1984–85 NFL playoffs

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1984–85 NFL playoffs
The 49ers playing against the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX.
DatesDecember 22, 1984–January 20, 1985
Season1984
Teams10
Games played9
Super Bowl XIX site
Defending championsLos Angeles Raiders
ChampionsSan Francisco 49ers
Runners-upMiami Dolphins
Conference
runners-up

The

National Football League playoffs for the 1984 season began on December 22, 1984. The postseason tournament concluded with the San Francisco 49ers defeating the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, 38–16, on January 20, 1985, at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California
.

Participants

Within each conference, the three division winners and the two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The NFL did not use a fixed-bracket playoff system. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and received a first-round bye while the wild card teams were seeded 4 and 5, and played in the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, with the 4 seed hosting. 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 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 championship round of the playoffs, was played at a neutral site, the designated home team was based on an annual rotation by conference.

Playoff seeds
Seed AFC NFC
1 Miami Dolphins (East winner) San Francisco 49ers (West winner)
2 Denver Broncos (West winner) Washington Redskins (East winner)
3
Central
winner)
Central
winner)
4 Seattle Seahawks (wild card) Los Angeles Rams (wild card)
5 Los Angeles Raiders (wild card) New York Giants (wild card)

Bracket

Dec 30 – Mile High Stadium
3 Pittsburgh 24
Dec 22 – Kingdome Jan 6 – Miami Orange Bowl
2 Denver 17
AFC
5 LA Raiders 7 3 Pittsburgh 28
Dec 29 – Miami Orange Bowl
4 Seattle 13 1 Miami 45
AFC Championship
4 Seattle 10
Jan 20 – Stanford Stadium
1 Miami 31
Divisional playoffs
Wild Card playoffs A1 Miami 16
Dec 30 – RFK Stadium
N1 San Francisco 38
Super Bowl XIX
3 Chicago 23
Dec 23 –
Anaheim Stadium
Jan 6 – Candlestick Park
2 Washington 19
NFC
5 NY Giants 16 3 Chicago 0
Dec 29 – Candlestick Park
4 LA Rams 13 1 San Francisco 23
NFC Championship
5 NY Giants 10
1 San Francisco 21

Schedule

The two

Eastern Standard Time/9:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time or 4 p.m. EST/1 p.m. PST. The NFL did not schedule prime time playoff games on the east coast until 2002. A 9:30 a.m. PST game was considered too early to be played on the west coast
.

Starting with its coverage of Super Bowl XIX, ABC became part of the annual Super Bowl broadcasting rotation. The television rights to the first three rounds of the playoffs remained the same, with CBS televising the NFC games and NBC broadcasting the AFC games.

Away team Score Home team Date Kickoff
(ET / UTC–5)
TV
Wild card playoffs
Los Angeles Raiders 7–13 Seattle Seahawks December 22, 1984 4:00 p.m. NBC
New York Giants 16–13 Los Angeles Rams December 23, 1984 3:30 p.m. CBS
Divisional playoffs
Seattle Seahawks 10–31 Miami Dolphins December 29, 1984 12:30 p.m. NBC
New York Giants 10–21 San Francisco 49ers December 29, 1984 4:00 p.m. CBS
Chicago Bears 23–19 Washington Redskins December 30, 1984 12:30 p.m. CBS
Pittsburgh Steelers 24–17 Denver Broncos December 30, 1984 4:00 p.m. NBC
Conference Championships
Pittsburgh Steelers 28–45 Miami Dolphins January 6, 1985 12:30 p.m. NBC
Chicago Bears 0–23 San Francisco 49ers January 6, 1985 4:00 p.m. CBS
Super Bowl XIX
Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
Miami Dolphins 16–38 San Francisco 49ers January 20, 1985 6:00 p.m. ABC

Wild card playoffs

Saturday, December 22, 1984

AFC: Seattle Seahawks 13, Los Angeles Raiders 7

Los Angeles Raiders vs. Seattle Seahawks – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Raiders 0 0 077
Seahawks 0 7 3313

at

Seattle, Washington

Game information
  • Scoring
    • SEA – Turner 26 pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) SEA 7–0
    • SEA – field goal Johnson 35 SEA 10–0
    • SEA – field goal Johnson 44 SEA 13–0
    • RAI – Allen 46 pass from Plunkett (Bahr kick) SEA 13–7

