Baker Mayfield leads the Eagles-Buccaneers in turquoise.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were easily defeated by the Buffalo Bills, who won 31–17 to go to the AFC divisional round.
Buffalo rushed for 179 yards, including 79 yards from James Cook on the ground, marking their highest total in a playoff game since December 30, 1995.Josh Allen added 74 yards of additional rushing, which included a touchdown run of 52 yards. In addition, he completed 203 passes for three touchdowns.In addition to two touchdowns and two throwing yards, Mason Rudolph also had one interception.
It was C.J. Stroud’s first career playoff start, throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns. ESPN Stats & Information states that he is the youngest starting quarterback to win a postseason game since 1950.Devin Singletary added a touchdown and 66 yards on the ground.
In the third quarter, the Texans’ defense forced two pick-sixes from Joe Flacco, giving them a 38-14 lead. Flacco made NFL postseason history by being the sixth person to throw multiple pick-sixes in a single playoff game.
As if the victory on the pitch wasn’t enough, Houston made two social media jokes about Cleveland.
The Dolphins were limited to 264 total yards and seven scores by the Chiefs’ defense. The league’s top offensive player and Miami are now tied for the second-fewest points in a postseason match.
Rookie Rashee Rice led Kansas City with eight receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown, while quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed his pass play for 262 yards and a touchdown.Tua Tagovailoa got a touchdown and an interception in addition to his third-lowest throwing yardage total of the season (199). Tyreek Hill has five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown in his return to Kansas City.
The Green Bay Packers became the first No. 7 seed to win an NFL playoff game when they upset the Dallas Cowboys 48-32 away from home. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Dallas is the only top-two seed to miss out on the divisional round since seeding started in 1975.
The Detroit Lions won their first home playoff game since 1992, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 24–23.
2020 saw the trade of two quarterbacks: Matthew Stafford finished with 367 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Jared Goff finished with 277 yards and one score. Both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for scores for the Lions.Amon-Ra St. Brown contributed 110 yards and seven receptions.According to ESPN Stats & Information, Puka Nacua recorded nine receptions for 181 yards, which is the greatest receiving yards by a rookie in NFL postseason history.
The Los Angeles Rams captioned a video of Stafford leading his teammates onto the field before kickoff, “Whose House,” alluding to the team’s SoFi Stadium in-house slogan. After the game, Detroit responded pettyly to that query while also pulling a “Breaking Bad” joke on actor and Los Angeles fan Bryan Cranston.
after defeating the Eagles, the Lions will follow
TAMPA, Florida The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 on Monday night at Raymond James Stadium to guarantee that a new NFC representative would be playing in the Super Bowl.
Baker Mayfield and Tom Brady are the only quarterbacks in Buccaneers history to have passed for 300 yards or more in a postseason game, having done it three times each.
The following lists the main plots for both:
ams in the game on Monday
Tampa Bay Eagles
Baker Mayfield, the quarterback for the Bucs, was playing in his third career playoff game. He passed for three touchdowns, measuring 56, 44, and 23 yards. Coach Todd Bowles’ defense highlighted a strong effort with an outside linebacker named Anthony Nelson’s safety in the third quarter.
This rematch took place in Week 3, when the Eagles defeated the Bucs for the first time this year. However, the Bucs were excellent on both sides of the ball this time around, enjoying home-field advantage after securing the No. 4 seed and winning the NFC South during the regular season.
The defense kept the Eagles to 275 yards while Mayfield, despite rib and ankle issues, completed 22 of 36 passes for 337 yards and no interceptions. After being gashed by the Bucs for 201 yards the previous game, the defense restricted the Eagles to 41 rushing yards, had six quarterback hits, and sacked quarterback Josh Lansing three times.
Leaving the field is a promising trend. The Eagles were 0-for-9 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth. Inside linebacker K.J. Britt stopped a quarterback sneak on the subsequent 2-point conversion attempt from the 1-yard line after Zach McCollum was called for an offside penalty on the extra point attempt, even though the team gave up a 55-yard pass to DeVonta Smith, which set up a 5-yard touchdown pass by Hurts. Hurts needed one yard or fewer to enter the game, and he was 34-of-37 on the tush.
