However, Jacksonville running back Natrone Means's 62-yard carry on their next drive moved the ball to the Bills' 5-yard line. Buffalo stormed right back with a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Thomas' 2-yard touchdown run, making the score 14–7. But later in the quarter, Jacksonville defensive end Clyde Simmons intercepted a shovel pass intended for Thomas and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to tie the game. Jacksonville was forced to punt on their opening drive, and Russell Copeland returned the ball 16 yards to the Jags' 43-yard line, setting up Kelly's 7-yard touchdown pass to running back Thurman Thomas. After trading points back and forth all day, almost drive for drive, Jaguars safety Chris Hudson would make a decisive hit on Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, knocking him out of the game and forcing a fumble that his team would convert into the game-winning score. The second-year Jaguars forced four turnovers, racked up three sacks, and outgained Buffalo in total yards 409–308 to earn their first playoff win. JAX – Smith 2 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick) Tie 27–27.BUF – Burris 38 interception return (Christie kick) BUF 27–20.JAX – Means 30 run (Hollis kick) JAX 17–14.BUF – Thomas 2 run (Christie kick) BUF 14–7.JAX – Simmons 20 interception return (Hollis kick) Tie 7–7.BUF – Thomas 7 pass from Kelly (Christie kick) BUF 7–0.Wild Card playoffs Saturday, Decem AFC: Jacksonville Jaguars 30, Buffalo Bills 27 Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana Musburger and Vermeil, who at the time comprised ABC’s #2 college football broadcast team, had called one of the two Wild Card matchups every year since the playoffs expanded in 1990. The 1996-97 playoffs marked the first time that ABC employed ESPN’s NFL announce team for its Wild Card Weekend coverage Mike Patrick replaced Brent Musburger on play-by-play with Joe Theismann replacing Dick Vermeil as analyst. Fox televised the rest of the NFC games and Super Bowl XXXI (their first ever Super Bowl broadcast since becoming the NFC network in 1994). In the United States, ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, then NBC broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games. 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. The two winning teams from each conference's divisional playoff games then meet in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosted the worst-remaining seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed played the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosted the sixth seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosted the fifth. The NFL did not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there were no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. The three division winners were seeded 1–3 based on the overall won-lost-tied record, and the three wild card teams were seeded 4–6. Within each conference, the three division winners and the three non-division winners with the best overall regular season records qualified for the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, each in just their second year of existence, not only qualified for the playoffs for the first time, but they also both advanced to their respective conference championship games. The postseason tournament concluded with the Green Bay Packers defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, 35–21, on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The National Football League playoffs for the 1996 season began on December 28, 1996.
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