;Wild card round The wild card round of the playoffs featured the two
wild card playoff qualifiers from each conference being hosted by the two lowest seeded divisional winners. The top two seeds in each conference – the
Seahawks,
Panthers,
Broncos and
Patriots – all had first-round
byes. The games were played January 4–5, 2014. The weekend's first game on Saturday featured the
Colts staging the second biggest comeback in playoff history to defeat the
Chiefs by a score of 45–44. The 28-point second half deficit the Colts overcame is exceeded only by the
Bills–
Oilers playoff game from
January 1993 which has become known simply as "
The Comeback". It was the first time in
any NFL game (regular or postseason) that a team won in regulation play (i.e. not overtime) after having trailed by as many as 28 points. The game was also the highest scoring postseason game to have been decided by a one-point margin The Colts and Chiefs combined to gain 1,049 total yards which established a new single-game postseason record, breaking the record of 1,038 yards that was set by the
Bills–
Dolphins first-round game on December 30, 1995, and matched in a
Saints–
Lions first-round matchup on January 7, 2012. The
Saints beat the
Eagles 26–24 in the Saturday night game. It was the Saints' first ever road playoff victory. The Saints built an early 20–7 lead before the Eagles bounced back to take a 24–23 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game. However, the Saints worked their way down the field while also working the clock on the game's final drive before
Shayne Graham kicked the game-winning field goal from 32 yards out as time expired. The early game on Sunday was the only game of the weekend not decided by three or fewer points with the
Chargers defeating the
Bengals, 27–10. Bengals quarterback
Andy Dalton committed three second-half turnovers which led to the Chargers scoring 20 unanswered points to overcome a 7–10 halftime deficit. The Bengals loss marks a league record third straight year in which the team has lost its playoff opener, and extended the Bengals' streak of playoff futility to 23 seasons. Every other current NFL team has won a playoff game since the Bengals' last playoff victory in
January 1991. In the late afternoon game on Sunday the
49ers defeated the
Packers 23–20 on a brutally cold day at
Lambeau Field. The temperature at game time was just with a
wind chill of . Quarterback
Colin Kaepernick, who eschewed sleeves and gloves despite the chilly conditions, passed for 227 yards and rushed for 98 more to lead the 49ers to victory in a back-and-forth game.
Phil Dawson kicked the winning field goal as time expired. This was the second straight year that the Packers' season had both started and ended with losses to the 49ers. ;Divisional round The divisional round games were played on January 11–12, 2014 and three of the four were rematches of regular season games – only the Patriots and Colts had not met in 2013. In the early game on Saturday, the Seahawks defeated the Saints 23–15. The Seahawks held a 16–0 lead at halftime, but the Saints came back in the second half to make the game interesting. The Seahawks were able to hold on after a late Saints comeback effort, including an
onside kick recovery, fell short. The Seahawks' offense centered around a 28 carry, 140 yard rushing effort from
Marshawn Lynch, who also scored on a 31-yard run in the fourth quarter. Patriots running back
LeGarrette Blount and the Patriots defense were the stars of the Patriots 43–22 victory over the Colts in the Saturday night game. Blount rushed for 166 yards and a franchise-record four touchdowns while Colts quarterback
Andrew Luck was intercepted four times. Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady broke a league record for most playoff games for a starting quarterback with 25 (a record he had previously shared with
Brett Favre) and extended his own record of 18 career playoff wins. The victory allowed the Patriots to reach the
AFC Championship Game for the third straight year as well as the eighth time with Brady and head coach
Bill Belichick. The 49ers defeated the Panthers by a score of 23–10 in the early Sunday game. The 49ers defense twice stopped the Panthers one yard short of the
end zone and also recorded two interceptions and five
quarterback sacks. 49ers quarterback
Colin Kaepernick threw for one touchdown and ran for another in the game. The win put the 49ers into their third straight and fifteenth overall conference championship game, matching the
Pittsburgh Steelers for most conference championship appearances. In the final game of the divisional round the Broncos beat the Chargers 24–17. It was only the fourth time in the season to date that the Broncos had been held to fewer than 30 points (three of which were against the Chargers), but the Chargers offense could not capitalize. The Broncos held a 17–0 lead in the fourth quarter before the Chargers launched a comeback that was too little and too late. The win put the Broncos into the AFC championship game for the first time since the
2005 season. ;Conference championships The conference championships took place on Sunday, January 19, 2014. The early game featured the Broncos hosting the Patriots in the
AFC Championship Game. The game was referred to by many as
Manning-Brady XV as it was the fifteenth meeting (the fourth in the playoffs) of the two starting quarterbacks,
Tom Brady and
Peyton Manning. The Broncos defeated Brady and the Patriots 26–16 behind a 400-yard passing performance by Manning. Manning led the Broncos on two long touchdown drives where each used over seven minutes of game time and were the two longest drives in terms of game time of the Broncos season. This was Manning's third career postseason game with 400 or more yards passing, equaling
Drew Brees for the most such playoff games in league history. Broncos head coach
John Fox, who previously led the
Carolina Panthers to
Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, became the sixth head coach in NFL history to take two different franchises to the Super Bowl. The
NFC Championship Game had the Seahawks hosting the 49ers in the late game. The Seahawks defense forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter which proved to be the difference in the game. The last of these was a pass intended for
Michael Crabtree in the endzone which was intercepted by Seahawks linebacker
Malcolm Smith off a deflection by cornerback
Richard Sherman with just 22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The interception preserved a 23–17 Seahawks victory. In an on-field interview immediately after the game with
Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, Sherman famously directed a rant at Crabtree whom Sherman called a "sorry receiver".
Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII featured the top seeded team from each conference for just the second time in twenty years. The Broncos possessed the league's best offense (in terms of both scoring and yards) while the Seahawks had the league's top defense (also in both scoring and yardage). The game was played on February 2, 2014, at
MetLife Stadium in
East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City and was televised in the U.S. by
Fox with kickoff at 6:32 pm
EST. This was the first ever Super Bowl to be staged outdoors in a cold weather environment at the
CenturyLink Field in
Seattle, February 5, 2014 The game started disastrously for the Broncos who, despite losing the coin toss, received the opening
kickoff. On the game's first play from
scrimmage from the Broncos' 14 yard line, Broncos center
Manny Ramirez sent a
shotgun snap over the head of quarterback
Peyton Manning. The ball traveled into the
endzone where it was covered by Broncos running back
Knowshon Moreno who was
touched down for a
safety with just 12 seconds of game time elapsed. This was the quickest score ever in a Super Bowl. The Seahawks did not relinquish the lead in a 43–8 victory. Even in defeat, though, Peyton Manning's record-breaking year continued. He set a record for most passes completed in a Super Bowl with 34. In addition, Broncos wide receiver
Demaryius Thomas caught 13 passes to set a single-game Super Bowl record.
Playoffs bracket ==Pro Bowl==