1993–94 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 1993 season began on January 8, 1994. The postseason tournament concluded with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, 30–13, on January 30, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
Since the 1993 regular season was conducted over 18 weeks, the traditional bye week between the conference championship games and Super Bowl was removed.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
These playoffs marked the final season that CBS was the NFC network. Fox would then take over the rights to the NFC before the start of the following season. ABC continued to broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, and NBC televised the rest of the AFC games. CBS would not televise an NFL game again until 1998 when it replaced NBC as the AFC network.NBC was also the broadcaster of Super Bowl XXVIII.
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 8, 1994
AFC: Kansas City Chiefs 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 24 ()
Chiefs kicker Nick Lowery made the winning 32-yard field goal after 11:03 of overtime, to earn themselves a win over the Steelers in a game in which both teams combined for 770 yards, no fumbles lost, and no interceptions.The Steelers scored first by driving 66 yards, featuring a 32-yard reception by running back Merril Hoge, and scoring on Neil O'Donnell's 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Adrian Cooper. Later in the first quarter, Kansas City drove 75 yards in seven plays and tied the game after backup quarterback Dave Krieg, who temporarily replaced injured starter Joe Montana, threw a 23-yard touchdown to wide receiver J. J. Birden.
The Steelers responded with a long 15-play drive to retake the lead on Gary Anderson's 30-yard field goal, making the score 10–7. After a punt, Pittsburgh drove back to the Chiefs 35-yard line, only to turn the ball over on downs. Kansas City then took over and drove to the Steelers 42, but on fourth down and 1, defensive end Gerald Williams sacked Montana for a 7-yard loss, giving his team the ball on their own 49 with under a minute left. The Steelers made the most of their opportunity, scoring on O'Donnell's 26-yard touchdown completion to Ernie Mills that increased their lead to 17–7 at the end of the half.
Most of the third quarter was a defensive struggle until the Chiefs put together a 49-yard drive to score on Lowery's 23-yard field goal. Then in the fourth quarter, Montana connected with Willie Davis for 22 yards and Birden for 19 on the way to Marcus Allen's 2-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 17. O'Donnell led the Steelers right back though, completing a 26-yard pass to Dwight Stone before hooking up with Eric Green for a 22-yard touchdown throw to retake the lead, 24–17.
In the final minutes of regulation, tight end Keith Cash blocked a Pittsburgh punt and Fred Jones returned it 31 yards to the Steelers 9-yard line. On fourth down, Montana threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Tim Barnett, tying the game at 24 with 1:43 left in the game. Then after forcing Pittsburgh to punt, Kansas City drove 47 yards to set up Lowery's 43-yard field-goal attempt in the closing seconds, but the kick was wide right and thus the game went into overtime.
Kansas City won the coin toss to receive the overtime kickoff, but went three and out. Pittsburgh then drove to midfield before they also had to punt. At this point, Montana completed several passes, including an 18-yarder to Cash to move the Chiefs into position for Lowery's game winning score.
Montana finished the game 23/42 for 276 passing yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. O'Donnell completed 23/42 passes for 286 yards and three scores.
This was the Chiefs last playoff win at home until the 2018 season.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Steelers and Chiefs.
NFC: Green Bay Packers 28, Detroit Lions 24
In week 17, the Lions defeated Green Bay 30–20, intercepting four passes from quarterback Brett Favre and winning despite playing without their best offensive star, running back Barry Sanders. The win gave them homefield advantage for this game. But even though Sanders recovered from his injury in time for the playoffs, this time the Packers won by overcoming a 17–7 third quarter deficit and pulling ahead on Favre's 40-yard game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Sterling Sharpe with 55 seconds left.Detroit held the ball for over 10 minutes in the first quarter, but could only score three points. Early in the game, a 25-yard run by Sanders with an additional 15 yards added on by a facemask penalty on LeRoy Butler sparked a drive deep into Green Bay territory, but it ended with no points when Terrell Buckley intercepted a pass from Erik Kramer in the end zone. After forcing a punt, the Lions drove 59 yards, mostly on receptions by Brett Perriman, and scored on Jason Hanson's 47-yard field goal on the last play of the first quarter.
Green Bay responded to the field goal by driving 80 yards and scoring on Favre's 12-yard touchdown pass to Sharpe. Then Green Bay caught a break when their kickoff hit the ground near the sideline, bounced into returner Mel Gray and then bounced out of bounds at the Lions 5-yard line. But it didn't stop Detroit as they still drove 95 yards, featuring a 44-yard run by Sanders and a 13-yard third down conversion reception by Perriman after the ball bounced off Sanders' hands, and scored on Perriman's one handed 1-yard touchdown reception to take a 10–7 lead at the end of the half.
