1985 – 86 NFL playoffs The NFL playoffs following the 1985 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XX . Because the Jets and Giants both used Giants Stadium as their home field , the two wild card playoff games were held on different days . Wild Card playoffs . December 28 , 1985 . AFC : New England Patriots 26 , New York Jets 14 . In the NFL ' s first ever playoff game at Giants Stadium , the Patriots dominated the Jets by forcing 4 turnovers and 5 sacks . New England jumped to 3 - 0 lead in the first quarter after Tony Franklin made a 33 - yard field goal . Then after New York scored on quarterback Ken O ' Brien ' s 11 - yard touchdown pass to running back Johnny Hector , Franklin kicked his second field goal for 41 yards . Late in the second quarter , safety Fred Marion intercepted a pass from O ' Brien to set up Tony Eason ' s 36 - yard touchdown pass to Stanley Morgan , giving New England a 13 - 7 halftime lead . In the third period , Franklin made a 20 - yard field goal to give the Patriots a 16 - 7 lead and on the ensuing kickoff , Hector was stripped of the ball by LB Johnny Rembert , who then picked up the fumble and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown , which gave the Patriots a commanding 23 - 7 lead , but the Jets cut the lead to 23 - 14 late in the 3rd quarter when Pat Ryan , in at QB for the injured Ken O ' Brien , threw a 12 yard TD pass to Mickey Shuler . Late in the 4th quarter , Franklin later made his fourth field goal of the game , a 26 - yarder , to close out the scoring . December 29 , 1985 . NFC : New York Giants 17 , San Francisco 49ers 3 . In the Giants first home playoff game since 1962 , despite the fact that the 49ers recorded 362 yards of total offense , with receiver Dwight Clark catching 8 passes for 120 yards , the Giants defense limited San Francisco to only one field goal the entire game , a 21 - yard field goal by Ray Wersching in the 2nd quarter . Meanwhile , New York running back Joe Morris rushed for 141 yards . The Giants scored on their opening possession of the game with kicker Eric Schubert ' s 47 - yard field goal . Then in the second quarter , New York defensive back Terry Kinard intercepted a pass from 49ers quarterback Joe Montana to set up Phil Simms ' 18 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Bavaro . A 77 - yard drive in the third quarter was capped by Simms ' 3 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Don Hasselbeck which capped off the scoring for the day . Divisional playoffs . January 4 , 1986 . AFC : Miami Dolphins 24 , Cleveland Browns 21 . The Browns jumped to a 21 - 3 lead midway through the third period , but the Dolphins then scored 21 unanswered points — the final touchdown with 1 : 57 left to play . Miami scored on their first drive with a 51 - field goal by Fuad Reveiz . Cleveland later marched 82 yard to score on quarterback Bernie Kosar ' s 16 - yard pass to tight end Ozzie Newsome . In the second quarter , Browns defensive back Don Rogers intercepted Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino , setting up a 21 - yard rushing touchdown by running back Earnest Byner . Byner then ran for a 66 - yard touchdown in the third quarter , the longest play in Cleveland ' s post season history , to give Cleveland a 21 - 3 lead . However , Miami then controlled the rest of the game . A 74 - yard drive was capped by Marino ' s 6 - yard touchdown pass to Nat Moore . Then running back Ron Davenport scored on a 31 - yard touchdown . Davenport ' s winning touchdown , a 1 - yard run with 1 : 57 remaining in the game , capped a 73 - yard possession . Byner finished the game with 161 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on just 16 carries , while also catching 4 passes for 25 yards . Miami running back Tony Nathan rushed for 21 yards and caught 10 passes for 101 yards . NFC : Los Angeles Rams 20 , Dallas Cowboys 0 . Running back Eric Dickerson led the Rams to a victory by scoring two touchdowns and recording a playoff record 248 rushing yards . After the first half ended with a 3 - 0 Los Angeles lead , Dickerson scored on a 55 - yard touchdown run early in the third period . On the ensuing kickoff , Kenny Duckett fumbled , and the ball was recovered by Vince Newsome to set up kicker Mike Lansford ' s second field goal . In the fourth period , Tony Hunter recovered a fumbled punt to set up Dickerson ' s 40 - yard rushing touchdown . This was Tom Landry ' s final post - season game as the Cowboys head coach . January 5 , 1986 . NFC : Chicago Bears 21 , New York Giants 0 . The Bears defense dominated the game by allowing only 32 rushing yards and sacked Giants quarterbacks for 60 yards . Giants quarterback Phil Simms