2009–10 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2009 season began on January 9, 2010. The postseason tournament concluded with the New Orleans Saints defeating the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31–17, on February 7, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The Wild Card round featured three games that were re-matches of Week 17 games.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
In the United States, NBC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games. Fox then televised the rest of the NFC games. CBS broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games and Super Bowl XLIV.| Round | Away team | Score | Home team | Date | Kickoff | TV |
| Wild Card playoffs | New York Jets | 24–14 | Cincinnati Bengals | January 9, 2010 | 4:30 pm | NBC |
| Wild Card playoffs | Philadelphia Eagles | 14–34 | Dallas Cowboys | January 9, 2010 | 8:00 pm | NBC |
| Wild Card playoffs | Baltimore Ravens | 33–14 | New England Patriots | January 10, 2010 | 1:00 pm | CBS |
| Wild Card playoffs | Green Bay Packers | 45–51 ( | Arizona Cardinals | January 10, 2010 | 4:30 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | Arizona Cardinals | 14–45 | New Orleans Saints | January 16, 2010 | 4:30 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | Baltimore Ravens | 3–20 | Indianapolis Colts | January 16, 2010 | 8:00 pm | CBS |
| Divisional playoffs | Dallas Cowboys | 3–34 | Minnesota Vikings | January 17, 2010 | 1:00 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | New York Jets | 17–14 | San Diego Chargers | January 17, 2010 | 4:30 pm | CBS |
| Conference Championships | New York Jets | 17–30 | Indianapolis Colts | January 24, 2010 | 3:00 pm | CBS |
| Conference Championships | Minnesota Vikings | 28–31 ( | New Orleans Saints | January 24, 2010 | 6:30 pm | Fox |
| Super Bowl XLIV Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida | New Orleans Saints | 31–17 | Indianapolis Colts | February 7, 2010 | 6:30 pm | CBS |
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 9, 2010
AFC: New York Jets 24, Cincinnati Bengals 14
Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 12 of 15 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown while rookie running back Shonn Greene rushed for 135 yards as New York followed up their 37–0 win over the Bengals in the last week of the regular season with a 24–14 victory.Bengals rookie Bernard Scott started off the game with a 56-yard kickoff return to the Jets 36-yard line. But two plays later, receiver Laveranues Coles lost a fumble while being tackled by Bryan Thomas. New York was forced to punt on their ensuing drive, and Rico Murray gave the Bengals good field position with a 23-yard return to the New York 45. This time Cincinnati was able to take advantage of their scoring opportunity, driving 45 yards in seven plays and finishing it with Carson Palmer's 11-yard touchdown pass to Coles.
But in the second quarter, the Jets began to take control of the game. First an 11-yard punt return by Jerricho Cotchery to the Bengals 47-yard line set up a touchdown on a 39-yard burst from Greene. Then New York defensive back Darrelle Revis intercepted a pass from Palmer and returned it 21 yards to the Jets 43-yard line. Two plays later, Sanchez converted a 3rd-and-12 with a 14-yard completion to Cotchery, and followed it up with a 41-yard scoring strike to tight end Dustin Keller.
On their first drive of the second half, Cincinnati drove from their own 12 to the Jets 17-yard line, featuring a 27-yard run by Cedric Benson. But they failed to score as Palmer's pass on third down was incomplete and Shayne Graham missed a 35-yard field goal attempt. Following the missed field goal, New York drove 75 yards in eight plays, with Sanchez completing an 18-yard pass to Cotchery and a 16-yarder to Braylon Edwards before Thomas Jones finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, increasing their lead to 21–7.
Early in the fourth quarter, Benson took off for a 47-yard touchdown run to make it 21–14. But the Jets responded on their ensuing drive, with Sanchez's 43-yard completion to Keller setting up a 20-yard field goal by Jay Feely to put them back up by a two score margin. The Bengals managed one last attempt to get back in the game with a drive to the New York 11-yard line. But Graham missed another field goal, this one from 28 yards, with 3:43 left in regulation.
Benson finished the game with a franchise record 169 rushing yards. The loss for the Bengals gave them their 19th consecutive season without a playoff win, the longest streak among all 32 NFL teams. Sanchez became only the fourth rookie quarterback to win his first playoff game, following Shaun King, Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Jets and Bengals, with New York winning the only prior meeting 44–17 in the 1982 AFC first round playoffs.
