NFL playoffs , 1996 - 97 The NFL playoffs following the 1996 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXXI . This post - season was remarkable in that the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers each made it all the way to their respective conference championships , only two years after their inception into the league as expansion teams . Wild Card playoffs . December 28 , 1996 . AFC : Jacksonville Jaguars 30 , Buffalo Bills 27 . The second year Jaguars won their first playoff game in team history as kicker Mike Hollis scored the winning 45 - yard field goal with 3 : 07 left to play . The Bills scored first with quarterback Jim Kelly ' s 7 - yard touchdown pass to running back Thurman Thomas . However , Jacksonville tied the game after defensive end Clyde Simmons intercepted Kelly ' s shovel pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown . For the rest of the game , the score see - sawed back and forth : Hollis and Bills kicker Steve Christie each scored 2 field goals , Thomas ran for a 2 - yard touchdown , Jaguars running back Natrone Means ran for a 30 - yard score , Buffalo cornerback Jeff Burris scored on a 38 - yard interception return , and Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell threw a 2 - yard touchdown to Jimmy Smith . NFC : Dallas Cowboys 40 , Minnesota Vikings 15 . The Cowboys scored 23 points off of 5 Vikings turnovers . Perhaps the turning point of the game occurred in the first quarter after Dallas took the early 7 - 0 lead with quarterback Troy Aikman ' s 2 - yard touchdown run . Minnesota running back Amp Lee caught a short pass from quarterback Brad Johnson and appeared to be on his way for a 43 - yard touchdown . But Cowboys safety George Teague caught up with Lee at the 1 - yard line and poked the ball out of his hands , and the ball bounced out of the end zone for a touchback . Teague later scored on a 27 - yard interception return , running back Emmitt Smith ran for two touchdowns from 37 and 1 yards out , and kicker Chris Boniol made 4 field goals . Johnson threw a 30 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Cris Carter and ran for another , but it was not enough . This was the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game until January 9 , 2010 , when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2009 – 10 Wild Card playoff 34 - 14 . December 29 , 1996 . AFC : Pittsburgh Steelers 42 , Indianapolis Colts 14 . The Steelers blew a 13 - point lead in the first half but scored 29 unanswered points in the second half . Meanwhile , the Pittsburgh defense held the Colts to 146 total yards of offense . Two field goals by Norm Johnson and a 1 - yard touchdown run by Kordell Stewart gave the Steelers the 13 - point advantage by the second quarter . However , Indianapolis cornerback Eugene Daniel intercepted Mike Tomczak ' s pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown . Another interception led to a 9 - yard touchdown from Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh to wide receiver Aaron Bailey . But the Steelers controlled the rest of the game . Running back Jerome Bettis , who finished with 102 rushing yards , scored two 1 - yard touchdowns , running back Jon Witman recorded a 31 - yard touchdown , and Stewart added a 3 - yard touchdown . It was the second year in a row the Steelers had eliminated the Colts from the playoffs NFC : San Francisco 49ers 14 , Philadelphia Eagles 0 . Although they gained more yards than the 49ers , the Eagles were shut out in a rainy game with 51 miles per hour winds . Kicker Gary Anderson missed a 40 - yard field goal attempt on Philadelphia ' s first possession . In the second quarter , San Francisco quarterback Steve Young ran for a 9 - yard touchdown that capped off a 75 - yard drive . The Eagles then reached the San Francisco 8 - yard line , but quarterback Ty Detmer threw an interception to defensive back Marquez Pope . The 49ers were forced to punt on their next drive , and Philadelphia advanced to the San Francisco 5 - yard line . However , 49ers defensive end Roy Barker intercepted Detmer , and the Eagles would never seriously threaten again . Young would later throw a 3 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Jerry Rice . Divisional playoffs . January 4 , 1997 . NFC : Green Bay Packers 35 , San Francisco 49ers 14 . The Packers defense forced five turnovers en route to victory , while Desmond Howard ' s key punt returns enabled the Packers to jump to a 14 - 0 lead after only 3 offensive plays . On his first punt return , Howard ran 71 yards for a touchdown . He then returned a punt 46 yards to set up quarterback Brett Favre ' s 4 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Andre Rison . Early in the second quarter , defensive back Craig Newsome ' s interception set up the Packers third touchdown of the day . Newsome fumbled the ball while being hit during the interception return , but his teammate Sean Jones recovered the ball on the 49ers 15 - yard line . Three plays later , Edgar Bennett ' s touchdown run increased the Packers lead to 21 - 0 . Two Green Bay turnovers enabled San Francisco to mount a comeback attempt . First , a 49ers punt bounced into Packers safety Chris