1984–85 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1984 season began on December 22, 1984. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, 38–16, on January 20, 1985, at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
The two wild card games were held on different days because both venues were in the Pacific Time Zone. Playoff games normally started at either 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time/9:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time or 4 p.m. EST/1 p.m. PST. The NFL did not schedule prime time playoff games on the east coast until 2002. A 9:30 a.m. PST game was considered too early to be played on the west coast.Starting with its coverage of Super Bowl XIX, ABC became part of the annual Super Bowl broadcasting rotation. The television rights to the first three rounds of the playoffs remained the same, with CBS televising the NFC games and NBC broadcasting the AFC games.
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, December 22, 1984
AFC: Seattle Seahawks 13, Los Angeles Raiders 7
The Seahawks rushed on 51 plays for 205 yards and the defense intercepted 2 passes and recorded 6 sacks to avenge their AFC championship loss to LA in the previous season. The Raiders crossed midfield only three times during the whole game, while Seattle's defense and Jeff West's punting constantly made them start each drive deep in their own territory. Their possessions in the game started from the 20, 4, 20, 18, 16, 22, 30, 20, 16, 16, 22 and 6-yard lines.Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg completed only 4 of 10 passes in the game, but one was a 26-yard touchdown throw to Daryl Turner in the second quarter. Late in the third quarter, Seattle linebacker Bruce Scholtz forced a fumble from Frank Hawkins, and cornerback Keith Simpson recovered it on the Raiders 38. Krieg gained 13 yards with a scramble on the next play, and Norm Johnson finished the drive with a 35-yard field goal to put the team up 10-0 with 1:29 left in the third quarter. On LA's ensuing possession, quarterback Jim Plunkett, starting in his first game since week 6 of the regular season due to injuries, threw an interception to John Harris at the Seahawks 31-yard line, and Seattle ended up scoring another field goal on a 44-yard kick by Johnson, giving them a 13-0 lead.
With 5:05 left in the game, Plunkett threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to running back Marcus Allen. LA's defense managed to force a punt on the next series, but only after the Seahawks ran the clock down to 45 seconds, and West's kick pinned them back at their own 6-yard line. Seattle safety Kenny Easley then put the game away by intercepting a pass from Plunkett with 4 seconds left on the clock.
Dan Doornink recorded 29 carries for 126 rushing yards and a 14-yard reception. Defensive end Jacob Green had 2.5 sacks. Allen rushed for 61 yards, while also catching five passes for 90 yards and a score. This would be Seattle's last playoff victory until the 2005 NFC Divisional playoffs against the Washington Redskins.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Raiders and Seahawks. Los Angeles won the only previous meeting the previous year.
In his book about his years as a physician working for the Raiders "You're OK, It's Just a Bruise", Robert Huizenga wrote that Jacob Green's father had died suddenly in Texas right before the game, and Green was told by his mother that they were going to wait until the game was over to have Mr. Green's funeral so Jacob could be there to bury his dad. Green and his teammates dedicated the game to Mr. Green and absolutely destroyed the Raiders' offensive line on their way to victory.
| Los Angeles Raiders leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games |
Sunday, December 23, 1984
NFC: New York Giants 16, Los Angeles Rams 13
In a defensive struggle, the Giants managed to pull out a win with key defensive stands on the last two LA drives.After forcing the Rams to punt on the opening drive, New York scored first with kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh's 37-yard field goal. On the Rams ensuing drive, Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor forced a fumble from Eric Dickerson, and defensive back Bill Currier recovered it at Los Angeles 23-yard line. This set up running back Rob Carpenter's 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants a 10-0 lead. Mike Lansford's 38-yard field goal in the second quarter cut the score to 10-3 going into halftime.
Haji-Sheikh kicked a 39-yard field goal in the third quarter, but this was countered by Dickerson's 14-yard touchdown run, making the score 13-10. New York responded with Haji-Sheikh's 36-yard field goal five minutes later to go up by 6 points. LA then took the ball back and drove to a first down on the Giants 7-yard line, with Dickerson rushing four times for 44 yards along the way. Dickerson picked up 3 more yards on the next play, but then Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall dropped fullback Dwayne Crutchfield for a 3-yard loss and Jeff Kemp's 3rd down completion to Henry Ellard picked up just 2 yards. Faced with 4th and goal from the 5, the Rams decided to settle for Lansford's 22-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 16-13 with 7:02 left in the game.
Los Angeles caught a break on the Giants next possession when Joe Morris' 61-yard run was eliminated by a holding penalty against center Kevin Belcher and the team ended up punting. This gave the Rams one last chance to drive for the tying field goal or winning touchdown at the 2:48 mark. However, they were unable to gain even a single first down. Faced with 4th and 6 after three plays, Kemp was sacked by George Martin and fumbled the ball. Linebacker Andy Headen recovered for New York on the Rams 33, enabling them to run out the rest of the clock.
