2015–16 NFL playoffs
Kansas City subsequently drove 27 yards, including an 18-yard catch by tight end Travis Kelce, to go up 10–0 on a 49-yard Cairo Santos field goal.
With less than six minutes left in the second quarter, Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict forced a fumble from Markus Wheaton that safety George Iloka recovered on the Cincinnati 47-yard line.
Then he threw a pass in the back of the end zone to Bryant, who made a diving somersault catch and maintained possession for a touchdown by pinning the ball against one leg while falling to the ground.
Later on, he converted a 3rd-and-9 with an 18-yard completion to tight end Tyler Eifert, and eventually the Bengals got close enough for Mike Nugent to kick a 36-yard field goal, making the score 15–10 with 5:17 left.
On the ensuing drive the Redskins drove to the Green Bay 1-yard line with a 14-yard pass from Kirk Cousins to DeSean Jackson that was initially ruled a touchdown but reversed upon review.
Then linebacker Mike Neal forced and recovered a fumble while sacking Cousins on the Packers' 46-yard line, resulting in a 30-yard drive that ended with Mason Crosby's 43-yard field goal.
Knile Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards, then Charcandrick West subsequently rushed for a 17-yard gain and Smith completed a 26-yard pass to Jason Avant; the team drove to a 32-yard Santos field goal that made the score 14–6 at halftime.
Taking the ball at the Chiefs' 31-yard line, Brady completed five consecutive passes for double-digit gains, the last one a 16-yard touchdown throw to Gronkowski that gave the team a 21–6 lead.
A few plays into the fourth quarter, Stephen Gostkowski gave the Patriots a 24–13 lead with a 40-yard field goal at the end of a drive that was sparked by Brady's 29-yard completion to running back James White.
With all three of their timeouts left, they still had a chance to force a punt, but on the second play of New England's ensuing drive, Brady's 12-yard pass off a deflection to Julian Edelman sealed the victory for the Patriots, and ended Kansas City's 11-game winning streak.
Later on, Rodgers threw a pass that Peterson intercepted and returned 100 yards for a touchdown, but this was eliminated by an illegal use of hands penalty on defensive lineman Frostee Rucker.
Following a Packers punt, Arizona drove to the Green Bay 10-yard line, but on the second play of the fourth quarter, cornerback Damarious Randall intercepted a pass from Palmer in the end zone.
Then, on the Seahawks' second play, Luke Kuechly intercepted a pass from Russell Wilson and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown, giving Carolina a 14–0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
After forcing a Seahawks punt, Carolina mounted a 15-play, 86-yard drive which featured a 27-yard reception by tight end Greg Olsen and culminated in a Stewart 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
Wilson then threw his second interception on the first play of the next drive, this time to Cortland Finnegan on the Seattle 29-yard line, and a Graham Gano 48-yard field goal put Carolina up 24–0.
[30] Seattle got on the board on the first drive of the second half after Tyler Lockett returned the opening kickoff to 50 yards to midfield and Carolina was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Seattle drove into Carolina territory again on their next drive which included a 17-yard first down run by DeShawn Shead on a fake punt, but Wilson was sacked for a 14-yard loss by Josh Norman and they were unable to score.
Now trailing by a touchdown with 1:12 remaining and only one timeout left, Seattle attempted an onside kick which was recovered by Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis, allowing the Panthers to run out the clock and preserve the victory.
At the end of the game's opening possession, Broncos safety Omar Bolden returned a punt 42 yards to the Pittsburgh 30-yard line, setting up Brandon McManus' 28-yard field goal.
[39] Denver had to punt on their next drive, but a few plays into the second quarter, Brady threw a pass that was intercepted by linebacker Von Miller and returned four yards to the Patriots 16-yard line.
A few plays later, the Patriots faced 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line, but Brady proved up to the task again, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski that made the score 20–18 with 12 seconds left on the clock.
On the subsequent 2-point conversion attempt, Brady took a snap out of shotgun formation and threw a pass to Edelman, but the ball was deflected by Aqib Talib into the arms of defensive back Bradley Roby for an interception.
Carolina dominated the game from start to finish, outgaining Arizona in total yards 476 to 287 and forcing seven turnovers in the first NFC Championship played at Bank of America Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals offense continued to struggle, as quarterback Carson Palmer lost a fumble due to a hit by Kawann Short, which linebacker Luke Kuechly recovered on the Panthers 38-yard line.
After each team punted, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton appeared to complete a 24-yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery, but the call was ruled an incompletion and upheld after a replay challenge.
[45] Two plays later, on 3rd-and-10 from the 15-yard line, linebacker Von Miller knocked the ball out of Newton's hands while sacking him, and Malik Jackson recovered it in the end zone for a Broncos touchdown, giving the team a 10–0 lead.
On Carolina's next possession, fullback Mike Tolbert lost a fumble while being tackled by safety Darian Stewart, which linebacker Danny Trevathan recovered on the Broncos 40-yard line.
After the miss, Manning completed a pair of passes to Emmanuel Sanders for gains of 25 and 22 yards, setting up McManus' 33-yard field goal that gave the Broncos a 16–7 lead.
On the next play, Miller stripped the ball away from Newton, and after several players dove for it, it took a long bounce backwards and was recovered by Ward, who returned it five yards to the Panthers 4-yard line.
Then Anderson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run and Manning completed a pass to Bennie Fowler for a 2-point conversion, giving Denver a 24–10 lead with 3:08 left and essentially putting the game away.
