The National Football League playoffs for the 1996 season began on December 28, 1996. 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 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.

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 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. 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. 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 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. 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 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. 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.

In the United States, ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games, then NBC broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games. 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).

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. 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.

at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

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. 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.

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. 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. Buffalo stormed right back with a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Thomas' 2-yard touchdown run, making the score 14–7. However, Jacksonville running back Natrone Means's 62-yard carry on their next drive moved the ball to the Bills' 5-yard line. The drive stalled there, but Mike Hollis kicked a 27-yard field goal to make the score 14–10 at the end of the first quarter.