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NFL playoffs history

Highlights Of The 1989 NFL Playoffs

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The 1989 NFL playoffs marked the definitive statement that the San Francisco 49ers were the team of the 1980s. The 49ers won their fourth Super Bowl and did it with the great playoff runs in the history of any sport. Here are the key highlights from that postseason.

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*San Francisco demolished Minnesota, the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos in succession. To put that in perspective, the Vikings were widely considered one of the most talented teams in the NFL in the late 1980s. The Rams were the one team that had shown the ability to match up with the 49ers head-to-head, winning one game in 1989 and losing another in the closing moments. And John Elway’s Broncos were merely the standard for the AFC, reaching their third Super Bowl in four years.

The results of those games—the combined final score was 126-26. The 49ers allowed just two touchdowns the entire postseason and both of those came late in blowout games. Joe Montana had the signature playoff run of his Hall of Fame career. In the three games combined, Montana completed 65-of-83 passes for 800 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 11-0. Not bad.

The ultimate winner of the 1989 NFL playoffs might have been a foregone conclusion, especially with San Francisco coming off a dominating 14-2 regular season where Montana won the MVP award, but there was plenty of excitement and storylines in other games, including the following…

*Sunday of the divisional round produced two outstanding games. The Rams went overtime to beat Bill Parcells’ New York Giants 19-13 in the early afternoon game. A key pass interference call on Sheldon White put the Rams in scoring position and then Jim Everett hit Flipper Anderson on a 30-yard touchdown pass over the middle to win it.

In the late game, Denver turned back an upset bid by a determined Pittsburgh Steelers, rallying from deficits of 10-0, 17-7 and finally 23-17 late, with a vintage Elway drive to score the game-winning TD with 2:27 left.

*Cleveland and Buffalo staged a great divisional game of their own in the early Saturday afternoon TV window. The field was ice, but Bernie Kosar and Jim Kelly each played well. Kelly threw for over 400 yards, but Kosar was more efficient—20/29 for 251 yards and no interceptions, while Kelly was picked off twice.

The Bills’ missed an extra point when Scott Norwood slipped on the ice and consequently trailed 34-30 when they reached the Browns 11-yard line in the closing seconds. Buffalo had to try for the end zone and the result was Clay Matthews Sr. intercepting Kelly to seal the win. The slip on the extra point not only cost the Bills a chance at overtime, but it shifted millions in Las Vegas—Cleveland was a (-3.5) favorite at the betting window.

*1989 was the last playoff year for legendary Steelers’ coach Chuck Noll. His team had slid under the radar just to grab the final playoff spot in the AFC. Then they upset the Houston Oilers in an overtime wild-card game and looked ready to do the same in Denver before Elway pulled another rabbit out of his hat.

*Speaking of the Oilers—that playoff loss was the last straw for ownership when it came to head coach Jerry Glanville. In spite of three straight trips to the postseason, Glanville had yet to reach an AFC Championship Game. Blowing a home finale to Cleveland had cost Houston the division title and then came the home wild-card loss to Pittsburgh. Glanville was fired.

The NFC wild-card game saw a similar dynamic—Buddy Ryan’s Eagles, with Super Bowl hopes, had suffered a late loss that cost them the NFC East title to New York. Then Philadelphia played poorly at home in a 21-7 loss to Los Angeles. Ryan kept his job, but this started the discontentment that got him fired after another early exit in the 1990 playoffs.

Those were the big moments of the 1989 NFL playoffs. The wild-card round had coaching consequences, the divisional round was dynamic and the 49ers were historic.

The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Come Through The Cold To Super Bowl Warmth

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The 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were coming off two straight years of being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, each time on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa Bay decided to shake things up.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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The Buccaneers fired head coach Tony Dungy, and hired Jon Gruden, who was fresh off taking the Oakland Raiders into the playoffs before suffering an excruciating loss to the destiny tale that was the 2001 New England Patriots. 

Tampa Bay’s basic parameters of a strong defense combined with a tolerable offense continued to hold form, even with the shift from the defensive-minded Dungy to the offense-oriented Gruden. The Bucs had the best defense in the NFL. Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brook, Shelton Quarles and John Lynch were all Pro Bowlers. That doesn’t include a young corner in Ronde Barber, who would go on to a long career in the NFL.

But offensively was a different story. Tampa Bay ranked just 18th in points scored, but quarterback Brad Johnson threw only six interceptions. It was enough to put him in the Pro Bowl. The same went for fullback Mike Alstott, while wide receiver Keshawn Johnson had 1,000 yards in the air. The combination of an offense that could run the ball, avoid mistakes and get a little bit of big-play action down the field was all this defense needed to lead the way to wins.

Tampa Bay started the season 9-2, including a hard-fought 21-7 win over Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers on November 24, a victory that would prove critical in the tiebreakers. A pair of late losses appeared ready to confine the Bucs to the 3-seed, meaning no first-round bye and potential road dates in both Green Bay and Philadelphia.

Then the Buccaneers got a break. Green Bay lost to a surging New York Jets’ team in Week 17, and Tampa Bay, Green Bay and Philadelphia all ended the season at 12-4. Tampa Bay’s win over Green Bay nudged them into the 2-seed behind the Eagles. The Bucs would at least get a bye, and only one potential cold weather game.

The issue of Tampa Bay playing in the cold was a prominent issue at the time. Not only is this a topic for conversation any time a warm weather team goes north, but the Bucs own recent history had seen consecutive playoff losses in Philly. What’s more, they had just won for the first time in franchise history when the weather was below 32 degrees—and that was against the 4-12 Chicago Bears.

After Tampa Bay blasted the San Francisco 49ers in the second round, the stage was set for a return to Philadelphia, this time for the NFC Championship Game.

In 20-degree temperatures, the Buccaneers exorcised their demons. The defense shut down the Eagle running game and forced Donovan McNabb into an erratic 26-for-49 for 243 yards showing. Tampa Bay won the turnover battle 3-1 and led 20-10 in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia drove to get back in the game, but Barber intercepted a McNabb pass on the Tampa Bay 8-yard line and took it back 92 yards to the house. Tampa Bay won 27-10 and was going to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.

It was an ironic matchup in the Super Bowl–the Oakland Raiders were the opponent, as Gruden faced his old team. But the NFC was where the power was this season. The Raiders’ 11-5 record was the best in the AFC, yet inferior to Tampa Bay, Green Bay and Philadelphia. And this game was no contest.

Tampa Bay forced five turnovers, scored three defensive touchdowns and Dexter Jackson, the free safety who had two interceptions, was named game MVP. The defensive display at the Super Bowl in San Diego was a fitting end to a great season for the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

What’s perhaps most surprising is that this is where the run ended. The Tampa Bay defense continued to be an elite unit, but the offense never materialized. A team that looked like a potential dynasty didn’t even get back to the playoffs until 2005 and they haven’t won a postseason game since the run of 2002.