The Seahawks rushed on 51 plays for 205 yards and the defense intercepted 2 passes and recorded 6 sacks to avenge their AFC championship loss to LA in the previous season. The Raiders crossed midfield only three times during the whole game, while Seattle's defense and Jeff West's punting constantly made them start each drive deep in their own territory. Their possessions in the game started from the 20, 4, 20, 18, 16, 22, 30, 20, 16, 16, 22 and 6-yard lines.[1]

Seattle quarterback Dave Krieg completed only 4 of 10 passes in the game, but one was a 26-yard touchdown throw to Daryl Turner in the second quarter. Late in the third quarter, Seattle linebacker Bruce Scholtz forced a fumble from Frank Hawkins, and cornerback Keith Simpson recovered it on the Raiders 38. Krieg gained 13 yards with a scramble on the next play, and Norm Johnson finished the drive with a 35-yard field goal to put the team up 10-0 with 1:29 left in the third quarter. On LA's ensuing possession, quarterback Jim Plunkett, starting in his first game since week 6 of the regular season due to injuries, threw an interception to John Harris at the Seahawks 31-yard line, and Seattle ended up scoring another field goal on a 44-yard kick by Johnson, giving them a 13-0 lead.[2]

With 5:05 left in the game, Plunkett threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to running back Marcus Allen. LA's defense managed to force a punt on the next series, but only after the Seahawks ran the clock down to 45 seconds, and West's kick pinned them back at their own 6-yard line. Seattle safety Kenny Easley then put the game away by intercepting a pass from Plunkett with 4 seconds left on the clock.

Dan Doornink recorded 29 carries for 126 rushing yards and a 14-yard reception. Defensive end Jacob Green had 2.5 sacks. Allen rushed for 61 yards, while also catching five passes for 90 yards and a score. This would be Seattle's last playoff victory until the 2005 NFC Divisional playoffs against the Washington Redskins.

This was the second postseason meeting between the Raiders and Seahawks. Los Angeles won the only previous meeting the previous year.[3]

In his book about his years as a physician working for the Raiders "You're OK, It's Just a Bruise", Robert Huizenga wrote that Jacob Green's father had died suddenly in Texas right before the game, and Green was told by his mother that they were going to wait until the game was over to have Mr. Green's funeral so Jacob could be there to bury his dad. Green and his teammates dedicated the game to Mr. Green and absolutely destroyed the Raiders' offensive line on their way to victory.

Sunday, December 23, 1984

NFC: New York Giants 16, Los Angeles Rams 13

New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Rams – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Giants 10 0 6016
Rams 0 3 7313

at

Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California

Game information
  • Scoring
    • NYG – field goal Haji-Sheikh 37 NYG 3–0
    • NYG – Carpenter 1 run (Haji-Sheikh kick) NYG 10–0
    • RAMS – field goal Lansford 38 NYG 10–3
    • NYG – field goal Haji-Sheikh 39 NYG 13–3
    • RAMS – Dickerson 14 run (Lansford kick) NYG 13–10
    • NYG – field goal Haji-Sheikh 36 NYG 16–10
    • RAMS – field goal Lansford 22 NYG 16–13

In a defensive struggle, the Giants managed to pull out a win with key defensive stands on the last two LA drives.

After forcing the Rams to punt on the opening drive, New York scored first with kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh's 37-yard field goal. On the Rams ensuing drive, Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor forced a fumble from Eric Dickerson, and defensive back Bill Currier recovered it at Los Angeles 23-yard line. This set up running back Rob Carpenter's 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants a 10-0 lead. Mike Lansford's 38-yard field goal in the second quarter cut the score to 10-3 going into halftime.

