2013–14 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2013 season began on January 4, 2014. The postseason tournament concluded with the Seattle Seahawks defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII, 43–8, on February 2, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
In a change from previous seasons, both late games during the Divisional Playoffs were AFC games.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 the Super Bowl. All games were broadcast on Westwood One radio.
| Round | Away team | Score | Home team | Date | Kickoff | TV |
| Wild Card playoffs | Kansas City Chiefs | 44–45 | Indianapolis Colts | January 4, 2014 | 4:35 pm | NBC |
| Wild Card playoffs | New Orleans Saints | 26–24 | Philadelphia Eagles | January 4, 2014 | 8:10 pm | NBC |
| Wild Card playoffs | San Diego Chargers | 27–10 | Cincinnati Bengals | January 5, 2014 | 1:05 pm | CBS |
| Wild Card playoffs | San Francisco 49ers | 23–20 | Green Bay Packers | January 5, 2014 | 4:40 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | New Orleans Saints | 15–23 | Seattle Seahawks | January 11, 2014 | 4:35 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | Indianapolis Colts | 22–43 | New England Patriots | January 11, 2014 | 8:15 pm | CBS |
| Divisional playoffs | San Francisco 49ers | 23–10 | Carolina Panthers | January 12, 2014 | 1:05 pm | Fox |
| Divisional playoffs | San Diego Chargers | 17–24 | Denver Broncos | January 12, 2014 | 4:40 pm | CBS |
| Conference Championships | New England Patriots | 16–26 | Denver Broncos | January 19, 2014 | 3:00 pm | CBS |
| Conference Championships | San Francisco 49ers | 17–23 | Seattle Seahawks | January 19, 2014 | 6:30 pm | Fox |
| Super Bowl XLVIII MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey | Seattle Seahawks | 43–8 | Denver Broncos | February 2, 2014 | 6:25 pm | Fox |
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 4, 2014
AFC: Indianapolis Colts 45, Kansas City Chiefs 44
Trailing 38–10 a few minutes into the third quarter, Indianapolis scored 35 second half points to overcome a 28-point deficit to win, 45–44, in the second biggest comeback victory in NFL postseason history, behind just the Buffalo Bills' 32-point deficit in their 41–38 comeback Wild Card game win against the Houston Oilers in 1992. For Kansas City, the loss extended their playoff win drought to 20 years.The game got off to a rough start for the Chiefs, as starting running back Jamaal Charles was knocked out of the game on the opening drive. But before this, he rushed three times for 18 yards as the team drove 84 yards in 14 plays. Quarterback Alex Smith added a 16-yard run, and converted the drive's only third down with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe. Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck quickly led his team back, completing seven consecutive passes for 74 yards. Four of them went to T. Y. Hilton, including a 24-yarder and a 10-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 7. On the next possession, Smith completed a 68-yard pass to Bowe at the Colts 2-yard line. But the team could not get into the end zone with their next three plays and had to settle for Ryan Succop's 19-yard field goal to take a 10–7 lead. Then after a Colts three-and-out, Smith launched a 79-yard touchdown bomb to Donnie Avery, increasing the Chiefs lead to 17–7 21 seconds into the second quarter.
The situation continued to deteriorate for Indianapolis. On the first play of their next possession, Trent Richardson lost a fumble that linebacker Justin Houston recovered and returned seven yards to the Colts 17-yard line. Two plays later, Smith's 5-yard touchdown throw to fullback Anthony Sherman on a shovel pass made the score 24–7. This time the Colts managed to respond with a 61-yard scoring drive in which Luck completed a 16-yard pass to Griff Whalen and rushed for a 21-yard gain after faking a hand off up the middle on a fourth and 1 conversion. Adam Vinatieri finished the drive with a 37-yard field goal, cutting the score to 24–10. However, Smith also got to pass and rush, as he carried the ball four times for 24 yards and completed five passes for 33 on an 81-yard drive that ended with Knile Davis' 4-yard touchdown run, putting the Chiefs up 31–10. The Colts managed to reach midfield on their next possession, but Brandon Flowers intercepted a pass from Luck to keep them from scoring before halftime.
