2007–08 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2007 season began on January 5, 2008. The postseason tournament concluded with the New York Giants defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, 17–14, on February 3, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
In the United States, NBC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, then CBS broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games. Fox televised the rest of the NFC games and Super Bowl XLII.Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 5, 2008
NFC: Seattle Seahawks 35, Washington Redskins 14
The Redskins rallied back from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but Seattle responded by intercepting two passes from Todd Collins, who hadn't thrown an interception in any of his games since replacing injured starter Jason Campbell, and scoring 22 points during the last six minutes of the game.Midway through the first quarter, Seattle receiver Nate Burleson returned a punt 20 yards to the Washington 45-yard line, setting up Leonard Weaver's 17-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Burleson returned a punt 19 yards and a caught a 25-yard pass to set up a 50-yard field goal by Josh Brown, giving the Seahawks a 10–0 lead by halftime. Meanwhile, Seattle's defense forced the Redskins to punt on all of their possessions and did not allow them to move the ball more than 30 yards.
In the third quarter, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed four consecutive passes for 47 yards, including a 35-yard completion to D. J. Hackett, setting up Brown's second field goal to increase their lead to 13–0. Collins led the Redskins 84 yards in 12 plays and finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Antwaan Randle El on the first play of the fourth quarter. Then shortly after the ensuing kickoff, Redskins safety LaRon Landry intercepted a pass from Hasselbeck and returned it to the Seattle 42-yard line. Two plays later, Collins threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss, giving them their first lead of the game at 14–13.
The ensuing kickoff took an odd bounce away from Seattle and was recovered by Washington at the Seahawks 14-yard line. But the Redskins failed to gain a first down after three plays and came up empty when Shaun Suisham missed a 30-yard field goal attempt. A few plays after the missed field goal, Landry recorded his second interception of the game, picking off a deep pass from Hasselbeck on his own 9-yard line. But Washington was forced to punt again, and Derrick Frost's punt went just 33 yards to the Seattle 42. Four plays later, Hasselbeck threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Hackett, and then followed it up with a 2-point conversion pass to Marcus Pollard, giving the Seahawks a 21–14 lead. Then on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant intercepted a pass from Collins and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown. The Redskins responded with a drive to Seattle's 31-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs. Then after a punt, Seahawks safety Jordan Babineaux intercepted Collins and returned the ball 57 yards for a touchdown with 27 seconds left in the game, making the final score 35–14.
Burleson finished the game with 167 total yards, including six punt returns for a franchise playoff record 84 yards.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Redskins and Seahawks, with Seattle winning the only prior meeting 20–10 in the 2005 NFC Divisional playoffs.
AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 29
In a rematch of week 15, Jacksonville gained only 239 yards of offense, but still managed to win on Josh Scobee's 25-yard field goal with 37 seconds left. The Jaguars defense sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger six times, intercepted three of his passes, and forced him to lose a fumble on the final drive of the game. It was their first playoff win in eight years and their first playoff win on the road in ten years. For the Steelers, it marked the first time in franchise history they lost to one team at home two times in a season.Pittsburgh opened up the scoring by marching 80 yards in 10 plays on their first drive and finishing it off with Najeh Davenport's 1-yard touchdown run. But Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards to the 1-yard line, and Fred Taylor scored a 1-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Early in the second quarter, Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. Then shortly after the kickoff, Mathis intercepted another pass at the Steelers 46-yard line, setting up David Garrard's 43-yard touchdown pass to Jones-Drew and making the score 21–7. Later in the second quarter, the Steelers took advantage of a missed Scobee field goal by driving all the way to the Jaguars 21-yard line. But defensive tackle Derek Landri intercepted a short pass from Roethlisberger, and the score remained 21–7 at halftime.
In the second half, the Steelers scored on their first four drives. Three plays after the opening kickoff, linebacker James Farrior's interception of a Garrard pass set up Jeff Reed's 28-yard field goal. Jacksonville responded by driving 82 yards in eight plays, with Garrard rushing for 15 yards and completing two passes to Ernest Wilford for 39, while Jones-Drew capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, increasing their lead to 28–10. But the Steelers drove right back, and on the first play of the fourth quarter, facing fourth down and 12 on the Jags 37-yard line, Roethlisberger threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes. Then after a punt, Roethlisberger completed six passes for 65 yards on a 69-yard drive that ended with his 14-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller. The Steelers attempted a two-point conversion to cut the lead to three points, and Roethlisberger initially completed a pass to Hines Ward, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty and Pittsburgh's second attempt was incomplete, keeping the score at 28–23.
Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor intercepted a pass from Garrard and returned it 31 yards to the Jacksonville 16-yard line. Following a pass interference penalty against the Jaguars in the end zone on a fourth down play, Davenport scored his second 1-yard touchdown run of the day. The two-point conversion failed again, but the Steelers took the lead, 29–28.
Jacksonville was unable to score on their next drive, but they forced the Steelers to punt after three plays and Dennis Northcutt returned the punt 16 yards, giving the Jaguars the ball at their own 49-yard line with one timeout remaining and 2:38 left to play. Three plays later on fourth down and 2, Garrard dropped back to pass, but then ran back to the line and took off for a 32-yard burst to the Steelers 11-yard line. After a few more running plays, Scobee kicked a 25-yard field goal, giving his team a 31–29 lead. The Steelers got the ball back with 37 seconds left, but Jaguars defensive end Bobby McCray sealed the victory by forcing a fumble from Roethlisberger which was recovered by Landri.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Jaguars and Steelers.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
NFC: New York Giants 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
completed 20 of 27 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns, while the Giants' defense forced three turnovers and held the Buccaneers to 271 total yards for a Giants victory. The Giants won their first playoff game since the 2000 NFC Championship Game, their first road playoff game since the 1990 NFC Championship Game, and extended their road winning streak to eight games, while the Buccaneers lost in the opening round at home for the second time in three seasons.Tampa Bay scored first with Earnest Graham's 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, a 14-yard punt return by Giants cornerback R. W. McQuarters gave New York the ball on their own 47-yard line. Following three receptions by Amani Toomer for 40 yards, Manning threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs to tie the game. Then after a punt, Manning completed four consecutive passes for 50 yards on a 65-yard drive that ended with Jacobs' second touchdown on an 8-yard run.
Micheal Spurlock fumbled the second half kickoff, and it was recovered by New York cornerback Corey Webster, setting up a 25-yard field goal from Lawrence Tynes to make the score 17–7. Tampa Bay responded with a drive to the Giants 25-yard line, but Webster ended it by intercepting a pass from Jeff Garcia in the end zone. Following an exchange of punts, the Giants drove 92 yards and increased their lead to 24–7 with Manning's 4-yard touchdown pass to Toomer.
With 3:25 left in the game, Garcia's 6-yard touchdown pass to Alex Smith cut the score to 24–14. The Buccaneers then managed to force a punt, but McQuarters picked off a pass from Garcia with less than two minutes left to put the game away. This was the most recent playoff appearance for the Buccaneers until the 2020 season.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Buccaneers.
AFC: San Diego Chargers 17, Tennessee Titans 6
San Diego held the Titans to 248 yards and two field goals, while also forcing two turnovers, en route to their first playoff win since the 1994 AFC Championship Game.The Titans started off the scoring with a field goal from Rob Bironas on their opening drive. Early in the second quarter, Tennessee drove all the way to the Chargers' 13-yard line, but running back Chris Brown fumbled the ball while being tackled by Shawne Merriman and linebacker Shaun Phillips recovered it. Meanwhile, the Chargers offense was limited to three punts and a missed field goal, while Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan also intercepted a pass from Philip Rivers in the end zone. And on the last play of the half, Bironas kicked another field goal to give Tennessee a 6–0 lead.
However, the Chargers scored 17 points on three consecutive possessions in the second half. First, two 19-yard receptions by Chris Chambers and a 34-yard catch by Vincent Jackson set up Nate Kaeding's 20-yard field goal to put San Diego on the board. Then seven plays after forcing the Titans to punt, Rivers threw a 20-yard scoring strike to Jackson, giving the Chargers their first lead of the game. Tennessee responded with a drive to the San Diego 20-yard line, only to have Bironas miss a 38-yard field goal attempt. On San Diego's ensuing drive, Rivers completed a 39-yard pass to Chambers at the Titans 8-yard line. Three plays later, faced with fourth down and goal on the 1-yard line, San Diego decided to go for the score. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson took a handoff, dove over a pile of players and stretched the ball over the goal line for the touchdown, which was upheld after a Titans challenge, increasing the Chargers' lead to 17–6. The San Diego defense then took over the rest of the game, forcing a punt and an interception on the last two Tennessee drives.
This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Titans and Chargers. The Titans had won all three prior meetings, including the most recent as the Houston Oilers 17–14 in the 1979 AFC Divisional playoffs.