Haji-Sheikh kicked a 39-yard field goal in the third quarter, but this was countered by Dickerson's 14-yard touchdown run, making the score 13-10. New York responded with Haji-Sheikh's 36-yard field goal five minutes later to go up by 6 points. LA then took the ball back and drove to a first down on the Giants 7-yard line, with Dickerson rushing four times for 44 yards along the way. Dickerson picked up 3 more yards on the next play, but then Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall dropped fullback Dwayne Crutchfield for a 3-yard loss and Jeff Kemp's 3rd down completion to Henry Ellard picked up just 2 yards. Faced with 4th and goal from the 5, the Rams decided to settle for Lansford's 22-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 16-13 with 7:02 left in the game.

Los Angeles caught a break on the Giants next possession when Joe Morris' 61-yard run was eliminated by a holding penalty against center Kevin Belcher and the team ended up punting. This gave the Rams one last chance to drive for the tying field goal or winning touchdown at the 2:48 mark. However, they were unable to gain even a single first down. Faced with 4th and 6 after three plays, Kemp was sacked by George Martin and fumbled the ball. Linebacker Andy Headen recovered for New York on the Rams 33, enabling them to run out the rest of the clock.

This game marked an impressive turnaround for the Giants, who had finished the previous year with a 3-12-1 record. Both teams combined for just 406 yards (214 for LA, 192 for New York). The only offensive star of the game was Dickerson, who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown, though he rushed for only 37 yards on 12 carries in the first half, including his costly fumble.[4]

This was the first postseason meeting between the Giants and Rams.[3]

Divisional playoffs

Saturday, December 29, 1984

AFC: Miami Dolphins 31, Seattle Seahawks 10

Seattle Seahawks vs. Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 0 10 0010
Dolphins 7 7 14331

at

Miami, Florida

Game information
  • Scoring
    • MIA – Nathan 14 run (von Schamann kick) MIA 7–0
    • SEA – field goal Johnson 27 MIA 7–3
    • MIA – Cefalo 34 pass from Marino (von Schamann kick) MIA 14–3
    • SEA – Largent 56 pass from Krieg (Johnson kick) MIA 14–10
    • MIA – Hardy 3 pass from Marino (von Schamann kick) MIA 21–10
    • MIA – Clayton 33 pass from Marino (von Schamann kick) MIA 28–10
    • MIA – field goal von Schamann 37 MIA 31–10

The Dolphins ran off 70 plays, gained 405 yards of total offense (including an uncharacteristic 143 yards rushing), and scored 17 unanswered points in the second half as they avenged last season's divisional round upset loss to Seattle. Meanwhile, Miami's defense, which had given up 134 points in the last five games of the season, held the Seahawks to just 267 yards. The Dolphins defense was particularly dominating on the ground, where they held Seattle to a mere 51 yards on 18 rushing attempts, an average of less than 3 yards per carry.

Miami started off the scoring with a 68-yard drive, featuring

Glen Blackwood
for a 56-yard touchdown reception, cutting the score to 14-10 at the end of the half.

However, any thoughts of a Seattle comeback were quickly crushed in the second half. Following a missed field goal attempt by Johnson, Marino led the Dolphins 76 yards down the field to a 3-yard scoring reception by tight end

Mark Clayton. In the fourth quarter, Dolphins kicker Uwe von Schamann made a 37-yard field goal that put the final score at 31-10.[5]

Marino finished the game 21/34 for 262 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions (both by John Harris). The Dolphins 405 yards would be spread out quite evenly among the team, as their top rusher (Nathan) had only 76 yards, while their top receiver (Clayton) had 75. Krieg completed 20/35 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 2 yards and gaining one yard off a deflected pass that he caught himself. Largent was the top receiver of the game with 6 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.

This was the second postseason meeting between the Seahawks and Dolphins. Seattle won the only prior meeting the previous year.[3]

NFC: San Francisco 49ers 21, New York Giants 10

New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 10 0010
49ers 14 7 0021

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco

Game information
  • Scoring
    • SF – Clark 21 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 7–0
    • SF – Francis 9 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 14–0
    • NYG – field goal Haji-Sheikh 46 SF 14–3
    • NYG – Carson 14 interception return (Haji-Sheikh kick) SF 14–10
    • SF – Solomon 29 pass from Montana (Wersching kick) SF 21–10