Purchase during a breakthrough show:With 5:59 remaining in the first quarter, Mayfield found a wide-open David Moore on a crossing route, which resulted in a 44-yard score. Moore finished with two catches for 66 yards during the game. It was his second catch of the first half. Moore finished the regular season with just 94 yards, but he did so with a 52-yard touchdown reception to seal the Bucs’ victory over the Green Bay Packers in Week 15.
Disturbing trend: The offense appeared to be much more in rhythm than it had over the final two weeks of the regular season, but they were beset by drops. In only the first half, there were six, including three from tight end Cade Otton, one from wide receiver Mike Evans, and one each from running backs Chase Edmonds and Rachaad White.Jenna Laine
Next game: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC, away against the Lions
Eagles of Philadelphia
Now that the Eagles’ fall is over, the difficult part will be determining how to proceed as a team. The Eagles’ wild-card playoff loss to the Bucs on Monday was marred by the same problems that beset them late in the season: shoddy tackling, weak defensive coverage in the middle of the field, and patchy offensive performance.
After starting the season with a 10-1 record, they were outmatched by the 9-8 Bucs and ended up with six losses in seven games.
Since the Minnesota Vikings lost the 1974 season and advanced to the championship game, no NFC club has made it back to the Super Bowl. However, given how drastically this franchise has declined, CEO Jeffrey Lurie and Eagles officials should look into this further.
He needs to determine whether the finger-pointing that started nearly as soon as the team lost was a normal reaction from a talented locker room that was disappointed with their performance in the face of great expectations, or if there was a deeper issue. In order to lead the team back to the top of the standings and put quarterback Josh Lansing back on an MVP trajectory, Lurie will need to decide whether coach Nick Sirianni is the best choice.
For the Eagles, a crucial offseason has begun.
Crucial play: Late in the third quarter, with a third-and-6 close to his own goal line, Hurts slid into the end zone and was tackled by linebacker Anthony Nelson. Hurts lost the ball at the last second, but he was called for purposeful grounding, which led to a safety. After that, the Bucs led 18-9, and Tampa added a touchdown to help secure the victory on the next play.
The coaching staff went into the game with the intention of playing with physicality and relying on the strength of their team and the offensive and defensive lines. This was the biggest weakness in the game plan. Running the ball is “vital” and essential to winning the game, according to left tackle Jordan Mailata. However, Philadelphia only ran it three more times in the first half, for a total of five carries for 17 yards, after scoring two touchdowns to start the game. This season, it was their second-fewest half in terms of running attempts. In the Eagles’ Week 3 game against the Buccaneers, they gained 201 yards through the air.
A positive trend: DeVonta Smith (who recorded 100 receiving yards in Super Bowl LVII) is the first Eagles player in history to earn 100 receiving yards in consecutive postseason games. Smith joins Keith Jackson and Fred Barnett as the only other players in Eagles history to have multiple postseason receiving games of 100 yards. The Eagles’ lone first-half touchdown was set up by a 55-yard reception he made late in the second quarter.Tim McManu
Bill Belichick is interviewed by the Atlanta Falcons to be their head coach.
The coach responsible for the most agonizing defeat in the team’s history has received formal interest from the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons stated on Monday that they had spoken with Bill Belichick, the former coach of the New England Patriots, for their head coaching position. This is the first known interview that Belichick has had since he and the Patriots split company last week.
Belichick, 71, has coached for 29 seasons—24 in New England and five in Cleveland—with the Patriots, amassing a 302-165 record and six Super Bowl trophies. Against the Falcons, one of those Super Bowl triumphs occurred when New England overcame a 28-3 deficit to win 34-28 in overtime during Super Bowl LI.
Following Arthur Smith’s firing as Atlanta’s coach after three seasons, the team held a comprehensive press conference with CEO Rich McKay and owner Arthur Blank last Monday.
