead of their home green jerseys so as to force Dallas to wear their rarely - used dark blue jerseys rather than their familiar white jerseys ; through the years , the Cowboys ' blue jerseys were said to be jinxed since they often lost wearing them - especially in Super Bowl V . This would be the Eagles ' last playoff victory until the 1992 season . Super Bowl XV began a five - game postseason losing streak for the franchise .