2019–20 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2019 season began with the Wild Card Round on January 4, 2020, and concluded with Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on February 2, when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31–20.
For the first time since 2010–11, the New England Patriots did not appear in the AFC Championship Game, and for the first time since 2015–16, they did not play in the Super Bowl, as they were eliminated in the wild card round by the Tennessee Titans.
The Philadelphia Eagles' game against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card Round made the Eagles the second team in NFL history to face every team within their respective conference in the postseason at least once.
This was the last postseason in which the NFL playoffs used a 12–team format, making it also the last postseason in which the #2–seeded team in each conference received a first-round bye.
For the first time in NFL history, two wild card playoff games went to overtime; all four games were decided by one score.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
The league announced on May 22 that the two divisional games played on the Sunday would be moved back from their traditional 1:05 and 4:40 p.m. start times to 3:05 and 6:40 p.m., respectively, matching the conference championship games. This is to provide greater flexibility for West Coast teams, who no longer will have to play away games on the East Coast at 10:00 a.m. or be restricted from hosting games in that early time slot.For the first time in four years, both AFC wild card games were on Saturday, and both NFC wild card games were on Sunday.
| Round | Away team | Score | Home team | Date | Kickoff | TV | Viewers | TV rating |
| Wild Card playoffs | Buffalo Bills | 19–22 ( | Houston Texans | January 4, 2020 | 4:35 p.m. | ABC/ESPN | 26.3 | 15.2 |
| Wild Card playoffs | Tennessee Titans | 20–13 | New England Patriots | January 4, 2020 | 8:15 p.m. | CBS | 31.4 | 17.1 |
| Wild Card playoffs | Minnesota Vikings | 26–20 ( | New Orleans Saints | January 5, 2020 | 1:05 p.m. | Fox | 30.0 | 17.4 |
| Wild Card playoffs | Seattle Seahawks | 17–9 | Philadelphia Eagles | January 5, 2020 | 4:40 p.m. | NBC | 35.1 | 19.2 |
| Divisional playoffs | Minnesota Vikings | 10–27 | San Francisco 49ers | January 11, 2020 | 4:35 p.m. | NBC | 29.3 | 16.6 |
| Divisional playoffs | Tennessee Titans | 28–12 | Baltimore Ravens | January 11, 2020 | 8:15 p.m. | CBS | 29.4 | 16.0 |
| Divisional playoffs | Houston Texans | 31–51 | Kansas City Chiefs | January 12, 2020 | 3:05 p.m. | CBS | 35.4 | 20.3 |
| Divisional playoffs | Seattle Seahawks | 23–28 | Green Bay Packers | January 12, 2020 | 6:40 p.m. | Fox | 37.2 | 20.0 |
| Conference Championships | Tennessee Titans | 24–35 | Kansas City Chiefs | January 19, 2020 | 3:05 p.m. | CBS | 41.1 | 23.1 |
| Conference Championships | Green Bay Packers | 20–37 | San Francisco 49ers | January 19, 2020 | 6:40 p.m. | Fox | 42.8 | 22.0 |
| Super Bowl LIV Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida | San Francisco 49ers | 20–31 | Kansas City Chiefs | February 2, 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox | 102.1 | 41.6 |
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 4, 2020
AFC: Houston Texans 22, Buffalo Bills 19 (OT)
Houston rallied back from a 16–0 third-quarter deficit – having been held to 62 total yards in the first half – to win with 3:20 remaining in overtime on Kaʻimi Fairbairn's 28-yard field goal, for Buffalo's sixth consecutive playoff loss since their last win in December 1995.On the opening drive of the game, Bills quarterback Josh Allen rushed for 42 yards – the Bills' longest rush of the season – and then caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from receiver John Brown on a trick play to put Buffalo up 7–0. In the second quarter, Devin Singletary rushed for an 18-yard gain and Allen completed a 28-yard pass to Brown as the Bills drove 69 yards in 11 plays to go up 10–0 on Stephen Hauschka's 40-yard field goal. Then after a punt, Buffalo drove 74 yards in 15 plays to score on a second 40-yard field goal from Hauschka, giving them a 13–0 lead at halftime.
Five minutes into the third quarter, Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins fumbled the ball while being tackled by Tre'Davious White, and Tremaine Edmunds recovered it on the Texans' 38-yard line. Buffalo then drove to the 12-yard line, but ended up settling for Hauschka's third field goal after Allen was sacked on third down by J. J. Watt, giving them a 16–0 lead. This time, Houston managed to respond, moving the ball 75 yards in 9 plays and scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run from quarterback Deshaun Watson; Watson also scored the ensuing two-point conversion to make the score 16–8. On the Bills' ensuing drive, linebacker Whitney Mercilus forced a fumble while sacking Allen, which Jacob Martin recovered for the Texans at midfield with 14:18 remaining. Watson then completed a 20-yard pass to Kenny Stills that set up Fairbairn's 41-yard field goal, cutting the score to 16–11.
