The National Football League playoffs for the 1992 season began on January 2, 1993. The postseason tournament concluded with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, 52–17, on January 31, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
In the United States, ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games. CBS then televised the rest of the NFC games. NBC broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games and Super Bowl XXVII.
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:92%; text-align:center;"
! Away team !! Score !! Home team !! Date !! Kickoff<br>(ET / UTC–5) !! TV
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! colspan="6"|Wild Card playoffs
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| Washington Redskins || 24–7 || Minnesota Vikings || January 2, 1993 || 12:30 p.m. || ABC
|-
| Kansas City Chiefs || 0–17 || San Diego Chargers || January 2, 1993 || 4:00 p.m. || ABC
|-
| Houston Oilers || 38–41 || Buffalo Bills || January 3, 1993 || 12:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Philadelphia Eagles || 36–20 || New Orleans Saints|| January 3, 1993 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Divisional playoffs
|-
| Buffalo Bills || 24–3 || Pittsburgh Steelers || January 9, 1993 || 12:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Washington Redskins || 13–20 || San Francisco 49ers || January 9, 1993 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
| Philadelphia Eagles || 10–34 || Dallas Cowboys || January 10, 1993 || 12:30 p.m. || CBS
|-
| San Diego Chargers || 0–31 || Miami Dolphins || January 10, 1993 || 4:00 p.m. || NBC
|-
! colspan="6"|Conference Championships
|-
| Buffalo Bills || 29–10 || Miami Dolphins || January 17, 1993 || 12:30 p.m. || NBC
|-
| Dallas Cowboys || 30–20 || San Francisco 49ers || January 17, 1993 || 4:00 p.m. || CBS
|-
! colspan="6"|Super Bowl XXVII<br><small>Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California</small>
|-
| Buffalo Bills || 17–52 || Dallas Cowboys || January 31, 1993 || 6:00 p.m. || NBC
|}
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 2, 1993
NFC: Washington Redskins 24, Minnesota Vikings 7
Although Minnesota scored on their opening drive of the game, they were quickly crushed by the Redskins, who massively outgained them in total yards 358–148, rushing yards 162–75, and time of possession 42:43 to 17:17. Vikings quarterback Sean Salisbury was held to just six of 20 completions, intercepted twice, and sacked four times (three by defensive end Fred Stokes).
The Vikings scored first on a 74-yard opening drive, featuring a 42-yard completion from Salisbury to Cris Carter, that ended with Terry Allen's 1-yard touchdown run. However, Washington controlled the game from that point on. Redskins Martin Mayhew's 44-yard interception return set up their first score on Chip Lohmiller's 44-yard field goal with 53 seconds left in the first quarter. Then less than five minutes into the second quarter, Redskins safety Brad Edwards picked off a pass from Salisbury and returned it six yards to the Vikings 33, and Washington cashed in on this turnover with Earnest Byner's 3-yard rushing touchdown, giving them a 10–7 lead.
Late in the second quarter, the Redskins faced fourth down and 4 at the Minnesota 44-yard line. Running back Brian Mitchell rushed for 38 yards on a fake punt to give the team a first down, and later finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Mark Rypien's 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Gary Clark in the third quarter closed out the scoring.
Mitchell, who had only 24 career rushing attempts coming into this game, led the Redskins with 109 rushing yards and 100 total yards on receptions and punt/kickoff returns.
This was the fifth postseason meeting between the Redskins and Vikings. Both teams have split the previous four meetings.
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|+
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!Tied 2–2 in all-time playoff games
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|
|}
AFC: San Diego Chargers 17, Kansas City Chiefs 0
San Diego entered this game as the first NFL team ever to make the playoffs after starting the season 0–4, and went on to shut out the Chiefs, outgaining them in total yards 342–251 and rushing yards 192–61. Kansas City never moved the ball farther than the Chargers 34-yard line. This was San Diego's first playoff win since the 1982 season.
The game remained scoreless until 5:53 remained in the third quarter when the Chargers faced second and 2. On the next play, running back Marion Butts took a pitch, ran through a large hole in the right side of the line, evaded a tackle attempt from safety Charles Mincy, and outraced the rest of the defense for a 54-yard rushing touchdown.
