Editing Super Bowl XXVII (section)

===Playoffs===
{{see also|1992–93 NFL playoffs}}

The Cowboys easily defeated their first playoff opponent, the [[1992 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles]], 34–10. Dallas' defense held the Eagles to only 178 offensive yards and sacked quarterback [[Randall Cunningham]] five times. Meanwhile, the Cowboys recorded 160 rushing yards and 185 passing yards. Aikman completed 15 of 25 passes and 2 touchdowns, while Smith ran for 114 yards and a touchdown.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Divisional Round - Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys - January 10th, 1993 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301100dal.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>

Dallas then defeated the [[1992 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] 30–20 in the NFC Championship Game at [[Candlestick Park]]. This was the first time that the two teams met in the NFC Championship since the 49ers narrowly beat the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC Championship Game on [[Joe Montana]]'s late touchdown pass to [[Dwight Clark]] known as "[[The Catch (American football)|The Catch]]". The 49ers came into the game with the league's best regular season record at 14–2 and led the league in scoring with 431 points. But in this game, the Cowboys built a 24–13 lead going into the fourth quarter, as Aikman capped a nine-minute drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Smith. However, [[Steve Young]]'s 5-yard touchdown pass to [[Jerry Rice]] cut the lead to 24–20 with 4:22 left in the game. But instead of trying to run out the clock with a running play, the Cowboys called a pass play: 896 F Flat, with a post on one side and a curl on the other. Irvin switched places in the formation with Harper to catch the curl since Aikman had thrown there twice before, but Aikman threw to Harper on the post when the 49ers showed blitz and Harper caught it and turned it into a 70-yard gain to the 49ers 10-yard line. Three plays later, Aikman threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver [[Kelvin Martin (American football)|Kelvin Martin]] to clinch the victory (the extra point was blocked). Aikman finished with 332 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, with no interceptions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NFC Championship - Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers - January 17th, 1993 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301170sfo.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |title=America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions - 1992 Dallas Cowboys |type=Documentary film |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyKIsbXztQg |publisher=NFL Films |access-date=December 15, 2024 |date=January 31, 2007 |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

The Bills first defeated the [[1992 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers]] 41–38 in overtime, overcoming a 32-point deficit<ref>{{cite news|last=Moran|first=Malcolm|title=PRO FOOTBALL: Bills and Eagles Turn Mountains Into Molehill; Philadelphia Blitzes Saints|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/04/sports/pro-football-bills-eagles-turn-mountains-into-molehill-philadelphia-blitzes.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 4, 1993|access-date=December 6, 2016}}</ref> in what became known as "[[The Comeback (American football)|The Comeback]]".  Playing without Kelly or Bennett in the lineup, nothing seemed to go right for the Bills in the first half. The Bills' offense could only score a single field goal, while their defense played even worse, as Oilers quarterback [[Warren Moon]] passed for 222 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Houston jumped to a 28–3 halftime lead. The disaster only seemed to get worse in the second half, as Thomas was knocked out of the game with a hip injury, while backup quarterback [[Frank Reich]]'s first pass of the second half was intercepted by [[Bubba McDowell]] and returned 58 yards for a touchdown, making the score 35–3. However, the Bills suddenly stormed back to score five unanswered touchdowns to overcome the seemingly insurmountable deficit. First, [[Kenneth Davis (American football)|Kenneth Davis]] scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Then Buffalo recovered an onside kick and immediately scored again on Reich's 36-yard touchdown pass to [[Don Beebe]]. Reich then threw touchdowns of 26 and 18 yards to [[Andre Reed]]. In the fourth quarter, Reich hit Reed with a 17-yard score to give the Bills a 38–35 lead. The Oilers kicked a field goal late in the game to send it into overtime, but [[Nate Odomes]]' interception in the extra period set up kicker [[Steve Christie]]'s game-winning field goal to give the Bills the biggest comeback win in NFL history at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wild Card - Houston Oilers at Buffalo Bills - January 3rd, 1993 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301030buf.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> The record was surpassed by the Minnesota Vikings' erasure of a 33-point deficit in their 39–36 routing of the Indianapolis Colts during week 15 of the 2022 NFL regular season, but the Buffalo victory remains the largest comeback win in NFL playoff history.<ref name="PHOF">{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/greatest-comebacks-in-nfl-history/#postseason |title=Greatest Comebacks in NFL History | publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame |access-date=July 12, 2016 | quote=Buffalo Bills-From 32 points behind to win}}</ref>

Buffalo then recorded a 24–3 win on the road against the [[1992 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]], the [[AFC North|AFC Central]] champions with the AFC's best regular season record at 11–5. Although [[Jim Kelly]] and [[Thurman Thomas]] had not recovered enough to play in this game, Reich threw for 160 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions, while Davis rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, the defense redeemed themselves after giving up 38 points against the Oilers by holding the Steelers to only a field goal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Divisional Round - Buffalo Bills at Pittsburgh Steelers - January 9th, 1993 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301090pit.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref>

The Bills then defeated the [[1992 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] 29–10 in the AFC Championship Game.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFC Championship - Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins - January 17th, 1993 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199301170mia.htm |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |language=en}}</ref> The Dolphins were coming off a 31–0 blowout playoff win over the [[1992 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]]. But Buffalo's defense dominated the Dolphins' offense, intercepting quarterback [[Dan Marino]] twice, recovering three fumbles, and limiting Miami to just 33 rushing yards. Although Buffalo's offense had trouble scoring touchdowns because Kelly and Thomas were rusty coming back from their injuries, Christie scored five field goals to make up for the difference. Kelly did connect with Thomas on a screen pass for a 17-yard touchdown, and Davis ran it in from two yards out for another score. As a result, the Bills became the fourth [[wild card (sports)|wild-card]] team to advance to the Super Bowl.

This marked the first time since the [[AFL–NFL merger]] that the two Super Bowl teams each won their conference championship on the road, with Dallas winning in San Francisco and Buffalo in Miami. The only time  it happened prior to 1992 was in 1966 ([[Super Bowl I]]), when Kansas City won at Buffalo and Green Bay won at Dallas. This would happen again in 1997, with Green Bay winning in San Francisco and Denver in Pittsburgh; in 2012, with San Francisco winning in Atlanta and Baltimore in New England; and in 2018, with the Los Angeles Rams winning in New Orleans and New England in Kansas City.