Then on their third possession, quarterback Eric Hipple was sacked by blitzing cornerback Vernon Dean causing a fumble that defensive tackle Darryl Grant recovered on the Redskins 19-yard line.

Detroit responded with a drive to the Redskins 5-yard line, but came up empty again when Dave Butz forced a fumble from Sims that was recovered by defensive end Dexter Manley.

Two plays later, safety Mark Murphy intercepted Neil Lomax's pass and returned it 22 yards to the Cardinals 12-yard line, setting up Dickey's 4-yard touchdown toss to Ivery that gave Green Bay a 28–3 lead.

St. Louis managed to respond with Lomax's 5-yard touchdown pass to Pat Tilley with nine seconds left in the half, but Lewis blocked the extra point, and their 28–9 halftime deficit ended up being as close as the score would ever get.

The Patriots, who lost their 15th consecutive game in the Orange Bowl and struggling with the absence of star Defensive End Kenneth Sims, were on the verge of getting blown out as Miami drove down the field with their power running game led by Franklin and Tony Nathan, but a red zone fumble gave New England the ball at the Miami 37, and a Grogan to Lin Dawson pass helped the Patriots reduced the lead to 14–6 on Smith's 42-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

McDonald completed a 15-yard pass to Dwight Walker on the next play, but on a fourth down conversion attempt, linebacker Matt Millen and defensive tackle Lyle Alzado stuffed running back Mike Pruitt for no gain.

On their first drive of the second quarter, Cleveland managed to tie the game with McDonald's 47-yard completion to Ricky Feacher setting up Matt Bahr's franchise playoff record 52-yard field goal.

In the fourth quarter, Los Angeles essentially put it out of reach with a 65-yard drive, including Plunkett's completions to Malcolm Barnwell for 26 yards and Branch for 15, that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Frank Hawkins, making the final score 27–10.

[6] at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio The underdog Jets, playing their first road playoff game in franchise history, overcame an early 14–3 deficit against the defending AFC champions by racking up 517 yards of offense and scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter.

On the next play, Anderson's pass was intercepted by safety Darrol Ray and returned a playoff record 98 yards for a touchdown, giving New York a 37–17 lead with less than 5 minutes left in the game.

After Cincinnati got the ball back, Lynn recorded his second interception of the day, returning this one 26 yards to the Bengals' 26, and New York went on to score on the final points of the game with a 1-yard touchdown run by Dwayne Crutchfield.

[6] at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The game began disastrously for the Chargers when James Brooks fumbled the opening kickoff, which was recovered for a touchdown by Guy Ruff of the Steelers.

The Steelers had a chance to tie or retake the lead with a drive into San Diego territory just before halftime, but Chargers safety Bruce Laird made a clutch interception to prevent them from scoring.

The Cowboys responded with a drive to the Tampa Bay 38, but on third down, safety Mark Cotney intercepted White's pass and returned it 50 yards to set up Bill Capece's 32-yard field goal.

But in the fourth quarter, Bucs guard Charley Hannah was penalized 10 yards for an illegal block and then drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing the call with officials, pushing Tampa Bay back to their own 11-yard line.

Down by one point with six minutes remaining, they drove 72 yards to score on Ted Brown's game-winning touchdown run with 1:44 left in the game, and then sealed the win with John Turner's interception on the Falcons ensuing possession.

Backup quarterback Mike Moroski, the holder on field goal plays, took the snap and started run right, but then pitched the ball to kicker Mick Luckhurst, who raced 17 yards for a touchdown (the only rush attempt of his career) to give his team a 14–13 lead.

Two possessions later the Redskins drove 71 yards, including Theismann's 46-yard completion to Alvin Garrett on a flea flicker play, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run by Riggins on fourth down and inches with one minute left in the quarter.

Moseley, who had become the first kicker to win the NFL MVP award during the year, finished this game having made a total of one of his last five attempts, though his 39-yard miss only occurred after his 29-yard field goal was wiped out by a penalty on teammate Rich Milot.

Late in the fourth quarter, New York drove 67 yards in six plays, including Richard Todd's 45-yard completion to Walker on the Raiders 1-yard line, where Dierking took the ball into the end zone to give the Jets a 17–14 lead.

However, Los Angeles defensive end Lyle Alzado forced a fumble from McNeil that linebacker Ted Hendricks recovered to give his team one last chance to drive for a tying score.

Gerald Small intercepted Fouts on the game's opening possession and returned the ball 16 yards to San Diego 26-yard line, setting up Woodley's 3-yard touchdown pass to Nat Moore at the end of a five-play drive.

Then kicker Uwe von Schamann recovered a fumble from Hank Bauer on the ensuing kickoff, giving the Dolphins the ball on the Chargers 23, and they scored another touchdown with Woodley's 6-yard pass to tight end Ronnie Lee.

A few minutes later, the Chargers finally caught a break when a short Miami punt and facemask penalty during the return gave them the ball at the Dolphins 28, where Fouts threw a touchdown pass to Charlie Joiner.

Miami lost turnovers on each of their first two drives of the second half: Bruce Laird's interception of a Woodley pass and a fumble by Tony Nathan that was recovered by Chargers linebacker Woodrow Lowe on the San Diego 7-yard line.

In their regular-season meeting, Dallas had handed Washington their only loss of the year, 24–10, holding running back John Riggins to just 26 rushing yards while sacking quarterback Joe Theismann seven times and intercepting three of his passes.

Later on, the Cowboys committed a special teams blunder of their own when rookie kick returner Rod Hill muffed a Jeff Hayes punt and linebacker Monte Coleman recovered it, giving Washington the ball on the Dallas 10-yard line.

With 23 seconds left in the first half, Cowboys quarterback Danny White suffered a concussion after being hit by Washington's Dexter Manley and was replaced by unknown backup Gary Hogeboom, a three-year veteran who had only thrown eight passes in his career up to that point, for the rest of the game.

Following a Washington punt, Dallas had the ball at their own 32-yard line, but linebacker Mel Kaufman made a leaping, over-the-shoulder interception that was intended for Cowboys receiver Tony Hill, setting up Moseley's 29-yard field goal that gave the team a 24–17 lead with 6:55 left in regulation.

Late in the second quarter, it seemed Miami would finally break the scoreless tie when their cornerback Don McNeal blocked a punt from Chuck Ramsey, allowing the Dolphins to get the ball on the New York 20-yard line.