Dates | December 31, 1994–January 29, 1995 | ||||
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Teams | 12 | ||||
Games played | 11 | ||||
Defending champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||||
Champions | San Francisco 49ers | ||||
Runners-up | San Diego Chargers | ||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 1994 season began on December 31, 1994. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX, 49–26, on January 29, 1995, at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Within each conference, the three division winners and the three wild card teams (the top three 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 through 6. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there were no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosted the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosted the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference then received a bye in the first round. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosted the worst surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5 or 6), while the number 2 seed played the other team (seed 3, 4 or 5). 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.
The Packers defense held Lions running back Barry Sanders to −1 rushing yards, while holding Detroit to 12 points and a posteason record low of −4 yards on the ground. The previous record was Chicago only giving up seven yards to New England in Super Bowl XX. Sanders lost yardage on six of his 13 carries. After running the ball on the Lions' first three plays, he didn't carry more than twice in any other series. "It's inconceivable to hold him to negative yards," Green Bay defensive end Reggie White said. "He does things that no other back does."