Midway through the third quarter, Jim Arnold's punt pinned Green Bay at their own 5-yard line. Two plays later, Melvin Jenkins intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown to extend the Lions' lead, 17–7. But the Packers countered with a 72-yard drive to score on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Sharpe. Detroit responded by driving 74 yards, including a 31-yard catch by Perriman, to a 2nd and goal on the Green Bay 5-yard line. On the next play, Packers safety George Teague intercepted Kramer's pass in the end zone and returned it a playoff record 101 yards to give the Packers a 21–17 lead. But on their ensuing drive Lions would regain the lead by moving the ball 89 yards to score on running back Derrick Moore's 5-yard touchdown with 8:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Corey Harris' 45-yard kickoff return gave the Packers good field position, but they were unable to take advantage and had to punt after demoralizing third down play in which Favre overthrew wide open receiver Mark Clayton near the end zone. After forcing a punt, Robert Brooks' 21-yard return gave Green Bay the ball on their own 29-yard line with 2:24 left in regulation. Favre started off the drive with an 11-yard completion to Edgar Bennett. His next pass to tight end Ed West moved the ball 9 yards to midfield. Following a 4-yard run by Bennett, Favre's 6-yard completion to Sharpe advanced the team to the Lions 40-yard line. On the next play, he took the snap and ran left. Kevin Scott, who was covering Sharpe one on one along the right sideline, slowed down a bit when he saw Favre running, just enough for Sharpe to pull ahead of him and Favre launched a 40-yard pass to Sharpe in the end zone for the game winning score. Gray was tackled by Green Bay's Marcus Wilson after returning the ensuing kickoff just 8 yards to the 19-yard line, leaving Detroit with 51 seconds and all three timeouts left to drive for the winning touchdown. Over the next four plays, Tony Bennett sacked Kramer for 2-yard loss, Sanders picked up 3 yards on a swing pass, and Kramer threw two incompletions.
Sanders had the best postseason performance of his career, finishing the game with 167 rushing yards. Kramer completed 22/31 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown, with two interception. Perriman caught 10 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. Favre completed 15/26 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Sharpe, who had not practiced in the last eight weeks due to turf toe and had set the NFL single season record for receptions in their week 17 meeting against Detroit, caught five passes for 101 yards and tied a playoff record with three touchdowns. This was Scott's last game in the NFL.
The Lions lost despite significantly outgaining the Packers in total yards, first downs, and time of possession. "It's just a shame," Lions coach Wayne Fontes said after the game. "This team played an excellent football game today and lost. They couldn't slow us down."
This was the final playoff game at the Pontiac Silverdome. This was the last time the Lions hosted a playoff game until 2024. It was the franchise's first home playoff loss.
This was featured on NFL's Greatest Games as Favre to Sharpe.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Packers and Lions.
Sunday, January 9, 1994
NFC: New York Giants 17, Minnesota Vikings 10
A howling, gusting wind dominated the game as both teams could only score a combined 27 points. However, the Giants managed to score two touchdowns, both by running back Rodney Hampton in the third quarter, to pull ahead for good.New York had the wind at their back in the first quarter, but could only score on kicker David Treadwell's 26-yard field goal on their opening drive. In the second quarter, they had another chance to score, but receiver Mark Jackson dropped a pass on third and 7 from the Vikings 7 and then Treadwell drilled a 34-yard field goal attempt wide left. Meanwhile, the Vikings went up 7–3 on Jim McMahon's 40-yard pass to wide receiver Cris Carter. Near the end of the half, Giants quarterback Phil Simms threw a third down pass to Dave Meggett that lost nine yards, bringing up fourth and 19 from the New York 23. On the next play, punter Mike Horan shanked a kick that went right into the back of teammate Greg Jackson, a blocker in the backfield, enabling the Vikings to take over on the Giants 36 with 29 seconds left in the half and take a 10–3 halftime lead on Fuad Reveiz's franchise postseason record 52-yard field goal.
The Giants had the wind again in the third quarter, and on their first drive of the second half, Hampton scored on a 51-yard rushing touchdown, the longest run in Giants postseason history. Then Harry Newsome's punt went just 21 yards to the Minnesota 26-yard line. Hampton subsequently converted a fourth and 1 situation with a 2-yard run and rushed for five yards on third and 2 as the team drove to another touchdown on his 2-yard score. On the extra point attempt, the snap sailed right through Horan's hands and went right into the arms of Treadwell. However, Treadwell managed to run the ball into the end zone for a successful conversion, giving the team a 17–10 lead.
Although the Vikings held the wind advantage again during the final quarter, the Giants defense managed to shut them down to preserve the victory. The Vikings had a great chance to tie the game when Carter caught a deep pass from backup quarterback Sean Salisbury and appeared to be on his way to a sure touchdown, but safety Myron Guyton caught up with him from behind and knocked the ball out of his hands. Jackson recovered it for the Giants on the Vikings 15-yard line to put the game away.
Hampton finished the game with 33 carries for 161 yards and two touchdowns, along with six receptions for 24 yards.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Vikings and Giants. This was also the final game of Vikings running back Roger Craig's career.