Saturday, January 15, 1994 AFC: Buffalo Bills 29, Los Angeles Raiders 23 In one of the coldest games in NFL history, the Bills overcame a 17–13 Raiders lead by scoring three times in a span of 6:18 in the second half. The Raiders got the first scoring opportunity of the game when quarterback
Jeff Hostetler's first pass of the game was complete to
Tyrone Montgomery for a 19-yard gain to the Bills 29-yard line. But a third down sack by Buffalo defensive end
Bruce Smith halted the drive and
Jeff Jaeger missed a field goal attempt from 47 yards. Buffalo then took over and drove to the Raiders 30-yard line, but also came up empty when
Jim Kelly threw an incomplete pass on a fourth and 1 conversion attempt. After the turnover, Hostetler threw a 36-yard completion to tight end
Ethan Horton and a 12-yard completion to
Nick Bell on the way to a 30-yard field goal by Jaeger, giving Los Angeles a 3–0 lead early in the second quarter. But Buffalo quickly stormed back with a huge play from special teams expert
Steve Tasker, who snagged Jaeger's short kickoff out of the air while on the run and raced 67 yards to the Raiders 1-yard line before being shoved out of bounds by
Willie Gault. Following an offsides penalty against the Raiders, running back
Kenneth Davis' took the ball across the goal line on the next play, giving the Bills a 6–3 lead after
Steve Christie missed the extra point. Raiders receiver
Raghib Ismail returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards to his 43-yard line, sparking an 8-play, 57-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by
Napoleon McCallum. Then on the first play after the kickoff, safety
Eddie Anderson forced a fumble from
Pete Metzelaars, and cornerback
Terry McDaniel recovered the ball on the Bills 40-yard line, setting up McCallum's second 1-yard touchdown run (this one on a fourth down) to increase their lead to 17–6. But Buffalo, who had gained just 44 total yards at this point, struck right back with a 4-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. After three consecutive Kelly completions, a 37-yard pass interference penalty on
Torin Dorn moved the ball to the Raiders 8-yard line, and
Thurman Thomas ran it into the end zone from there, cutting the score to 17–13 with 50 seconds left in the half. Buffalo started out the second half with a good drive into Raiders territory, but it ended with no points when Christie missed a 43-yard field goal try. Later on, the Bills scored three times in a span of 6:18 of the final two quarters to put the game away. Quarterback
Jim Kelly first threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver
Bill Brooks at the end of a 5-play, 60-yard drive, giving Buffalo a 19–17 lead after Christie missed the extra point. Then after Bills safety
Henry Jones recovered a fumble by McCallum that was forced by Smith, Christie kicked a 29-yard field goal. On the Raiders' next possession, wide receiver
Tim Brown scored on an 86-yard touchdown reception from Hostetler. Jaeger hit the uprights on the extra point attempt, but Los Angeles retook the lead at 23–22 with less than a minute left in the third quarter. However, Buffalo then drove 71 yards to score on Brooks' 22-yard touchdown reception from Kelly with 12:05 left in the game. Buffalo's defense kept Los Angeles pinned down for the remained of the quarter to clinch the victory, forcing punts on each of their next two drives. After the second punt, the Bills offense held onto the ball for the final six minutes of the game, featuring three first down runs by Davis, one of them a 17-yard gain. Brown had the best postseason performance of his career, catching five passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. Kelly completed 27 of 37 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Brooks caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Smith had two sacks and a forced fumble. His two sacks gave his a career postseason total of 11, moving him past
Richard Dent as the NFL's all-time leader in that category. This was the final playoff game played by the Raiders as a Los Angeles-based team and their last as a franchise until 2000. This was the final playoff game played by a Los Angeles-based team until 2017. This was the second postseason meeting between the Raiders and Bills. Buffalo won the only prior meeting. San Francisco started off the game with an 80-yard drive in which
Steve Young completed his first four passes, including a 31-yard completion to
John Taylor on the way to a 1-yard touchdown run by Watters. Kicker
Mike Cofer missed the extra point, but little else would go wrong for San Francisco for the rest of the game. Following a Giants punt, San Francisco went up 9–0 on Cofer's 29-yard field goal. Then linebacker
Bill Romanowski deflected a Simms pass into the arms of
Tim McDonald, who returned the ball four yards to the Giants 41. Eight plays later, Watters scored another 1-yard touchdown run to give the 49ers a 16–0 lead. After another New York punt, San Francisco drove 92 yards, featuring a 43-yard reception by Taylor, to score on Watters' third touchdown of the day, this one from two yards out. New York eventually cut the score to 23–3 at halftime with a 25-yard field goal from kicker
David Treadwell after they stopped the 49ers on fourth and 1 on their own 21-yard line, but this would be their only score. Watters added two more touchdowns in the second half. He actually had a chance to score a sixth touchdown, but he was taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter with the ball on the Giants 11-yard line. Instead, he got to sit on the bench as
Marc Logan scored the 49ers final points on a 2-yard run. "There was no question who was the best team out there today", said Giants coach
Dan Reeves. "I'm disappointed that we came in and played this way. It hurts; it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The 49ers took us out of our element very quickly. They struck quickly and repeatedly, and took the running game away from us." Although he didn't throw any touchdown passes, Young was near-perfect in the game, completing 17 of 22 passes for 226 yards, and rushing for 17 yards on the ground. This was also the final game for Giants legends
Lawrence Taylor and
Phil Simms. The Giants would retire both of their numbers by 1995. This was the sixth postseason meeting between the Giants and 49ers. New York won three of the previous five meetings. Favre finished the game with 331 passing yards, just one yard short of a Packers playoff record, and two touchdowns, but was picked off twice. His top target was Sharpe, who caught six passes for 128 yards. Aikman completed 28 of 37 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, while Irvin recorded nine receptions for 126 yards. Butler had a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery. This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Packers and Cowboys. Green Bay won two of the previous three meetings.