NFC: Dallas Cowboys 34, Philadelphia Eagles 14
Playing in the first playoff game in Cowboys Stadium, in front of a crowd of 92,951, the largest to attend an NFL postseason game other than the Super Bowl, Dallas racked up 426 yards and forced four turnovers en route to their first playoff win since 1996, while handing the Eagles their first one-and-done playoff run since that same year. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns, while running back Felix Jones rushed for 148 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown run in the second half to put the game away.After a scoreless first quarter, a 40-yard pass interference penalty on Eagles defensive back Sheldon Brown in the end zone set up Romo's 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Phillips. Philadelphia quickly responded with a 76-yard touchdown pass from Michael Vick to Jeremy Maclin on the second play of their ensuing drive. But the Cowboys struck back with an 85-yard scoring drive, featuring 18-yard receptions by Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton, along with a key replay challenge that overturned an Eagles interception. Tashard Choice capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Dallas a 14–7 lead.
Philadelphia was forced to punt on their next drive, and Crayton returned the punt 31 yards to his own 41-yard line. On the next play, Romo's 36-yard completion to Miles Austin moved the ball to the Eagles 23, eventually leading to a Shaun Suisham field goal to make the score 17–7. Just 33 seconds later, the Cowboys increased their lead to 24–7 with Romo's 6-yard touchdown pass to Austin after linebacker Bobby Carpenter recovered a fumbled handoff from Vick on the Philadelphia 18-yard line. Then with time running out in the half, Cowboys linebacker Bradie James forced and recovered a fumble from fullback Leonard Weaver on the Eagles 42-yard line, setting up Suisham's second field goal to give Dallas a 27–7 halftime lead.
In the second half, Jones' 73-yard touchdown run capped off Dallas' scoring for the day. Meanwhile, the Cowboys defense held the Eagles in check the rest of the game, forcing two turnovers on downs, another fumble and an interception, while only allowing a meaningless touchdown on a 6-yard pass from Donovan McNabb to DeSean Jackson in the fourth quarter, making the final score 34–14.
This would be McNabb's final game in an Eagles uniform.
This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Eagles and Cowboys, with Dallas having won two of the previous three games, including the most recent 30–11 in the 1995 NFC Divisional playoffs.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
AFC: Baltimore Ravens 33, New England Patriots 14
The Ravens converted three first-quarter turnovers by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady into 17 points on their way to a 24–0 lead New England could not recover from. It was the Patriots' first home loss of the season and their first home playoff loss in more than 30 years. On top of that, it was the Ravens' first win against the Patriots after five consecutive losses.Baltimore stormed to a 7–0 lead on the first play of the game with Ray Rice's 83-yard touchdown run, the second longest run in NFL playoff history. Then, linebacker Terrell Suggs forced and recovered a fumble from Brady on the Patriots 17-yard line, and they scored another touchdown with a 1-yard run by Le'Ron McClain. Following an exchange of punts, cornerback Chris Carr intercepted a pass from Brady and returned it to the New England 25-yard line, setting up a drive ending in Rice's second touchdown on a 1-yard run. Just two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Ravens safety Ed Reed intercepted a deep pass from Brady and returned it 25 yards before lateraling the ball to safety Dawan Landry, who took it another 25 yards to the Patriots 9-yard line. The Ravens could not gain any yards on their ensuing drive, but Billy Cundiff kicked a field goal to make the score 24–0.
New England was forced to punt on their next drive, but Baltimore returner Tom Zbikowski muffed the catch and Kyle Arrington recovered the ball for the Patriots at the Ravens 16-yard line. Five plays later, Brady threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman. Midway through the second half, Brady threw his third interception of the game, this one to Landry, who returned it 42 yards to the New England 22-yard line to set up another Cundiff field goal. Taking the ball back to the Patriots 47-yard line after Darius Butler's 42-yard kickoff return, New England responded with a 53-yard scoring drive. Brady finished it with his second touchdown pass to Edelman to cut their deficit to 27–14.
Zbikowski returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to his own 48-yard line, sparking a 52-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run from Willis McGahee, making the score 33–14 after the two-point conversion failed. New England responded with a drive deep into Baltimore territory, but Stephen Gostkowski missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with 7:19 left in the game, ending any chance of a miracle comeback.
Rice rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns, while McGahee added 62 yards and a score. Neither quarterback had much success, as Brady was held to 154 yards and intercepted three times, while Baltimore's Joe Flacco completed only 4 of 10 passes for 34 yards.
The Patriots would not be eliminated in the Wild Card Round again until 2019. In fact, they would not play in the Wild Card round again until that 2019 season.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Ravens and Patriots.