The postseason tournament concluded with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, 31–25, on February 6, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Then three plays into the Seahawks' drive, Matt Hasselbeck's pass went through the hands of receiver Ben Obomanu and into the arms of Jabari Greer, who returned the interception 10 yards to the Seattle 35.
After an exchange of punts, Jones lost a fumble while being tackled by Raheem Brock that Seattle linebacker David Hawthorne recovered on the Saints' 18-yard line, setting up a 29-yard field goal by Mare to tie the game.
But a 40-yard reception by Devery Henderson helped the Saints drive to the Seattle 3-yard line where Hartley made his second field goal to cut the score to 24–20 as time expired in the half.
New Orleans got the ball back at their 13-yard line following Jon Ryan's punt, and mounted an 83-yard drive that ended with Jones' second touchdown run of the game, making the score 34–27 with 13:11 left in regulation.
As he had done several times before, Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri gave his team a fourth quarter lead with less than a minute remaining by making a clutch field goal.
New York responded with a long drive to the Colts' 19-yard line, but with less than a minute left, Justin Tryon intercepted a pass from Mark Sanchez in the end zone to keep them scoreless going into halftime.
Then after a 2-yard run by Tomlinson, he completed an 18-yard pass to Edwards, who made a leaping catch near the sidelines and managed to keep both feet in bounds at the Colts' 14-yard line with 29 seconds left on the clock.
After letting the clock run down to three seconds, New York called their final timeout and sent Folk out to kick a 32-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights as time expired to win the game for the Jets.
Kansas City managed to get the ball back when Charles forced and recovered a fumble from Nakamura during the return, but their second attempt at a drive fared no better and ended with a turnover on downs at the Ravens 38-yard line.
Then Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis forced a fumble while tackling Dexter McCluster that cornerback Chris Carr recovered on the Chiefs 17-yard line, setting up Cundiff's third field goal to increase their lead to 16–7.
Just two plays into their next drive, Kansas City lost another turnover when Cassel threw an interception to Dawan Landry, which led to Flacco's 4-yard touchdown pass to Boldin.
After forcing the Ravens to punt on the opening drive, Pittsburgh drove 80 yards on the way to Mendenhall's 1-yard touchdown run, assisted by a 37-yard pass interference penalty on Baltimore cornerback Josh Wilson.
In the second quarter, Ravens safety Ed Reed recovered a fumble from Mendenhall at the Steelers 16-yard line, setting up Flacco's 4-yard touchdown pass to Todd Heap that gave them a 21–7 lead.
This time the Steelers were unable to get a touchdown, as Suggs sacked Roethlisberger on third down and six after driving inside the 10-yard line, but Suisham kicked a 35-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh their first lead with 12:15 left in regulation.
But over the next three plays, Baltimore rushers were stuffed twice, and then receiver Anquan Boldin dropped a pass in the end zone, forcing them to settle for Billy Cundiff's field goal to tie the score with 3:54 remaining in the game.
However, Atlanta quickly retook the lead when Eric Weems returned Mason Crosby's kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown, the longest scoring play in NFL playoff history.
Atlanta was forced to a three-and-out on their next drive after a Green Bay replay challenge overruled a first down catch by Jenkins, and Koenen's punt went just 21 yards to midfield.
Aided by a defensive holding penalty on Tim Jennings that nullified his interception, Seattle cut the score to 28–10 with Matt Hasselbeck's 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams.
On the Patriots’ first drive, Tom Brady threw his first interception since Week 6 of the regular season, which linebacker David Harris picked off and returned 58 yards before tight end Alge Crumpler made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 12-yard line.
But after a 5-yard run by Danny Woodhead, Crumpler dropped a pass in the end zone, and then Brady was sacked by Shaun Ellis, forcing them to settle for Shayne Graham's 34-yard field goal to give them a 3–0 lead.
In the second quarter, a third-down sack of Brady by Drew Coleman forced New England to punt from their own 16, and Jerricho Cotchery returned the ball to the Patriots' 49-yard line.
But Chung fumbled the snap and was tackled on his 25-yard line, and the Jets converted the turnover with Sanchez's 15-yard touchdown pass to Edwards with 33 seconds left in the half, making the score 14–3.
Two plays later, Sanchez threw a high pass for Santonio Holmes, who managed to catch the ball and land in the end zone while falling out of bounds, giving New York a 10-point lead two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Brandon Tate returned the ensuing kickoff 23 yards to the 41-yard line, sparking a 59-yard scoring drive that ended with Brady's 13-yard touchdown pass to Branch with 24 seconds left.
Green Bay's defense knocked Chicago starting quarterback Jay Cutler out of the game and intercepted three passes, one of which was returned for a score, and another which ended a last-minute drive for a potential tying touchdown.
Cutler's replacement, Todd Collins, ended up being ineffective, throwing four consecutive incompletions before being benched in favor of Caleb Hanie with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hanie's 32-yard completion to Johnny Knox moved the ball to the Packers 1-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by Chester Taylor that cut the score to 14–7.
Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Ike Taylor sacked Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez on a defensive back blitz and forced a fumble, which cornerback William Gay returned 19 yards for a touchdown, increasing their lead to 24–0 with just over a minute left in the half.
This time New York managed to respond, with Sanchez completing four passes for 39 yards on a drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal by Nick Folk, cutting the score to 24–3 going into halftime.