The win sent Tampa to its first NFC Championship Game in After a scoreless first quarter, a 35-yard punt from The Redskins had a chance to win the game with a 51-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds of the game, but the snap from center As expected, this match between the two high powered offenses produced a lot of points (86), and yards (880, 405 by St. Louis, 475 by Minnesota). George, who completed only two of eight passes for −9 yards in the second half until then, responded with three touchdown passes in the final five minutes of the game.

Hakim rushed for five yards, caught five passes for 49 yards, and returned three punts for 72 yards.

Moss caught nine passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. First, In the second quarter, the Jaguars drove 72 yards to the Titans 5-yard line, only to have Brunell throw an interception to safety The Titans defense dominated the second half, forcing four turnovers, while the offense took advantage of key penalties to take control of the game. Bills defensive end The Bills would not make the playoffs again after this game for Washington took advantage of two key penalties against the Lions on their first drive as they drove 79 yards to score on Davis' 1-yard touchdown run. Marino then engineered an 11-play, 85-yard game-winning scoring possession. But after falling behind 17–14, St. Louis stormed to victory with 35 second half points. Beasley recorded his second interception from Marino on the Dolphins next possession. Then on Miami's next possession, Jaguars rookie Miami continued to turn the ball over through the second quarter. Marino was benched in the second half, and his replacement, The Buccaneers forced two key turnovers in the second half to rally from a 13–0 deficit, while their defense held Washington to just 157 yards, with only 32 in the second half. First, linebacker In the fourth quarter, Brunell lost a fumble while being sacked by McNair completed 14 of 23 passes for 112 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, and rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns. After the ensuing kickoff, Jacksonville cornerback The situation never got much better for the Dolphins. On Buffalo's first play of the third quarter, "We worked on that play yesterday", said Titans coach George finished the game with 106 rushing yards. In the fourth quarter, they drove 67 yards and scored with George's 5-yard touchdown pass to At the end of the game's opening drive, Seattle punter In the second quarter, Miami got the ball with good field position when Marion intercepted a pass from Kitna on the Dolphins 41, but this merely resulted in three incompletions and a punt. This was the first NFL postseason game ever played in Despite George's impressive day, he actually struggled for most of the first half, gaining only 38 yards on nine carries while kickers Tennessee's inability to get into the end zone came to an end on just the third play of the third quarter, when George took a handoff from McNair and stormed through the middle of the field for a 68-yard touchdown run. On Tennessee's first drive of the second half, McNair completed a 15-yard pass to On Jacksonville's next drive, Brady lost a fumble while being tackled by Robinson, and lineman Then Tennessee's defense stepped up. Carter caught seven passes for 106 yards and a score. Then after several punts, the Titans put together a 13-play, 73-yard drive, featuring a 26-yard completion from McNair to receiver The lost opportunity was devastating. It was also the first time since 1969 that no California-based NFL team made the playoffs. Their defense forced seven turnovers and held the Dolphins to 131 total yards.

The first was a running into the punter penalty against linebacker After a scoreless third quarter, the Lions finally managed to get a touchdown when lineman The Lions, after this game, would not make the playoffs again until the 2011 season. Then Carter recovered an onside kick, and the Vikings scored another touchdown on George's 44-yard pass to Moss. He completed four of seven passes for 84 yards on the drive, including a 23-yard completion to Rogers finished the game with 4 kickoff returns for 159 yards and a touchdown, along with 3 punt returns for 24 yards.