On the first play of the second half, Husain Abdullah intercepted Luck and returned the ball four yards to the Colts' 18-yard line, sitting up Smith's 10-yard scoring toss to Davis that put them up by 28, 38–10. It seemed that Kansas City was in complete control of the game, but Indianapolis suddenly stormed back with 14 unanswered points. First, Luck's 46-yard completion to reserve receiver Da'Rick Rogers moved the ball to the Chiefs' 10-yard line, and Donald Brown ran the ball into the end zone on the next play. Then linebacker Robert Mathis forced a fumble while sacking Smith, and fellow linebacker Kelvin Sheppard recovered for the Colts on the Chiefs' 41-yard line just before it rolled out of bounds. The offense then capitalized with Luck completing four out of five passes, the last a 3-yard scoring pass to Brown that cut the score to 38–24.
Following a Chiefs punt, Abdullah intercepted another pass from Luck. Kansas City took over on the Indianapolis 28-yard line, and scored on a 42-yard Succop field goal to give them a 17-point lead, 41–24, with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. But Luck quickly led the Colts back, completing a 25-yard pass to Brown on the first play of the next possession, and later hooking up with LaVon Brazill for a 35-yard gain before finishing it off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Coby Fleener. Then after a three-and-out, Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt's 31-yard boot pinned Indianapolis back at their own 10-yard line. But it did not stop the Colts, as Luck completed five out of six passes for 61 yards and rushed for 12 on a 90-yard scoring drive. On the last play, Brown fumbled the ball while trying to run it into the end zone, but it bounced right back into the hands of Luck, who took it across the goal line himself for a touchdown. With this score, the lead was cut to 41–38 with 10:38 left in the game.
Aided by A. J. Jenkins' 27-yard reception, the Chiefs managed to run the clock down to 5:36 with their ensuing drive. Succop finished it off with a 43-yard field goal to put the team up by six points. But three plays after the kickoff, Luck fired a deep pass to Hilton over the middle, who caught it without breaking stride and took off for a 64-yard touchdown catch, giving Indy their first lead of the game at 45–44. With 4:21 left, Kansas City desperately tried to get in range for a go-ahead field goal. Smith started the drive with a pair of completions to Bowe for 38 yards. But after a 3-yard running play moved the ball to the Colts 39-yard line, Smith was flagged for a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty. The next play netted the team six yards, bringing up fourth down and 11. On the next play, Smith threw a deep pass to Bowe along the right sideline. Bowe made a leaping catch with enough yardage for a first down, but landed with only one foot in bounds, causing a turnover on downs and allowing Indianapolis to run out the rest of the clock.
For Kansas City, Smith finished the game 30-for-46 for 378 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 57 yards. His top receiver was Bowe, who caught eight passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. Davis rushed for 67 yards, caught seven passes for 33 yards, and scored two touchdowns. Abdullah had six tackles and two interceptions. For Indianapolis, Luck finished 29-for-45 for 443 yards and four touchdowns, with three interceptions. He also rushed for 45 yards and scored a fumble recovery touchdown. Hilton caught 13 passes for 224 yards – the third highest total in postseason history – and two touchdowns.
Both teams combined for 1,049 total yards, an NFL postseason record. This was the first wildcard playoff game ever to feature two former number one draft picks at quarterback; Smith in 2005 and Luck in 2012. This was the eighth consecutive playoff loss for Kansas City, an NFL record.
This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Colts and Chiefs. Indianapolis won all three prior meetings, including 23-8 in the 2006 AFC Wild Card playoffs.
