In 1996, division winners in the AFC were New England in the East, Pittsburgh in the Central, and Denver in the West, with the Wild-Cards going to Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville. In the NFC, it was Dallas in the East, Green Bay in the Central and Carolina in the West, with the Wild-Cards going to Philadelphia, Minnesota, and San Francisco. In the AFC Wild-Card Playoffs, the Jaguars would win their first playoff game in only their second season in the NFL, with a 30-27 win over the Bills. In the other AFC game, the Steelers would roll over the Colts 42-14. In the NFC, the Cowboys would crush the Vikings 40-15, while the 49ers would shut out the Eagles 14-0. In the AFC Divisional Playoffs, the Jaguars would continue their winning ways with another 30-27 victory, this time over the Broncos. In the other AFC game, the Patriots would roll over the Steelers 28-3. In the NFC, the Panthers would duplicate the Jaguars feat by winning their first playoff game in their second season in the NFL, a 26-17 win over the Cowboys. In the other NFC game, the Packers had no trouble with the 49ers 35-14. In the conference championship games, the Patriots would ruin
the Jaguars season with a 20-6 win, while the Packers would roll over the Panthers 30-13, setting up the match-ups for Super Bowl XXXI. The Packers defeated the Patriots by the score of 35–21, earning their third overall Super Bowl victory, and their first since Super Bowl II. The game was played on January 26, 1997 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. The game began with the teams combining for a total of 24 1st-quarter points, the most in Super Bowl history. The Packers then scored 17 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter, including Favre's Super Bowl record 81-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Antonio Freeman (this record was broken later, by Jake Delhomme and Muhsin Muhammad in Super Bowl XXXVIII). In the 3rd quarter, the Patriots cut the lead to 27–21 off of running back Curtis Martin's 18-yard rushing touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Desmond Howard returned the ball a then-Super Bowl record 99 yards for a touchdown. The score proved to be the last one, as both defenses took over the rest of the game. Howard became the first special teams player ever to be named Super Bowl MVP. He had a total 154 kickoff return yards, and also recorded a Super Bowl record 90 punt return yards, thus tying the Super Bowl records of total return yards (244) and combined net yards gained (244).