The postseason tournament concluded with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX, 27–17, on January 28, 1996, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
Darick Holmes' 34-yard run then moved the ball to the Dolphins 1, but that was as far as the drive would go, as Gene Atkins intercepted Kelly's pass in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.
Then on the Dolphins' next drive, Dan Marino threw a pass that was deflected by Phil Hansen and picked off by linebacker Marlo Perry, giving Buffalo the ball on their 38-yard line.
Philadelphia scored first after Mark McMillian intercepted a pass from Detroit QB Scott Mitchell and returned it 16 yards to the Lions 15-yard line, setting up Charlie Garner's 15-yard touchdown run.
Then Lions' linebacker Chris Spielman recovered an Eagles' fumble and Majkowski converted it into another touchdown, a 7-yard toss to receiver Johnnie Morton, cutting the score to 51–21.
But Philadelphia linebacker William Thomas quickly put any thoughts of a Lions' comeback to rest by returning an interception 30 yards for a touchdown 23 seconds into the fourth quarter.
However, Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown, and Green Bay extended their lead to 20–10 (after the two-point conversion attempt failed).
[2] at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego Rookie fullback Zack Crockett, who had only one rushing attempt during the regular season, found himself thrust into the starting lineup to replace injured starter Marshall Faulk on the first play of the game.
A 46-yard punt return by Colts cornerback Ray Buchanan to the Chargers 27 set up Harbaugh's 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ken Dilger a minute into the second quarter.
In the fourth quarter, runs by Terrell Fletcher and Aaron Hayden for respective gains of 20 and 15 yards set up Carney's 30-yard field goal to cut Indianapolis' lead to 21–20.
The Bills responded with a drive to the Steelers 21-yard line, but then Darick Holmes was tackled for a 13-yard loss by safety Carnell Lake and Steve Christie missed a 52-yard field goal attempt.
Early in the second quarter, Steelers receiver Andre Hastings returned a punt 12 yards to the Bills 43-yard line, setting up Norm Johnson's 45-yard field goal.
[4] In the third quarter, Lake intercepted a pass from Kelly and returned it 3 yards to the Buffalo 25-yard line, leading to Johnson's fourth field goal that put the team up 26–7.
On the next play, Linebacker Levon Kirkland intercepted a pass from Kelly and returned it 4 yards to the Bills 23-yard line to set up Morris' 2-yard score with 1:58 remaining to clinch the victory.
Following an Eagles punt, Mark McMillian intercepted a pass from Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman and returned it 34 yards to the Cowboys 43, setting up Gary Anderson's 26-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter.
On Philadelphia's field goal drive, Peete suffered a concussion when he was tackled by Darren Woodson one yard short of a first down on the Dallas 9-yard line, knocking him out of the game and Randall Cunningham replaced him.
But by the end of the game, Kansas City lost four turnovers and kicker Lin Elliott missed three field goals en route to a 10–7 Colts upset.
After the first four possessions of the game resulted in punts, Kansas City scored on quarterback Steve Bono's 20-yard touchdown to wide receiver Lake Dawson with 29 seconds left in the first quarter on a drive that covered 62 yards in 5 plays.
After a Steelers punt, their defense got a big chance when Warren fumbled deep in Colts territory, but guard Joe Staysniak recovered the ball in mid-air to keep the drive going.
The drive was aided by O'Donnell's 9-yard completion to Hastings on fourth down and 3 from the 47-yard line, as well as an earlier dropped potential interception that went in and out of the arms of linebacker Quentin Coryatt.
On the next play after Hastings' fourth down conversion catch, O'Donnell completed a 37-yard pass to Ernie Mills on the Indianapolis 1-yard line, setting up Morris' 1-yard scoring run.
The Colts got the ball back and advanced to the Steelers' 29 with 5 seconds left, narrowly avoiding a turnover when Chris Oldham dropped a wide open interception.
On the game's final play, Harbaugh attempted a hail mary pass which he lofted high and came down into a crowd of players in the end zone; the ball momentarily was against the Colts' WR Aaron Bailey's chest but it hit the turf before he could haul it in.
Green Bay got off to a slow start as quarterback Brett Favre threw incompletions on his first six pass attempts of the game and the team failed to gain any yards on their first 9 plays.
However, Packers linebacker Bernardo Harris blocked a punt from John Jett on the game's opening drive that gave the team the ball at the Dallas 23 and enabled them to score first on Chris Jacke's 46-yard field goal.
Then Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett intercepted a screen pass from Favre on the Packers 13, and they scored another touchdown on Aikman's 4-yard throw to Irvin, giving the team a 14–3 lead.
Dallas was forced to punt on their next drive, and Antonio Freeman gave his team great field position with a 39-yard return, with an additional 15 yards coming from a facemask penalty on Jett.
Packers punter Craig Hentrich subsequently pinned Dallas back at their own 1-yard line with a 57-yard kick, but Smith bailed his team out with a 25-yard run on the next play, starting off a playoff-record 99-yard drive.
Green Bay responded with a drive past midfield, but Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown put an end to it by intercepting Favre's pass and returning it 28 yards to the Dallas 48.
Freeman had 212 all-purpose yards (10 rec, 148 KR, 54 PR) After the contest, Reggie White was so visibly upset, he started shouting at television crews who were filming him on the sidelines.