1995–96 NFL playoffs
| Dates | December 30, 1995–January 28, 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 12 | ||
| Defending champions | San Francisco 49ers | ||
| Champions | Dallas Cowboys | ||
| Runners-up | Pittsburgh Steelers | ||
| Matches played | 11 | ||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 1995 season began on December 30, 1995. The postseason tournament concluded with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX, 27–17, on January 28, 1996, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
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.
Although Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino completed 33 out of 64 passes for 422 yards, the Bills jumped to a 27–0 lead going into the fourth quarter, forced four turnovers, and rushed 341 yards, the second highest amount in NFL postseason history and the most since Chicago gained 382 rushing yards in the 1940 NFL championship game.
Buffalo started the scoring with a 58-yard drive, 45 yards which came from 3 receptions by Steve Tasker (who normally only played on special teams). Thurman Thomas finished off the possession with a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Bills a 7–0 early lead. Miami had to punt on their next drive, and John Kidd's kick went just 29 to the Bills 44-yard line. Three carries by Thomas for 26 yards on the following drive set up Steve Christie's 48-yard field goal. At the end of Miami's next possession, Kidd's 48-yard punt pinned Buffalo back at their own 1-yard line. Buffalo then drove 98 yards, with receiver Bill Brooks picking up 21 yards on an end-around run and Kelly completing a 26-yard pass to Tasker. Darick Holmes' 34-yard run then moved the ball to the Dolphins 1, but that was as far as the drive would go, as defensive back Gene Atkins intercepted Kelly's pass in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.
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