Leslie O'Neal intercepted a pass from Dave Krieg at the Chiefs 26-yard line on Kansas City's next drive to set up kicker John Carney's 34-yard field goal. In the final quarter the Chargers put the game away with a 90-yard drive, featuring a 44-yard completion from Stan Humphries to Anthony Miller (Miller fumbled at the end, but it was recovered by running back Ronnie Harmon, who gained an additional 11 yards). Linebacker Steve Hendrickson, who lined up as a running back, finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
In addition to his interception, O'Neal also had two sacks. Chargers defensive ends Shawn Lee and Burt Grossman also had 4.5 sacks between them (two for Lee, 2.5 for Grossman). Butts finished the game with 119 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries, along with two receptions for 17 yards. Humphries threw for 199 yards without any interceptions.
This was the first postseason meeting between the Chiefs and Chargers.
New Orleans scored after a 25-yard reception from Craig Heyward and an Eagles pass interference penalty that moved the ball to the 1-yard line set up Heyward's 1-yard touchdown run, but it was countered with Philadelphia quarterback Randall Cunningham's 57-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Fred Barnett. The Saints then drove 71 yards in 13 plays to take a 10–7 lead on Morten Andersen's 35-yard field goal. Later on, they drove 53 yards in four plays to go up 17–7 on wide receiver Quinn Early's 7-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Bobby Hebert.
On the Saints' first drive of the third quarter, running back Vaughn Dunbar caught a short pass from Hebert and ran it 35 yards to the Eagles' 34. But when faced with 3rd and 1 from the 25, Dunbar was tackled at the line and ruled short of a first down, causing New Orleans to settle for Andersen's 42-yard field goal that put them up 20–7. New Orleans quickly forced a punt, but after they got the ball back, Hebert overthrew Early on a deep post pass, sending the ball right into the arms of Eagles cornerback Eric Allen for an interception on the Philadelphia 38-yard line. From there, the Eagles drove to a 40-yard Roger Ruzek field goal that cut their deficit to 20–10 going into the fourth quarter.
The Saints' final six drives of the second half resulted in an interception, a punt, another interception, a safety, another interception, and time expiring in the game. Their possession after Ruzek's field goal ended when Hebert underthrew the ball on a pass attempt to a wide open Eric Martin on 3rd and 1. Then Cunningham closed the gap to 20–17 with a 35-yard touchdown completion to Barnett with less than 11 minutes left in regulation. Then on the first play of the Saints' next possession, Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner intercepted a pass from Hebert and returned it 14 yards to the Saints 26 to set up running back Heath Sherman's 6-yard touchdown run, giving Philadelphia the lead, 24–20. After New Orleans got the ball back, Eagles defensive end Reggie White sacked Hebert in the end zone for a safety. After the free kick, Ruzek added a 39-yard field goal. 19 seconds later, Allen intercepted Hebert and returned the ball 18 yards for a touchdown.
"I thought I had the first down and got a bad spot," said Dunbar of the play where he was ruled short on 3rd and 1. "It seemed kind of meaningless at the time, because we got the field goal. Now, in hindsight, it could have been that final nail in the Eagles' coffin."
In the final quarter, a botched Steelers field goal attempt set up a 44-yard drive that ended with Bills kicker Steve Christie's 43-yard field goal. The next time Buffalo got the ball, they drove 86 yards and scored on a 1-yard run from Gardner.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Bills and Steelers. Pittsburgh won the only previous meeting.
On their first drive, San Francisco advanced 83 yards, including a 35-yard reception by Jerry Rice and a 22-yard catch by tight end Brent Jones, to score on Young's 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver John Taylor that went off the hands of Redskins safety A. J. Johnson. The 49ers seemed to be in prime position to score again when Kelly Goodburn's 29-yard punt gave them a first down on the Washington 49, but Fred Stokes eventually stripped the ball from Young and safety Brad Edwards recovered the fumble. Washington then drove 61 yards to cut the score to 7–3 on a 19-yard field goal by Chip Lohmiller.
San Francisco responded with a 23-yard field goal from Mike Cofer to go up 10–3 in the second quarter. Then after forcing a punt, they moved the ball from their own 1-yard line to the Redskins 29, but lost another turnover when Johnson intercepted Young's pass at the 5. However, Washington promptly gave the ball back when running back Brian Mitchell lost a fumble that was recovered by David Whitmore with 1:09 left in the half. Four plays later, Young threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jones, who fumbled the ball when hit by Edwards at the 1, but managed to recover it in the end zone to give San Francisco a 17–3 halftime lead.