AFC: Kansas City Chiefs 28, Houston Oilers 20 Chiefs quarterback
Joe Montana threw three touchdown passes in the second half to give his team a 28–20 win and put an end to Houston's 11-game winning streak, while Kansas City's defense terrorized Houston quarterback
Warren Moon, forcing three turnovers and sacking him a playoff record nine times. Four different Chiefs defensive players (
Albert Lewis,
Joe Phillips,
Bennie Thompson, and
Derrick Thomas) finished the game with multiple sacks, three of whom (all except Thomas) didn't have two sacks during the entire season. On the opening drive of the game, a heavy pass rush by Oilers defensive tackle
Glenn Montgomery caused Montana to throw a rushed pass that was intercepted by
Steve Jackson, who returned it 14 yards to the Chiefs 23-yard line. Houston went three-and-out, including Lewis' 9-yard sack of Moon on third down, but
Al Del Greco kicked a 49-yard field goal to put them on the board. Then after forcing a punt, Moon led the Oilers 80 yards in 11 plays on a drive that consumed just 6:37, starting if off with a 16-yard completion to
Gary Wellman and later completing a 30-yard pass to Wellman deep in Chiefs territory. Once inside the red zone, Moon threw an incompletion on third down, but Thomas was penalized for being offsides, and Moon threw a first down completion to
Haywood Jeffires at the 2-yard line on the next play. Running back
Gary Brown took the ball into the end zone from there, increasing Houston's lead to 10–0. In the second quarter, Chiefs receiver
Danan Hughes gave his team a big opportunity by returning a punt 35 yards to the Oilers 42-yard line. But Kansas City ended up empty handed at the end of a drive in which they squandered multiple chances to get into scoring range. First, Montana threw a pass to the end zone that was barely deflected away from receiver
Willie Davis by the outstretched arm of cornerback
Cris Dishman. On the next play, he completed a pass to
J. J. Birden that moved the ball to the 5-yard line, only to see it wiped out by a false start penalty on
John Alt. Then after a screen pass that gained nothing, Montana threw another pass to the end zone on third down, this one bouncing off the fingertips of a wide open Davis and forcing Kansas City to punt. Houston then drove to the Chiefs 10-yard line on a drive that included Moon's 16-yard scramble with an unnecessary roughness penalty turning it into a 31-yard gain. But after a penalty pushed them back to the 25, they too failed to score when Lewis knocked the ball out of Moon's hand as he pulled it back to throw and rookie linebacker
Jaime Fields recovered the fumble. Montana completed a 22-yard pass to Davis on the first play after the turnover, and eventually the Chiefs reached the Houston 36-yard line. But Montana threw an incomplete pass on fourth and 1, and the score remained 10–0 at the end of the half. After forcing the Oilers to punt on the opening drive of the second half, Montana completed a 37-yard pass to Davis and a 14-yarder to
Tim Barnett before finishing the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end
Keith Cash. Later in the quarter, Houston drove to the 48-yard line. But shortly before the end of the quarter,
Charles Mincy made a clutch interception and returned the ball 12 yards to the Kansas City 14. In the fourth quarter,
Terry Hoage intercepted a pass from Montana at the Chiefs 25-yard line, setting up Del Greco's 43-yard field goal to make the score 13–7. But Kansas City quickly stormed back to take their first lead of the game, scoring in just three plays: a 22-yard completion from Montana to Cash, a 38-yard pass interference penalty against Houston, and Montana's 11-yard touchdown pass to Birden. Then on the first play of Houston's ensuing drive, Thomas forced a fumble from Moon that
Dan Saleaumua recovered on the Oilers 13-yard line, setting up Montana's 18-yard touchdown pass to Davis. Moon then led the Oilers 80 yards with eight consecutive completions, including a 23-yard catch by Jeffires, to score on wide receiver
Ernest Givins' 7-yard touchdown reception, making the score 21–20 with 3:35 left. But the Chiefs responded with a critical 41-yard completion from Montana to Cash on third and 1, setting up
Marcus Allen's game clinching 21-yard touchdown run. Houston would not host another playoff game until 2011 and the franchise would not appear in the playoffs until 1999, their first season as the Tennessee Titans. This would be the Chiefs' last postseason victory until
January 9, 2016, when they defeated the Houston Texans. This was Montana's 10th consecutive postseason game with a touchdown pass, tying the NFL record set by
Ken Stabler. Montana threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Moon completed 32 of 43 passes for 302 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. Davis was the top receiver of the day with five receptions for 96 yards, while Jeffires caught nine passes for 88. This was the second postseason meeting between the Chiefs and Oilers. The Chiefs won the only prior meeting as the Dallas Texans. ==Conference championships==