1. 1973 Miami Dolphins 15-2 Super Bowl Champions
2. 1969 Minnesota Vikings 14-3 NFL Champs
3. 1955 Cleveland Browns 9-2-1 NFL Champions
4. 1987 San Francisco 49ers 13-3 NFC West Champs
5. 1963 Green Bay Packers 11-2-1 2nd NFL West
6. 2000 Baltimore Ravens 16-4 Super Bowl Champions
7. 2022 Kansas City Chiefs 17-3 Super Bowl Champions
8. 1990 Buffalo Bills 15-4 AFC Champs
9. 2012 Denver Broncos 13-3 AFC West Champs
10. 1965 Baltimore Colts 10-4-1 NFL West Champs
11. 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-5 NFC South Champs
12. 1980 Dallas Cowboys 14-5 2nd NFC East
13. 2019 New England Patriots 12-5 AFC East Champs
14. 1975 Oakland Raiders 12-4 AFC West Champs
15. 1953 Los Angeles Rams 8-3-1 3rd NFL West
16. 1992 New Orleans Saints 12-5 2nd NFC West
1. 1973 DOLPHINS 47 16. 1992 SAINTS 0
-Region 9 kicks off with the biggest blowout of the tournament to date, the '73 Dolphins serve notice to the rest of the field with 37 first half points. 26 year old Mercury Morris rushes for 122 yards and 3 scores. Jake Scott took a punt back 73 yards for a score. Dick Anderson intercepted Bobby Hebert twice.
9. 2012 BRONCOS 17 8. 1990 BILLS 16
-Denver led 14-3 in the third qtr after a Chris Harris pick 6, but a 53 yard TD run by Thurman Thomas and a 56 yard Jim Kelly to Andre Reed hookup made it 16-14 midway through the 4th, crucially, as it turned out, Scott Norwood missed a PAT - and when Matt Prater hit a 44 yarder with 4 minutes to play, it was Denver who advanced. 2 sack game for Bruce Smith in the loss.
5. 1963 PACKERS 28 12. 1980 COWBOYS 16
-123 yards rushing and a score for 28 year old Jim Taylor; 110 yards from scrimmage and 2 scores for Tom Moore. 2 sack day for 29 year old Willie Davis.
4. 1987 49ERS 36 13. 2019 PATRIOTS 33
-Montana vs. Brady; the Patriots led 30-7 midway through the 3rd qtr, a 42 year old Tom Brady had thrown 2 TD passes. The 49ers then score 26 consecutive points - Joe Cribbs has a 23 yard TD run, 31 year old Montana hits 25 year old Jerry Rice with a 15 yard score that was coupled with a 2 pt coversion, Ray Wersching hit a 37 yard FG to make it 30-25 Pats and with less than 2 minutes to play Tom Rathman ran in a 2 yard TD and then converted the 2 pt conversion and the 49ers had come all the way back to take a 3 point lead - Brady then drove the Pats down for a Nick Folk 49 yard FG as the clock hit :00. New England never got the ball in OT, Montana leading the Niners down the field- Wersching hits the 30 yard FG and San Francisco advances.
6. 2000 RAVENS 22 11. 2021 BUCS 16
-An OT win for the Super Bowl Champion Ravens; Baltimore had a 16-6 lead with under 6 minutes left, Tampa just unable to move the ball at all, but here, Tom Brady throws a 45 yard TD pass to Cyril Grayson to make it 16-13 with under 4 to play - they get the ball back at their own 7 yard line with a minute to play - Brady hits Mike Evans for a 50 yard bomb to set up a Ryan Succcup 43 yard FG at :00 (just as he did against the Niners with his Patriots team two years prior) but in OT the Ravens just rammed it down Tampa's throat, only one pass attempt on a game winning TD drive that ended in a Priest Holmes 11 yard score. 123 yards on the ground and a score for Jamal Lewis.
3. 1955 BROWNS 16 14. 1975 RAIDERS 10
-Region 9 really playing according to seed in round 1; Oakland had a 10-3 halftime lead, Otto Graham 9 yards to Dante Lavelli tied it in the middle of the 3rd and a couple of Lou Groza FGs provided the final score. The Raiders reached the Cleveland 33 yard line with 5 minutes to play, but couldn't advance. Chuck Noll had a pick for the Browns.