was sacked 7 times during the game , 3½ of them coming from Chicago defensive end Richard Dent . Chicago ' s first touchdown resulted on a New York punt attempt from their own 12 - yard line . The wind caught the ball just enough for punter Sean Landeta to completely miss it , and Shaun Gayle picked it up and ran 5 yards for a touchdown . Gayle ' s run was the shortest punt return touchdown in NFL history . Bears quarterback Jim McMahon later threw two touchdown passes in the third period , both to Dennis McKinnon . McMahon finished the game with 216 passing yards , while running back Walter Payton rushed for 94 yards . AFC : New England Patriots 27 , Los Angeles Raiders 20 . New England running back Craig James rushed for 104 yards , caught 3 passes for 48 yards and scored a touchdown while the Patriots converted 6 Raiders turnovers into 17 points . In the first quarter , a fumble by Raiders punt returner Fulton Walker set up Patriots tight end Lin Dawson ' s 13 - yard touchdown reception from quarterback Tony Eason . Los Angeles then scored 17 unanswered points : a 29 - field goal by Chris Bahr , a 16 - yard touchdown reception by Jessie Hester , and Marcus Allen ' s 11 - yard rushing touchdown . New England then scored with James ' 2 - yard run , and later tied the game , 17 - 17 , after Ronnie Lippett ' s interception set up Tony Franklin ' s 45 - yard field goal . But Bahr kicked a 32 - yard field goal with 6 second left in the half to give the Raiders a 20 - 17 lead . In the third period , Franklin made a 32 - yard field goal to tie the game . On the ensuing kickoff , Sam Seale fumbled and Jim Bowman recovered the loose ball in the end zone for the game - clinching touchdown . Conference championships . January 12 , 1986 . NFC Championship : Chicago Bears 24 , Los Angeles Rams 0 . The Bears defense dominated the game by limiting Rams running back Eric Dickerson to 46 yards , and holding quarterback Dieter Brock to 10 out of 31 completions for 66 passing yards . Los Angeles only gained 130 yards of total offense . The Rams had a chance to get back in the game as they got inside the Bears ' 15 yard line in the waning moments of the first half . But poor play calling and clock management resulted in the clock running out . Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon scored on a 16 - yard touchdown run in the first quarter , and later threw a 22 - yard touchdown pass to Willie Gault in the third quarter . Kicker Kevin Butler kicked a 34 - yard field goal in the first period . In the fourth quarter , defensive lineman Richard Dent forced Brock to fumble , and linebacker Wilber Marshall picked up the loose ball and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown . AFC Championship : New England Patriots 31 , Miami Dolphins 14 . In an upset , the Patriots converted 6 Dolphins turnovers into 24 points . On Miami ' s first offensive play , running back Tony Nathan fumbled , and Patriots defensive end Garin Veris recovered the ball to set up Tony Franklin ' s 23 - yard field goal . The Dolphins then marched on an 80 - yard drive to score on quarterback Dan Marino ' s 11 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Dan Johnson . But New England responded on a 66 - yard possession to score on quarterback Tony Eason ' s 4 - yard touchdown to Tony Collins . A fumble by Dwight Stephenson then led to Eason ' s 1 - yard touchdown to Derrick Ramsey to give the Patriots a 17 - 7 lead . Just before halftime Miami missed the chance to cut the deficit down to 3 points when tight end Dan Johnson dropped a pass from Marino in the end zone on a 1st and 10 from the Patriots ' 16 . As the next two plays fell short of a first down , Miami settled for a field goal from the Patriots ' 14 yards , but Fuad Reveiz ' kick sailed wide to the right after a badly taken snap . Miami ' s Lorenzo Hampton then lost a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half , and Eason converted the turnover into a 2 - yard touchdown pass to running back Robert Weathers . The Dolphins finally scored again in the final period with Nathan ' s 10 - yard touchdown reception to cut the deficit to 24 - 14 , but New England ' s Mosi Tatupu later recorded a 1 - yard touchdown to close out the scoring . Patriots running back Craig James was their main contributor on offense , rushing for a career postseason high 105 yards of the Patriots 255 total rushing yards in a game played in a steady rain . The win was the first for the Patriots at the Orange Bowl since 1966 , the Dolphins inaugural season , ending a string of 18 consecutive losses by the Patriots in Miami and earning the Patriots their first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history .