With Schottenheimer, Kosar and a cast of talented players on offense and defense, the team reached greater heights than Rutigliano and former quarterback Brian Sipe ever did.

[11] While not stellar, the Browns' record won first place in a weak AFC Central in 1985, and the team looked poised to shock the heavily favored Miami Dolphins in a divisional playoff game on January 4, 1986.

[16] After a slow start, the Browns rose to the top of the divisional standings, twice beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and ending a 16-game losing streak at Three Rivers Stadium.

On Denver's first possession, Elway again led the Broncos on a long drive ending with a Rich Karlis field goal that sailed just inside the left upright and won the game.

Byner ran left and broke inside with a clear path to the end zone, but was stripped by Denver's Jeremiah Castille just before crossing the goal line.

[33] Cleveland met the Houston Oilers in the wild-card playoff round at home, and soon found themselves attempting to win with third-string quarterback Mike Pagel after an injury to second stringer Don Strock.

Modell felt hiring an offensive coordinator was necessary to keep pace with the Oilers and the Bengals, a pair of divisional opponents then on the rise, but Schottenheimer said it "became evident that some of the differences we had, we weren't going to be able to resolve.

Thanks to six Los Angeles turnovers, the Chiefs registered their first post-season victory since Super Bowl IV with a 10–6 win in an AFC Wild Card Game on December 28.

Owning a 9–6 record and needing one more victory to secure a playoff berth, the Chiefs defense tallied three touchdowns, as Kansas City claimed a 42–20 win against Denver to finish the season at 10–6.

Despite the big win against the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs made a quick exit from the playoffs as quarterback Dave Krieg was sacked 7 times in a 17–0 AFC Wild Card loss against the San Diego Chargers on January 2, 1993.

On June 9, the club signed unrestricted free agent running back Marcus Allen, who had spent 11 seasons playing against the Chiefs as a member of the rival Raiders.

Before taking the field in a Sunday night contest at Minnesota on December 26, the team learned it had clinched its first AFC West title since 1971 thanks to a Raiders loss earlier in the day.

[38] Kansas City got its first true taste of "Montana Magic" as the Hall of Fame passer engineered a brilliant comeback in a 27–24 overtime win in an AFC Wild Card thriller against the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 8, 1994.

[38] After starting the 1994 season 3–0, the Chiefs dropped back-to-back games before snapping an 11-game losing streak against Denver at Mile High Stadium on October 17 in a memorable Monday night contest.

Montana and Dolphins' quarterback Dan Marino conducted a masterful first-half duel that ended deadlocked at 17–17, but Miami eventually prevailed by a 27–17 count.

Immediately, the media predicted much gloom and doom for the 1995 Chiefs under Bono, leading Schottenheimer to quip during training camp that his club had been picked "sixth in a five-team division".

Led by Bono, who merited a Pro Bowl berth, Kansas City posted an NFL-best 13–3 record with unblemished 8–0 marks in the AFC West and at Arrowhead.

Kansas City clinched a division title with a 29–23 victory at Oakland on December 3 en route to a franchise-best 13–3 regular season record and a team-record sixth consecutive postseason berth.

[38] Kansas City entered the 1996 campaign with essentially the same lineup as the club boasted in 1995 and were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated along with Green Bay as pre-season Super Bowl favorites.

A three-game winning streak, including a victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, put the club back in post-season contention at 8–3.

The Chiefs finished with a 9–7 record, missing the postseason for the first time since 1989 after the AFC's final Wild Card spot went to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who won a tiebreaker with Kansas City.

Grbac returned for the regular season finale against New Orleans Saints on December 21 as the squad finished the year with six consecutive victories, a first in team history.

The Redskins won eight of their final eleven games to narrowly miss the postseason, matching the 8–8 record from the team's previous year, but moving up in the NFC East.

The 24–21 defeat to the New England Patriots in 2006–07 Divisional Round proved to be even more devastating after the Chargers committed two critical miscues that caused them to surrender their 21–13 lead in the fourth quarter.

A final Chargers drive put them in position to force overtime off a field goal, but Kaeding missed the 54-yard attempt to secure the Patriots' victory.

In March 2011, the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League (UFL) hired Schottenheimer to be their first head coach and general manager, at the age of 67.

[66] At the time of his retirement, he ranked fifth in regular season wins, behind only Hall of Fame coaches Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry, and Curly Lambeau.

However, Cowher was able to get consistent, and often strong, performances in the passing game from his quarterbacks (Neil O'Donnell, Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox and Ben Roethlisberger).

When Tony Dungy was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001, he implemented a conservative, ball-control offense based primarily around running the ball and short, high-percentage passes.

In 2019, after spending the previous year as an analyst for the NFL on CBS, Arians became the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading them to a 7–9 record.