The postseason tournament concluded with the New England Patriots defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, 24–21, on February 6, at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.
St. Louis' defense held Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, the NFL's second leading rusher during the season, to only 40 yards on 15 carries.
The Jets responded with a drive to San Diego's 33-yard line, Pennington threw an incomplete pass on third down and they decided to punt rather than risk a 51-yard field goal.
After Tomlinson was tackled for a 1-yard loss, A fourth-down pass Brees with under 20 seconds left fell incomplete into the end zone, but Jets linebacker Eric Barton was penalized for roughing the passer, giving the Chargers a first down from the one-yard line.
[2] at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana The Colts followed up their wild-card blowout of the Broncos in the previous year's Wild Card Round, and also made up for a loss in Denver's INVESCO Field at Mile High a week earlier with another thrashing.
Then after a Denver punt, Manning completed three passes to Clark for 63 yards on an 87-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by James, giving Indianapolis a 14–0 lead with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.
But on the Colts ensuing drive, Wayne caught a screen pass from Manning and took it 43 yards for a touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 42–17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Denver receiver Triandos Luke returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the 43-yard line, setting up a 57-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Tatum Bell.
[citation needed] On the Vikings' opening drive, Culpepper narrowly avoided a sack with a short completion to running back Moe Williams, who then dodged a tackle attempt from safety Darren Sharper and took off for a 68-yard touchdown reception.
The Packers were forced to punt after Favre was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down by Chris Claiborne, and Nate Burleson returned the ball 7 yards to the 45-yard line.
The Vikings were forced to punt after Culpepper was sacked on third down by Michael Hawthorne, and Green Bay subsequently drove 54 yards in 12 plays and scored on Favre's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bubba Franks, cutting their deficit to 17–10 with 10:24 left in the second quarter.
Then after the ensuing kickoff, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu intercepted a pass from Chad Pennington and returned it 15 yards to the Jets 25-yard line, setting up a 3-yard touchdown run by Bettis.
Two plays later, New York cornerback David Barrett gave his team another chance to score the winning points by intercepting a pass from Roethlisberger and returning it 25 yards to Pittsburgh's 36-yard line.
On the Falcons opening drive, Vick rushed for 47 yards and later threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Alge Crumpler, giving his team a 7–0 lead after just 3:02 had elapsed in the game.
Throughout the rest of the game, the Falcons intercepted a pass from Bulger, forced him to lose a fumble, and Brady Smith sacked him in the end zone for a safety.
[2] at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth straight year on the strength of quarterback Donovan McNabb (21 out of 33 completions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns).
Mewelde Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to his own 42-yard line, and two plays later, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw a 40-yard completion to Marcus Robinson.
On fourth down, coach Mike Tice called a fake field goal that was supposed to involve backup quarterback Gus Frerotte passing the ball.
After forcing Philadelphia to punt on the opening second half possession, Minnesota drove to the Eagles 28-yard, only to lose the ball on an interception by Ike Reese.
The Vikings managed to respond with an 80-yard drive capped by Culpepper's 32-yard touchdown pass to Robinson, but they could not recover the onside kick and the Eagles ran out the rest of the clock.
The Colts responded with a drive to New England's 39-yard line, but linebacker Tedy Bruschi ended it by forcing and recovering a fumble from running back Dominic Rhodes.
After a criticized Indianapolis punt on 4th and 1 from the New England 49-yard line, the Patriots drove 87 yards in 15 plays on a drive that consumed 8:16 and ended with Brady's 5-yard touchdown pass to David Givens.
Then two plays after the ensuing kickoff, safety Rodney Harrison stripped the ball from Reggie Wayne and Bruschi recovered it, allowing his team to take more time off the clock.
Atlanta responded with a drive to the Eagles 3-yard line, but was forced to settle for a Jay Feely field goal after Vick was sacked by Hollis Thomas on third down.
Atlanta struck right back on their next drive, moving the ball 70 yards in just five plays, one a 31-yard reception by tight end Alge Crumpler, and scoring with Warrick Dunn's 10-yard touchdown run with 21 seconds left in the first half.
The Eagles dominated the second half, forcing Atlanta to punt on every possession except one which resulted in an interception, and their last one, which ended when they turned the ball over on downs.
Patriots safety Eugene Wilson intercepted Roethlisberger's first pass of the game on his own 48-yard line, setting up Adam Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead.
Then on the Steelers ensuing drive, safety Rodney Harrison intercepted a pass from Roethlisberger and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 24–3 halftime lead.
On their ensuing drive, Ward's 26-yard reception on the last play of the third quarter set up Reed's second field goal, making the score 31–20 with 13:32 left in the game.