7. 2022 CHIEFS 27 10. 1965 COLTS 24
-27 year old Patrick Mahomes finds Marquez Valdes Scantling with a 24 yard TD strike with 4 seconds to play and the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs advance. 7 catches for 117 yards for 33 year old Travis Kelce. 350 yards passing for Mahomes.
2. 1969 VIKINGS 26 15. 1953 RAMS 7
-Minnesota scored the last 26 points, 16 in the 4th qtr, to advance. 105 rushing and 2 scores for Dave Osborn. A two sack day for Gary Larsen. This is the region where seeding held the most in round 1, only the 9/8 game being a nominal upset.
Region 2
'73 Dolphins v. '12 Broncos
'87 Niners v. '63 Packers
'55 Browns v. '00 Ravens
'69 Vikings v. '22 Chiefs
'12 BRONCOS 21 '73 DOLPHINS 14
-The Super Bowl Champion Dolphins jumped out to a 14-0 lead on TD runs by Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick - a Willis McGahee TD run cut the deficit in half, it was 14-10 Dolphins heading to the 4th quarter and 14-13 Miami when Garo Yepremien's 48 yard FG attempt hit the upright and Denver took possession at their own 38 with a little more than 6 minutes left. 8 plays and 4 minutes later, McGahee was back in the end zone, a 2 pt conversion providing the final tally. 2 sack game for 23 year old Von Miller.
'87 49ERS 12 '63 PACKERS 7
-San Francisco trailed 7-6 with less than 3 minutes to play when Dana McLemore returned a punt 37 yards to the Packer 31. 90 seconds later 31 year old Joe Montana found Russ Francis for a 20 yard score, the Niners failed on a 2 pt conversion; the final Packer drive ended when Tim McKyer intercepted
'00 RAVENS 10 '55 BROWNS 6
-New Browns beat the old Browns, the Super Bowl Champion Ravens moving to the Region 9 semi. Trent Dilfer got pulled late, Tony Banks screen pass to Priest Holmes turns into a 56 yard score for the game's only TD. 12 combined first downs in this one. Rob Burnett 2 sack game for the Ravens.
'69 VIKINGS 17 '22 CHIEFS 14
-Fred Cox hit a 27 yard FG with 12 seconds left to send the '69 Vikings into the regional semi. Roy Winston had a two sack game, 2 TD passes for Patrick Mahomes in the loss.
Regional Semi
'87 49ers v. '12 Broncos
'69 Vikings v. '00 Ravens
'87 49ERS 35 '12 BRONCOS 31
-Joe Montana beats Peyton Manning and the Niners head to the region 9 final. The Niners had a 28-14 third quarter lead, but when Manning hit Eric Decker with 2 4th qtr TD strikes it was 31-28 Broncos at the 2 minute warning. Montana drove the Niners 75 yards in 6 plays, with 23 seconds left - Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone for the game winning score. 25 year old Jerry Rice had 6 catches for 116 yards and a score. 4 TD passes for Montana, 3 for Manning.
'69 VIKINGS 6 '00 RAVENS 0
-Minnesota intercepts Trent Dilfer 4 times, 2 from Bobby Bryant, and sacks him 4 times, two from Carl Eller, the Vikings only make 9 first downs but they manage to advance.
Regional Final
2. 1969 VIKINGS v. 4. 1987 49ERS
-The 2006 Patriots, winners of Region 8, await the winners of Region 9. Bud Grant coaches the Vikes, seeded second in the region; 12-2, beat the Browns to win the last pre-merger NFL Title before losing the Super Bowl to the Chiefs. 1st in offense, 1st in defense. Mick Tingelhoff and Carl Eller are both 1st team All pros, they're both in the Hall of Fame along with Alan Page and Ron Yary.
-Bill Walsh is the HC in San Francisco; the Niners went 13-2, won the NFC West, got bounced by the Vikings in a huge wild card upset. 1st in offense, 3rd in defense. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Michael Carter, Ronnie Lott are all first team All Pros, other than Carter they are all Hall of Famers as are Charles Haley and Steve Young.
We're headed to the frozen Minnesota tundra for the Region 9 Final.
'87 49ERS 10 '69 VIKINGS 7
-The 49ers join the Patriots with their second Regional Champ - and those two franchises face off in the sweet 16, the '87 Niners against the '06 Pats. 162 yards from scrimmage and a score for 27 year old Roger Craig. 2 picks for Don Griffin, the Niners hold Joe Kapp to an 8-24 day.