In the second half, Washington converted two Young fumbles into 10 points. The 49ers got a great scoring opportunity after Whitmore intercepted a pass from Mark Rypien in the third quarter. But while scrambling for a first down, Young lost a fumble without being touched and linebacker Monte Coleman recovered it. This led to a 71-yard drive finished off by Lohmiller's 32-yard field goal, cutting Washington's deficit to 17–6. On the next series, the ball again slipped out of Young's hands, this time on a pass attempt, and Redskins defensive lineman Charles Mann recovered it on the San Francisco 15-yard line. Three plays later, Rypien scored on a 1-yard sneak, cutting the deficit to 17–13 early in the fourth quarter.
Following a 49ers punt, Washington moved the ball 52 yards to the 49ers 23-yard line. But with 9:52 left, Mitchell fumbled a botched handoff attempt by Rypien and linebacker Michael Walter recovered the fumble. San Francisco then marched 59 yards in 14 plays, featuring a 16-yard completion from Young to Rice on third and 10, on a drive that consumed more than seven minutes off the clock and scored on Cofer's 33-yard field goal, making the score 20–13. Washington got the ball back with 2:15 remaining and had one last chance to drive for a tying score, but they could only advance a few yards before turning the ball over on downs, as Rypien's final two passes were dropped by wide open targets, receiver Ricky Sanders and tight end Ron Middleton.
49ers running back Ricky Watters was the game's top rusher with 83 yards, while also catching two passes for 19. Defensive end Pierce Holt had three of San Francisco's five sacks. Redskins receiver Gary Clark caught seven passes for 100 yards. This was the last game of Joe Gibbs' first tenure as Redskins head coach. Washington would not return to the playoffs again until 1999.
This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Redskins and 49ers. San Francisco won two of the previous three meetings.
Late in the fourth quarter, Smith was taken out of the game and got to watch Derrick Gainer carry the ball nine times for 29 yards on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended on Gainer's 1-yard touchdown run. Meanwhile, all the Eagles could do was score a meaningless touchdown on Randall Cunningham's 18-yard pass to Calvin Williams with 50 seconds left in the game.
Aikman completed 15/25 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Cunningham finished the game 17/30 for 160 yards and one touchdown, along with 25 rushing yards.
"There was a lot of talking before this game", said Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton Jr. "We did our talking on the field. I don't think they have too much they can say right now."
This was the second postseason meeting between the Eagles and Cowboys. Philadelphia won the only prior meeting.
Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter, all of them set up by interceptions. With 11:30 remaining in the second quarter, rookie Troy Vincent intercepted a pass from Humphries and returned it two yards to the San Diego 48. Nine plays later, Miami cashed in with Marino's 1-yard touchdown pass to Tony Paige. With less than two minutes left in the half, Humphries threw a pass that slipped out of the hands of receiver Nate Lewis and was picked off by Vincent on the Chargers 37. Marino threw a 28-yard completion to Mark Duper on the next play, and finished the drive with a 9-yard touchdown toss to tight end Keith Jackson. Then on the fourth play after the ensuing kickoff, linebacker Bryan Cox intercepted a pass intended for Shawn Jefferson and returned it seven yards to the San Diego 42. Four plays later, Marino's 30-yard touchdown pass to Jackson gave Miami a 21–0 halftime lead.
In the second half, Miami relied primarily on their running game to protect their lead. Running back Aaron Craver led the team with eight carries for 72 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown burst in the fourth quarter. Before that, the Dolphins also scored on a 22-yard field goal from kicker Pete Stoyanovich. The final score of 31–0 marked a record setting day for the Dolphins offense, who had scored just six touchdowns in the last six games. Their 21 points was the highest single quarter amount they had ever scored in a playoff game, and their 31-point margin of victory was also a franchise postseason record. The win was the first in a Divisional Round for Miami since 1986.
Marino finished the game with 167 passing yards and three touchdowns. Running back Bobby Humphrey rushed for 71 yards and caught three passes for 30. Miami also got a big performance out of punter Reggie Roby, who planted four of his eight punts inside the Chargers 20-yard line, including three that were inside the 7. Lewis gained 130 all-purpose yards, including four kickoff returns for 111. San Diego linebacker Junior Seau had 18 tackles.
This was the third postseason meeting between the Chargers and Dolphins. Both teams split the previous two meetings.