This game marked an impressive turnaround for the Giants, who had finished the previous year with a 3-12-1 record. Both teams combined for just 406 yards. The only offensive star of the game was Dickerson, who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown, though he rushed for only 37 yards on 12 carries in the first half, including his costly fumble.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Rams.
Divisional playoffs
Saturday, December 29, 1984
AFC: Miami Dolphins 31, Seattle Seahawks 10
The Dolphins ran off 70 plays, gained 405 yards of total offense, and scored 17 unanswered points in the second half as they avenged last season's divisional round upset loss to Seattle. Meanwhile, Miami's defense, which had given up 134 points in the last five games of the season, held the Seahawks to just 267 yards. The Dolphins defense was particularly dominating on the ground, where they held Seattle to a mere 51 yards on 18 rushing attempts, an average of less than 3 yards per carry.Miami started off the scoring with a 68-yard drive, featuring Dan Marino's 25-yard completion to Mark Clayton, that ended on Tony Nathan's 14-yard touchdown run. Near the end of the first quarter, Keith Simpson deflected a Marino pass into the arms of teammate John Harris, who returned the interception 32 yards to the Dolphins 39-yard line. Miami managed to keep the Seahawks out of the end zone, but Norm Johnson kicked a 27-yard field goal to put his team on the board at 7-3. On the Dolphins next drive, they were aided by a crucial penalty, an offsides call against the Seahawks that negated Marino's intercepted pass by Kenny Easley. Two plays later, Marino threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Cefalo, increasing the Dolphins lead to 14-3. However, Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg led his team back, firing a pass to receiver Steve Largent who caught the ball between two defenders and took off past cornerback Glen Blackwood for a 56-yard touchdown reception, cutting the score to 14-10 at the end of the half.
However, any thoughts of a Seattle comeback were quickly crushed in the second half. Following a missed field goal attempt by Johnson, Marino led the Dolphins 76 yards down the field to a 3-yard scoring reception by tight end Bruce Hardy, making the score 21-10. Seattle was quickly forced to punt on their next drive, and Jeff West shanked the kick, causing the ball to travel just 7 yards. Two plays later, Miami increased their lead to 28-10 on Marino's 33-yard touchdown pass to receiver Mark Clayton. In the fourth quarter, Dolphins kicker Uwe von Schamann made a 37-yard field goal that put the final score at 31-10.
Marino finished the game 21/34 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. The Dolphins 405 yards would be spread out quite evenly among the team, as their top rusher had only 76 yards, while their top receiver had 75. Krieg completed 20/35 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 2 yards and gaining one yard off a deflected pass that he caught himself. Largent was the top receiver of the game with 6 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Seahawks and Dolphins. Seattle won the only prior meeting the previous year.
| Seattle leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games |
NFC: San Francisco 49ers 21, New York Giants 10
Quarterback Joe Montana threw for 309 yards and 3 touchdown passes as he led the 49ers to a victory, while receiver Dwight Clark caught 9 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. The 49ers defense also played exceptionally well, holding the Giants offense to a single field goal even though Montana was intercepted 3 times.On San Francisco's first drive of the game, Montana completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Clark. Ronnie Lott intercepted a pass and returned it 38 yards to set up Montana's 9-yard pass to Russ Francis that gave the 49ers a 14-0 lead just 6:48 into the game. In the second quarter, Giants linebacker Gary Reasons recorded his first of two interceptions on the day setting up Ali Haji-Sheikh's 46-yard field goal. Then linebacker Harry Carson recorded the first interception in his 9-year career and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown that cut the score to 14–10. But Montana responded with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Solomon, making the score 21-10 by the end of the second quarter.
Both defenses then controlled the rest of the game, allowing no points in the second half. In the third quarter, New York drove to the 49ers 18-yard line, only to have Phil Simms throw an interception to linebacker Riki Ellison. In the fourth quarter, New York moved the ball to the San Francisco 11, but Simms was sacked on third down. Now faced with 4th and 16, they decided to play conservative and take the field goal, but Haji-Sheikh's 33-yard kick went wide right. Following a punt, New York got the ball with 3:04 left and drove to the 49ers 22, this time turning the ball over on downs when Joe Morris was stuffed for no gain on 4th and inches. Finally, with 53 seconds left, San Francisco's defense closed out the game when Fred Dean forced a fumble from Simms that was recovered by 49ers lineman Dwaine Board.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Giants and 49ers. San Francisco won the only prior meeting.
| San Francisco leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games |