NFC: New Orleans Saints 26, Philadelphia Eagles 24
Saints kicker Shayne Graham, who was signed by the team just a few weeks before this game, kicked four field goals, the last a game winner as time expired to give the team their first road playoff win in franchise history.The first quarter of the game was scoreless. The farthest the Saints made it was to the Eagles 49-yard line, and that drive ended when Drew Brees was intercepted by Bradley Fletcher, who returned the ball 24 yards to the New Orleans 27-yard line. After the turnover, Philadelphia drove to the Saints 15-yard line, but New Orleans' defense made two key plays to prevent a score. First, Curtis Lofton tackled tight end Brent Celek on a screen pass for an 8-yard loss. Then defensive end Cameron Jordan sacked Nick Foles for an 11-yard loss, pushing the Eagles all the way back to the 34-yard line. Following a 4-yard gain on third down, Alex Henery missed a 48-yard field goal 34 seconds into the second quarter.
After the miss, New Orleans drove 43 yards to score on Graham's 36-yard field goal and take the lead, aided by a replay review that caused officials to overturn a lost fumble by tight end Jimmy Graham. New Orleans subsequently forced the Eagles to punt on their next drive, but then linebacker DeMeco Ryans intercepted Brees and returned the ball 23 yards to the Saints' 44-yard line. Philadelphia receiver Riley Cooper started off their possession with a 22-yard reception, and finished it with a 10-yard touchdown catch to give the Eagles a 7–3 lead. New Orleans responded with a 47-yard scoring drive, with Brees completing a 17-yard pass to Jimmy Graham and a 13-yarder to Kenny Stills on the way to a 46-yard field goal by Shayne Graham with less than two minutes left in the half, cutting the score to 7–6 going into halftime.
Philadelphia was forced to punt on their opening drive of the second half, and Darren Sproles returned the ball 12 yards to the Saints 47-yard line. Aided by Mark Ingram's three carries for 24 yards, New Orleans drove 53 yards to score their first touchdown on Brees' 24-yard pass to receiver Lance Moore, giving them a 13–7 lead. The next time New Orleans had the ball, they matched that feat with a 66-yard scoring drive. Tight end Benjamin Watson caught a 24-yard pass, while Ingram had five carries for 26 yards, the last a 4-yard touchdown run that put his team up 20–7. The Eagles managed to respond, with Foles' 40-yard completion to DeSean Jackson setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by LeSean McCoy, trimming their deficit to 20–14 with just over 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
New Orleans went three-and-out on their next drive, and Jackson's 29-yard punt return to the Saints' 40-yard line set up Henery's 30-yard field goal. But Brees' 40-yard completion to Robert Meachem helped move the Saints in range for another Graham field goal to put them back up by six points at 23–17. Taking the ball back with just over eight minutes left in regulation, the Eagles managed to drive 77 yards to take the lead, aided by a 40-yard pass interference penalty on Corey White. Foles finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown toss to tight end Zach Ertz, giving the Eagles a 24–23 lead with 4:54 remaining. However, the Saints would need to cover little ground for their game-winning drive, as Sproles returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards, with a horse-collar tackle penalty on Cary Williams adding on another 15. As a result, New Orleans got the ball on the Eagles' 48-yard line and needed just 34 yards to set up Graham's game-winning 32-yard field goal – as time expired – which they managed to space out over 10 plays to run the clock down to three seconds on the play.
Foles finished his first playoff game completing 23 of 33 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper was the top receiver of the game with six catches for 68 yards. Ryans had 10 tackles – eight of which were solo tackles – and an interception. Brees threw for 250 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions. Ingram was the game's top rusher with 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, while also catching three passes for 17 yards.
This game was notable for featuring two starting quarterbacks who went to the same high school, Westlake High School in Austin, Texas; Brees graduated in 1997, while Foles graduated in 2007, ten years apart from each other.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Saints and Eagles. The teams split the two previous meetings. New Orleans won the last meeting 27–24 in the 2006 NFC Divisional playoffs.