One of the more exciting weekends of the NFL season is in the books, though it ended up being not so exciting for the Lions. Still, we are down to just four teams vying for the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. Let’s do a quick roundup of the four games from this weekend.
Chiefs defeat Texans, 23-14
Some of the penalties called in this games were quite rough and didn’t help cool off the conspiracy theories against the league and the Chiefs. Still, even the officials didn’t affect the Texans allowing quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked eight times, which certainly hurt a number of drives for Houston. They dug themselves too big of a hole that is almost impossible to climb out of in a playoff game at Arrowhead.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown, 117 of those yards and the touchdown to tight end Travis Kelce. The Chiefs won despite being out-gained on offense 336-212. Neither team committed a turnover.
The Chiefs advance to their 7th consecutive AFC Championship Game and their 6th in that span at home.
Commanders defeat Lions, 45-31
Not spending too much time on this one here since we’ve covered the game head to toe. Ultimately, five turnovers in a playoff game, including three Jared Goff interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) is incredibly hard to win with, especially when you don’t create a turnover of your own.
Washington heads to their first NFC Championship Game since the 1991 season, when they defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI. Could a rematch be in their future?
Eagles defeat Rams, 28-22
Saquon Barkley broke free for a 78-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, his second touchdown of the day of at least 60 yards, to seal the victory for the Eagles…it just took much longer to actually secure the win.
The Rams stormed down the field and scored just two minutes later to pull within 28-22, got the ball back and got into the end zone before Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter sacked Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (26-of-44 passing, 324 yards, two touchdowns) on third down and then the Eagles forced an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts went 15-of-20 for 128 yards and added 70 yards on the ground. Barkley finished with 205 yards and two scores on 26 carries.
The Eagles will host the Commanders in the NFC Championship on Sunday. The division rivals split their season series but are meeting for the just the second time ever in the playoffs, the other came in the 1990 postseason, which Washington won 20-6. This is the first NFC Championship Game featuring a pair of NFC East teams since the Giants defeated Washington to win the 1986-87 NFC title.
Bills defeat Ravens, 27-25
You feel sick for Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, unless you’re a Bills fan. Andrews had the game-tying two-point conversion in his hands and let it slip away. Baltimore did not secure the ensuing onside kick and it goes down as another disappointing playoff exit for likely NFL MVP Lamar Jackson (18-of-25, 254 yards, two touchdowns, one interception).
Bills quarterback and likely NFL MVP runner-up Josh Allen went 16-of-22 for 127 yards and rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Bills to their second AFC Championship Game appearance in five seasons. Just like after the 2020 season, the Bills will head to Kansas City as they look to dethrone the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions.
