Eight have become four, and each team is now a win away from a trip to Las Vegas and Super Bowl 58. This is a recap of this weekend's four Divisional Round matchups.
AFC:
Both offenses got off to slow starts, though Baltimore's was more productive early. The teams traded first quarter field goals before Baltimore drove down and scored with a goal-line pass from Lamar Jackson to veteran Nelson Agholor. Houston couldn't respond offensively but forced a Baltimore punt that Steven Sims returned 67 yards for a game-tying touchdown. The teams entered halftime tied 10-10 after a missed Texans field goal.
The Texans couldn't get anything going after halftime, while Lamar tallied another passing touchdowns and two rushing scores. Penalties repeatedly killed the Texans' momentum, which was already damaged by the Ravens' overpowering defense. The Ravens dominated in the trenches, blitzing effectively and totally containing the run. Lamar had the same kind of performance that elevated him to the top of this year's MVP rankings. They'll play at home next week against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
The Bills started with the ball and drove shakily into the red zone on a drive with fumble scares, tackles for loss and a batted pass. They finished a seven-minute opening drive with a field goal. The Chiefs responded with a field goal of their own. Buoyed by an effective run game, the Bills again drove down the field. Josh Allen capped the drive with a 15 yard rushing score early in the second quarter. Patrick Mahomes responded with a red zone drive but overthrew two end zone throws and had to settle for another field goal and a 10-6 deficit. The Bills punted on their next position, and the Chiefs finally got into the endzone. Mahomes hit star TE Travis Kelce for a 22-yard touchdown to make the score 13-10 Chiefs with three and a half minutes left. Allen responded by driving his team down the field and running for another touchdown with 26 seconds left, securing a 17-13 Bills lead going into halftime.
Kansas City exploded into the second half with a rapid touchdown drive. It took the Chiefs six plays to reach the end zone, ultimately getting in via a three-yard screen pass to Kelce. The Bills responded with an extremely time-consuming 15-play drive that took more than eight minutes off the clock. Allen ended the drive by rolling to his left and firing a precise dart to Khalil Shakir at the front pylon. It was the first touchdown of the year allowed by covering cornerback L'Jarius Sneed. The Chiefs followed with an eight-play surge that ended with an Isiah Pacheco touchdown run. The score was now 27-24 Chiefs after five straight lead changes. The Chiefs then forced a three-and-out that became a turnover on downs after a failed fake punt that saw Damar Hamlin tackled short of the first down. The Chiefs seemed primed to take a ten-point lead before Buffalo's Jordan Poyer forced a fumble on Kansas City's Mecole Hardman as he approached the goal line. The ball went out of bounds through the end zone for a touchback. The Bills would again be shut down on offense and forced to punt immediately, but would get the ball back following a Chiefs punt. The Bills drove all the way to the Kansas City 26 with 1:47 left, where Tyler Bass attempted a 43-yard field goal. It initially appeared to be going in before bending sharply to the right and going wide. Isiah Pacheco ran for a first down as the Chiefs drained the clock and escaped Buffalo with a win. Mahomes and the Chiefs are headed to their sixth AFC Championship game in a row when they visit the Baltimore Ravens next weekend.
NFC:
This game was much closer than many people would have predicted. Both offenses struggled to move the ball in the first quarter. Green Bay's offense was slightly more potent, scoring the quarter's only points with a field goal. The Packers started the second quarter in the red zone, but Jordan Love's fourth-and-one tush push was ruled short. It was challenged and the ruling was upheld, although somewhat controversially. The 49ers' offense responded with a long drive that was capped off by a 32-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle. Jordan Love made some clutch throws on the Packers' next drive but again failed to progress in the red zone. They settled for a field goal and a 6-7 49ers lead. San Francisco tried a 48-yard field goal 10 seconds before halftime, but Green Bay's Colby Wooden blocked the kick.
The Packers forced a three-and-out on defense to open the half and followed up with a Jordan Love touchdown pass to take the lead at 13-7. Christian McCaffrey responded with a 39-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-13. The Packers returned the ensuing kickoff to 75 yards before fumbling and recovering the ball at the 20. Jordan Love passed for a touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 21-14 Packers, a third lead change of the third quarter. They got the ball back but a pass to Tucker Kraft was tipped and picked by Dre Greenlaw. The 49ers capitalized with a field goal. The Packers attempted to answer with a field goal of their own, but rookie kicker Anders Carlson barely missed. The 49ers capitalized again, draining the clock and scoring via McCaffrey with 1:07 left on the clock. The score was 24-21 49ers and the stage was set for Love to pull off a classic Aaron Rodgers-style game-winning drive. With 52 seconds left, Love rolled out and threw across his body into a crowd of 49ers defenders. Greenlaw intercepted it again to secure a victory for
San Francisco. Despite a poor last throw, Love played great for most of the game and will likely get a massive contract extension this offseason. Brock Purdy came up clutch when it mattered, and he'll now look forward to an NFC Championship matchup at home against the Detroit Lions.
Another playoff game, another slow start. The Lions' offense went three-and-out but their defense responded with a sack and an interception. Detroit scored a field goal and the Buccaneers responded with one of their own. Detroit's Jared Goff hit Josh Reynolds for a score early in the second, and Tampa's Baker Mayfield found Cade Otton to equalize with ten seconds remaining. Despite Tampa Bay holding a statistical edge at the half, Detroit stayed even on the scoreboard by avoiding both penalties and turnovers.
The teams traded touchdowns late in the third quarter, but the Lions kept pushing. Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown scored touchdowns on their next two drives, extending the Lions lead to 31-17 with 6:22 left. The Lions defense continued to pressure Mayfield, but he rallied, converting on fourth and 14 with a 25 yard throw to Pro Bowler Mike Evans that got the Bucs across midfield. Mayfield delivered two more surgical strikes in a row to David Moore and Chris Godwin, driving the team into the red zone. With 4:41 left, Mayfield threw a strike to Mike Evans for the touchdown, but the two failed to connect on a two-point conversion. The Lions got the ball back up 31-23 and drove across midfield before punting at the two minute warning. The Bucs were given 1:59 and one timeout, and needed to 90 yards, score a touchdown and then get the two-point conversion. However, two plays into the drive, Mayfield threw an interception to linebacker Derrick Barnes that sealed another Detroit victory. The Lions will travel to San Francisco next week to challenge the #1 49ers for a trip to the Super Bowl.
Resulting Championship Games:
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