Only one week remains in our look back at the unexpected AFC title run in 1996, but before we discuss the Pittsburgh and Jacksonville games later this week, we’re going to take a step away from the AFC for a moment.

Today, we look back at what the NFC landscape looked like following the 1996 regular season. Of course New England would eventually see Green Bay in the Super Bowl, but it’s worth noting how they got there as well.

After winning a Super Bowl in 1995, Dallas finished the year 10-6, winning the division. Philadelphia also went 10-6 and finished as wild card. Green Bay was dominant with the best offense in the NFL, an MVP quarterback in Brett Favre and a legendary game disrupter Reggie White. The Packers finished 13-3, cruising to the NFC Central championship, finishing four games ahead of Minnesota and earning the No. 1 seed.

Carolina stunned the football world – as did Jacksonville – by winning the NFC West over Super Bowl contender San Fransicso just two years removed from winning a Super Bowl of their own. Both teams finished at 12-4, but it was the 49ers finishing as the Wild Card.

Wildcard weekend saw Dallas smoke Minnesota (40-15) while the 49ers won a low-scoring 14-0 game over Philadelphia. Those games set up an intriguing Divisional round, with the Packers hosting the 49ers in a TV network’s dream matchup, while the defending champs had to travel to Carolina.

The Panthers shocked the Cowboys, winning 26-17. In Green Bay, Favre and the Packers took care of business against Jerry Rice and the 49ers, winning 30-13 in pretty dominant fashion. The victory at Lambeau set up a matchup absolutely no one would have predicted at the beginning of the year, Green Bay and Carolina with a trip to New Orleans on the line.

We’ll take a deeper dive into that Packers squad one day this week, but Green Bay handled the Panthers, beating them by 14 (35-21) to earn a trip to the Super Bowl for the first time since the Vince Lombardi days.

As for the NFC awards that season, Favre was a runaway MVP while Simeon Rice was the NFL’s defensive Rookie of the Year. Dom Capers, a longtime coach in Green Bay’s organization – won the AP Coach of the Year award in 1996 for the job he did with the brand new Panthers’ franchise.

Day 20 is tomorrow and we’ve only got a few left in this trip down memory lane, don’t miss it!