Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
It was the second consecutive season in which Philadelphia eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs during the wild card round, and two days later, Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy was fired.
But McNabb made up for his mistake with a 39-yard run on third down and 5 on Philadelphia's ensuing possession, setting up a field goal for David Akers that tied the game, 3–3.
After receiving Mark Royals' short 28-yard punt at the Buccaneers 31-yard line, McNabb threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Duce Staley with 35 seconds left in the half.
[3] at Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland, California The Raiders defeated the Jets in a high scoring shootout, outgaining them in total yards 502 to 410, and holding them off in a wild, 36-point fourth quarter.
After a San Francisco punt, Favre led his team to the end zone in just three plays, tossing a 12-yard completion to fullback William Henderson, following it up with a 51-yard strike to Corey Bradford, and then finishing the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Bubba Franks with 3:26 left in the third quarter, giving the Packers a 15–7 lead after the 49ers defense tackled Donald Driver short of the end zone on a two-point conversion attempt.
Then on San Francisco's ensuing possession, cornerback Mike McKenzie deflected a pass from Garcia into the arms of Tyrone Williams for an interception on the Packers 7-yard line.
The Dolphins' only score was Olindo Mare's 33-yard field goal just two minutes into the game, after linebacker Tommy Hendricks recovered a fumble from Baltimore's Jermaine Lewis on the opening kickoff.
Baltimore later had a chance to increase their lead before halftime when linebacker Peter Boulware recovered Minor's fumble on the Dolphins 41-yard line, but their ensuing drive ended without points when Matt Stover missed a 40-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half.
Early in the final quarter, Boulware forced a fumble while sacking Fiedler that Ravens defensive tackle Sam Adams recovered on the Dolphins 37-yard line, leading to Stover's 35-yard field goal with 11:26 left in the game.
But McNabb led the Eagles back, driving 69 yards in 11 plays, including a 9-yard completion to tight end Jeff Thomason on fourth down and 1 from the Bears 27-yard line.
Four plays later, McNabb finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to fullback Cecil Martin, giving his team a 13–7 lead with just 14 seconds left in the half.
On the first drive of the second half, cornerback R. W. McQuarters deflected a pass from McNabb into the arms of Azumah, who returned it 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 14–13 lead.
Then Autry Denson fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Philadelphia rookie Quinton Caver recovered it, setting up Akers' fourth field goal.
With 1:12 left in the quarter, a 15-yard fair catch interference penalty against Patriots safety Je'Rod Cherry at the end of Ken Walter's 39-yard punt gave Oakland a first down at midfield, where they drove to a 7-0 lead on Gannon's 13-yard touchdown pass to James Jett.
A few plays later, Raiders safety Johnnie Harris intercepted a pass from Brady on the Patriots 41-yard line, but New England's defense managed to force a punt, which would be the final result of every following drive until the end of the half.
Terry Kirby returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Oakland 37-yard line, where the Raiders responded with a 10-play, 43-yard drive to score on a 38-yard field goal from Sebastian Janikowski.
As Brady dropped back to pass, he lost the ball while being tackled by former college teammate Charles Woodson, and Oakland linebacker Greg Biekert recovered it with 1:47 left.
However, an official instant replay review caused referee Walt Coleman to overturn the fumble, ruling Brady's arm had been moving forward while being tackled and making the play an incomplete pass.
Steelers cornerback Chad Scott started out the dominance by intercepting Baltimore quarterback Elvis Grbac's first pass of the game and returning it 19 yards to the Ravens 43-yard line.
In the second quarter, Baltimore cornerback Chris McAlister gave the offense a great chance to score when he intercepted a pass from Stewart and returned it 18 yards to the Steelers 7-yard line.
The Steelers took over and drove to the Ravens 9-yard line, but on third down, Stewart was sacked for an 8-yard loss by Larry Webster and Brown's ensuing field goal attempt was wide left.
Then linebacker Jason Gildon recovered a fumble from Terry Allen on Baltimore's next drive and the Steelers capitalized with a 46-yard field goal from Brown, increasing their lead to 20–0 with 4:23 left in the half.
Then on Green Bay's next drive, Herring intercepted a pass from Favre and returned it 45 yards to the Packers 4-yard line, setting up a 4-yard touchdown catch by fullback James Hodgins early in the second quarter.
A replay challenge overruled the score, showing Williams was down by contact when he recovered the fumble, but three plays later, Holt's 50-yard reception set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Faulk.
Then on Green Bay's next possession, Rams defensive end Grant Wistrom deflected a pass from Favre into the arms of linebacker Tommy Polley, who returned the interception 34 yards for a touchdown.
Later on, with under two minutes left in the half, Brady completed a 28-yard pass to Brown at the Steelers 40-yard line, but was knocked out of the game by a hit from safety Lethon Flowers.
[3] at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri The Eagles, a 12-point underdog, had a surprising 17–13 lead at halftime, and had not allowed more than 21 points per game during the season and playoffs.
Early in the first quarter, Donovan McNabb fumbled while being sacked by defensive end Leonard Little, and Brian Young recovered for the Rams at the Philadelphia 20-yard line.
But on a fourth down and 7 conversion attempt, St. Louis cornerback Aeneas Williams intercepted a pass intended for Freddie Mitchell and the Rams held the ball for the rest of the game.