1986-87 NFL playoffs
| Dates | December 28, 1986–January 25, 1987 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 1986 | ||||
| Teams | 10 | ||||
| Games played | 9 | ||||
| Super Bowl XXI site | |||||
| Defending champions | Chicago Bears | ||||
| Champions | New York Giants | ||||
| Runners-up | Denver Broncos | ||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 1986 season began on December 28, 1986. The postseason tournament concluded with the New York Giants defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI, 39–20, on January 25, 1987, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Within each conference, the three division winners and the two wild card teams (the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The three division winners were seeded 1 through 3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the fourth seed wild card hosted the fifth seed. All three division winners from each conference then received a bye in the first round. The second round, the divisional playoffs, had a restriction where two teams from the same division could not meet: the surviving wild card team visited the division champion outside its own division that had the higher seed, and the remaining two teams from that conference played each other. The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the fourth and final round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.
Quarterback Pat Ryan led the Jets to victory with three touchdown passes, while New York's defense held the Chiefs to 241 yards (the lowest total allowed by their defense all season) and forced three turnovers, in Kansas City's first postseason appearance since 1971.
The Chiefs scored first as backup quarterback Todd Blackledge, filling in for injured starter Bill Kenney, led the team on a 67-yard drive capped by running back Jeff Smith's 1-yard touchdown run, but Nick Lowery was unsuccessful with the following PAT. On their ensuing possession, the Jets faced fourth down and 6 on the Kansas City 33-yard line. Rather than attempt a long field goal, Ryan faked a pitch to Freeman McNeil and rushed for a 24-yard gain. Two plays later, McNeil scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to give the Jets a 7-6 lead.
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