Hayes and was recovered San Francisco ' s Curtis Bailey at the Green Bay 26 - yard line . Six plays later , backup quarterback Elvis Grbac ( who had replaced injured starter Steve Young ) threw a 6 - yard touchdown pass to running back Terry Kirby with 24 seconds left in the half . Then the Packers fumbled the second half kickoff , and San Francisco defensive back Steve Israel ran the fumble recovery to the Green Bay 4 - yard line . On the next play , Grbac ' s 4 - yard touchdown run cut the score to 21 - 14 . However , the Packers marched 72 yards for another touchdown , in which a fumble by Bennett was recovered in the end zone by wide receiver Antonio Freeman . Later on , with 5 : 31 left in the game , Kirby lost a fumble while being tackled by Green Bay defensive back Mike Prior , and Hayes recovered the ball on the 49ers 32 - yard line . 6 plays later , Bennett scored his second touchdown of the game to close out the scoring . Because the weather dipped in and out of freezing causing both rain and snow , the field got extremely muddy as the game went on causing the Green Bay Press Gazette to call it the " Mud Bowl . " Neither team had much success moving the ball on offense due to the field conditions . The Packers , who averaged over 345 yards per game during the season , gained just 210 yards , while the 49ers managed only 196 . Bennett was one of the top players of the day with 80 rushing yards and two touchdowns , along with two receptions for 14 yards . AFC : Jacksonville Jaguars 30 , Denver Broncos 27 . The Wild Card Jaguars , who had barely made the playoffs with a 9 - 7 record by winning their last 5 games of the season ( including their final one when Atlanta Falcons kicker Morten Andersen missed a last second field goal ) , overcame a 12 - point deficit and scored on six consecutive possessions to upset the Broncos , who had finished the season with an NFL best 13 - 3 record and were favored to win by over 14 points . Their loss meant that for the second consecutive year the AFC ' s top seed was eliminated in the divisional round . Denver dominated the first quarter , scoring two touchdowns while preventing the Jaguars from gaining a single first down . On the Broncos second drive of the game , a 47 - yard run by Terrell Davis gave them a first down on the Jacksonville 2 - yard line . The Jaguars kept Denver out of the end zone for the next three plays , but Vaughn Hebron scored a 1 - yard touchdown run on fourth down , giving Denver a 6 - 0 lead after defensive lineman Clyde Simmons blocked the extra point . Then after forcing a punt , Denver scored another touchdown when Elway connected with tight end Shannon Sharpe for a 18 - yard touchdown pass . But Elway ' s 2 - point conversion pass to Sharpe was incomplete , keeping the score at 12 - 0 . In the second quarter , Jacksonville stormed back . After a controversial pass interference penalty wiped out a Tory James interception for Denver , Jacksonville scored 13 points in the second quarter to take the lead at the half , 13 - 12 , with two field goals by kicker Mike Hollis and an 8 - yard touchdown by running back Natrone Means . In the third quarter , Denver was limited to 14 plays for 37 yards . Meanwhile , Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell connected on a 31 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keenan McCardell . Hollis later kicked a 22 - yard field goal to give Jacksonville a 23 - 12 lead with less than 11 minutes left in the game . But on Denver ' s next drive , Davis scored on a 2 - yard touchdown run , a successful two - point conversion shrunk the lead to 23 - 20 . But Jacksonville responded with another touchdown drive , featuring a 29 - yard run by Brunell , who later finished the drive with a 16 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jimmy Smith with 3 : 39 remaining , making the score 30 - 20 . The Broncos then scored on Elway ' s 15 - yard touchdown to wide receiver Ed McCaffrey with 1 : 50 left , but they had no timeouts left and were unable to recover the onside kick . Brunell had the best postseason performance of his career , throwing for 245 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception , and also rushing for 44 yards . Davis rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown , while also catching 7 passes for 24 yards . It turned out to be the only playoff game of his career in which he didn ' t rush for 100 yards . The game was featured as one of the " NFL ' s Greatest Games " as Ambush at Mile High . January 5 , 1997 . AFC : New England Patriots 28 , Pittsburgh Steelers 3 . The Patriots blew out the Steelers , 28 - 3 , with 346 yards of total offense . Running back Curtis Martin gained 166 rushing yards and scored three touchdowns . Martin scored on runs of 2 , 78 , and 23 yards . Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw a 24 - yard touchdown pass to running back Keith Byars . The Steelers ' lone score was Norm Johnson ' s 29 - yard field goal in the third quarter . Pittsburgh quarterback Mike Tomczak was held to 110 passing yards and intercepted twice in the final postseason game of his career . NFC : Carolina Panthers 26 , Dallas Cowboys 17 . The second - year Panthers held Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman to 165 passing yards and forced three interceptions en route to their first playoff win in team history . On offense , running back Anthony Johnson was their top performer with 104 rushing yards and a 9 - yard reception . Dallas scored first on kicker Chris Boniol ' s 22 - yard field goal , but wide receiver Michael Irvin was knocked out of the game with a separated shoulder . Carolina quarterback Kerry Collins then threw two touchdown passes , a 1 - yarder to tight end Wesley Walls and a 10 - yarder to wide receiver Willie Green . The Cowboys countered with a 73 - yard drive to score on Aikman ' s 2 - yard touchdown pass to running back Daryl Johnston , but they failed on the extra point attempt and the Panthers lead was only cut to 14 - 9 . A bad snap on a Carolina punt attempt went out of the end zone to give the Cowboys a safety . But Panthers safety Chad Cota intercepted a pass and returned it 49 yards to set up kicker John Kasay ' s 24 - yard field goal with three seconds in the half , giving Carolina a 17 - 11 halftime lead . The second half was a battle of field goals with Kasey kicking 3 over Boniol ' s 2 . Conference championships . January 12 , 1997 . NFC Championship : Green Bay Packers 30 , Carolina Panthers 13 . The Packers recorded 201 rushing yards and 476 total yards of offense . Green Bay running back Dorsey Levens recorded 117 yards receiving and 88 yards rushing , including a 29 - yard touchdown catch . Quarterback Brett Favre managed to overcome two early turnovers that set up 10 Carolina points , completing 19 out of 29 passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns . Packers running back Edgar Bennett , who recorded 99 rushing yards , scored a touchdown from 4 yards out , and kicker Chris Jacke added 3 field goals . Early in the first quarter , Panthers linebacker Sam Mills intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it to the Packers 3 - yard line , setting up Kerry Collins ' 3 - yard touchdown pass to fullback Howard Griffith . Green Bay struck back with Favre ' s 29 - yard touchdown pass to Levens , but after forcing a punt , Carolina lineman Lamar Lathon recovered a fumble from Favre on the Packers 45 - yard line . A few plays later , John Kasay ' s 22 - yard field goal put the Panthers back in the lead , 10 - 7 . But after that the Packers dominated the rest of the game . Favre responded by leading Green Bay 71 yards in 15 plays and scoring with a 6 - yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman . Then on the first play after the ensuing kickoff , safety Tyrone Williams intercepted a pass from Collins on the Packers 38 - yard line . Favre ' s completions to Andre Rison and Freeman for gains of 23 and 25 yards moved the ball into field goal range , and Jacke ' s 31 - yard field goal finished the drive , giving Green Bay a 17 - 10 halftime lead . On the first drive of the second half , Green Bay moved the ball 73 yards in 11 plays and scored with another Jacke field goal . The Panthers managed to respond with an 11 - play , 73 - yard drive of their own and score with Kasay ' s second field goal , which cut their deficit to 7 points . But Green Bay stormed right back with a 74 - yard touchdown drive , featuring a 66 - yard reception by Levens . On the next play , Bennett ' s 4 - yard touchdown run gave the Packers a 27 - 13 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter . In the fourth quarter , Jacke ' s third field goal put the game out of reach . This game is also the first time since 1991 that the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers did not appear in the NFC Championship Game . AFC Championship : New England Patriots 20 , Jacksonville Jaguars 6 . Patriots cornerback Otis Smith picked up Jaguars running back James Stewart ' s fumble and returned it 47 yards for the game - clinching touchdown with 2 : 24 left in the game . The Jaguars were forced to punt on their first possession , but a high snap enabled defensive back Larry Whigham to tackle punter Bryan Barker at the Jacksonville 4 - yard line . Moments later , New England running back Curtis Martin scored a touchdown on a 1 - yard run . After Jaguars kicker Mike Hollis made a 32 - yard field goal , Jacksonville punt returner Chris Hudson ' s fumble set up Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri ' s 29 - yard field goal . Vinatieri then added a 20 - yard field goal to give New England a 13 - 3 lead before halftime . Hollis later kicked a 28 - yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the lead , 13 - 6 . With under 4 minutes left in the game , the Jaguars reached the New England 5 - yard line and attempted to score the game - tying touchdown , but Patriots defensive back Willie Clay intercepted a Mark Brunell pass in the end zone . The game was also notable for a power outage ( due to the unprecedented power use at and around the stadium due to very cold temperatures ) just minutes before halftime , which knocked out much of the lighting of the stadium , as well as most of the power in the surrounding community . ( The television broadcast , however , was not affected , and stayed on throughout the outage by using generators . )