A 24-day players' strike was called after Week 2. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were cancelled, reducing the 16-game season to 15, but the games for Weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players, after which the union voted to end the strike. Approximately 15% of the NFLPA's players chose to cross picket lines to play during the strike. The replacement players were mostly those left out of work by the recent folding of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes and the 1985 dissolution of the United States Football League, as well as others who had been preseason cuts or had long left professional football. The games played by these replacement players were regarded with even less legitimacy, but nonetheless were counted as regular NFL games. Division winners in the AFC were Indianapolis in the East, Cleveland in the Central, and Denver in the West, with the Wild-Cards going to Houston and Seattle. In the NFC, it was Washington in the East, Chicago in Central, and San Francisco in the West, with
the Wild-Cards going to Minnesota and New Orleans. In the Wild-Card games, it was Houston over Seattle 23-20 in overtime, and Minnesota 44-10 over New Orleans in the NFC. In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the Browns had little trouble with the Colts 38-21, while the Broncos had no trouble with the Oilers 34-10. In the NFC, the Vikings beat the 49ers 36-24, and the Redskins edged the Bears 21-17. In the conference championship games, the Broncos outlasted the Browns in a shootout 38-33, and the Redskins got by the Vikings 17-10, which sets up the match-ups for Super Bowl XXII. The Redskins defeated the Broncos by the score of 42–10, winning their second ever Super Bowl. The game was played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California, the first time that the Super Bowl was played in that city. After trailing 10–0 at the end of the first quarter of Super Bowl XXII, the Redskins scored 42
unanswered points, including a record-breaking 35 points in the second quarter, and setting several other Super Bowl records. Williams, who was named the Super Bowl MVP, completed 18 of 29 passes for a Super Bowl record 340 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. He also became the first player in Super Bowl history to pass for four touchdowns in a single quarter, and four in a half. The 10-point deficit remains the largest deficit overcome by a Super Bowl victor.