After Buffalo punted on their next drive, Watson completed a 41-yard pass – on the drive's second play – to Hopkins on the Buffalo 28-yard line, and later connected with tight end Darren Fells for 14 yards to bring up first and goal from the 1-yard line. Running back Carlos Hyde fumbled a pitch from Watson, then was forced out of bounds for a 4-yard loss after he recovered the ball. On the next play, he caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Watson. Hopkins caught Watson's pass for a two-point conversion, giving Houston their first lead at 19–16 with 4:42 remaining. Buffalo started out their next drive with a 38-yard completion from Allen to Singletary, and soon found themselves with a first down on the Texans' 25-yard line. After an incompletion, Frank Gore was dropped by Mike Adams for a 3-yard loss and then Allen was flagged for intentional grounding, pushing the team all the way back to the 42-yard line. Allen was sacked for a 19-yard loss by Martin on fourth-and-27, with a turnover on downs putting the Texans at Buffalo's 39-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. The Bills' defense managed to pin the Texans down, with Watson being stopped short by Star Lotulelei on fourth-and-1. Gaining the ball with 1:16 left, Allen led Buffalo 41 yards in 11 plays, including a 20-yard run by Allen, to score on Hauschka's 47-yard field goal, sending the game to overtime at 19–19.
After both teams punted on their first drive of overtime – Buffalo had to punt after a penalty pushed them out of field goal range – Houston drove 73 yards in 9 plays for the game-winning score; the key play of the drive was an 18-yard completion from Watson to running back Duke Johnson on third-and-18 from the Texans' 19-yard line. Then Watson rushed for 5 yards, Stills caught a pass for 10 yards, and Hyde rushed 4 yards to the Bills' 44-yard line. On the next play, Watson evaded a sack attempt by two Buffalo defenders and fired a short pass to reserve running back Taiwan Jones, who took off for a 34-yard gain to Buffalo's 10-yard line. Fairbairn then kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Houston the victory.
Watson completed 20 of 25 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 55 yards and a touchdown; Hopkins caught 6 passes for 90 yards. Allen completed 24 of 46 passes for 264 yards, while also rushing for 92 yards and catching a 16-yard touchdown pass. Singletary rushed for 58 yards and caught 6 passes for 76 yards. On the defense, Buffalo linebacker Matt Milano recorded 12 tackles, while defensive end Trent Murphy had 6 tackles and 2 sacks.
AFC: Tennessee Titans 20, New England Patriots 13
Tennessee running back Derrick Henry accounted for 204 of the Titans' 272 total offensive yards, including 34 carries for 182 yards and a touchdown as he led his team to victory. For the Patriots, it was the first time they failed to win a playoff game in a season since 2010. As a result, New England's streak of AFC Championship appearances ended at eight.New England took the opening kickoff and drove 57 yards in 8 plays, the longest a 21-yard completion from Tom Brady to tight end Benjamin Watson. Nick Folk finished the drive with a 36-yard field goal to put the Patriots up 3–0. Tennessee struck back, with Henry carrying the ball 6 times for 44 yards on a 75-yard drive, that gave the team a 7–3 lead with Ryan Tannehill's 12-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Firkser, the first playoff touchdown scored by a Harvard University graduate. New England then moved the ball 75 yards in 10 plays, featuring a 25-yard run by Sony Michel. Receiver Julian Edelman finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run – his first such touchdown – on an end around play on the first play of the second quarter, giving the Patriots a 10–7 lead. Later on, Patriots receiver Mohamed Sanu returned a punt 23 yards to the Titans' 47-yard line, and the team drove on to a first and goal on the 1-yard line. The Titans held out on the goal line; linebacker Rashaan Evans dropped Michel for a 1-yard loss on first down, Rex Burkhead was tackled on the 1-yard line by Evans and DaQuan Jones on second down and Evans tackled Michel for a 2-yard loss on third down. The Patriots took a 13–7 lead on Folk's 21-yard field goal with 2:16 left in the half. Henry took off for a 29-yard gain on the first play of the team's ensuing drive, before picking up 23 more yards with his next three carries after an incompletion. Henry then ran a screen pass 22 yards to the Patriots' 1-yard line, ultimately converting a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Titans a 14–13 halftime lead.
This would turn out to be the last offensive score of the game, as both teams combined for a total of 9 punts in the second half. New England got a mild scoring chance when Duron Harmon intercepted a pass from Tannehill – who finished with 72 passing yards – at New England's 41-yard line, but the offense could only move the ball to Tennessee's 47-yard line before being forced to punt. In the final minute of the game, Tennessee punter Brett Kern's 58-yard kick pinned the Patriots back at their own 1-yard line. On the next play, Titans defensive back Logan Ryan, who formerly played for New England, intercepted Brady's pass and returned it for a 9-yard touchdown, making the final score 20–13 after a failed two-point conversion attempt. This would end up being Brady's last game with the Patriots, as he left New England in free agency and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the offseason.