NFL PLAYOFFS - Bengals, 49ers Advance To Conference Championship Games

The Bengals celebrate their playoff win against the Titans.

The Cincinnati Bengals continued their improbable run to playoff glory as they advanced to the AFC Championship Game by defeating the host Tennessee Titans, 19-16 thanks to a 52-yard field goal by kicker Evan McPherson as time expired. 

The kick was made possible by the third interception of the game thrown by Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation. The pick was made by Logan Wilson off a deflection by Cincy defensive back Eli Apple. From there, Cincinnati advanced the ball from their own 47-yard line to set up the winning kick on a clutch 19-yard completion from QB Joe Burrow (348 yards passing) to wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. 

The Titans had rallied back from a ten-point deficit (16-6) on a 34-yard field goal by Randy Bullock and then a 33-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to WR A.J. Brown with 22 seconds left in the third quarter. The Titans defense had come up with an interception to set up the game tying score. In addition, the Titans defense had nine sacks on Burrow in the loss.

The game was a 9-6 affair at the half thanks to three field goals from McPherson (including a 54-yarder) and Titans running back Derrick Henry (62 rushing yards) scoring on a three-yard run. It was Henry's first game action since suffering a broken foot on October 31. Tennessee's two-point attempt failed. Cincinnati made it 16-6 when RB Joe Mixon (54 yards rushing) scored on a 16-yard run midway through the third quarter. The Bengals will be in their first AFC Championship Game since the 1988 season when they travel to play the winner of the game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday evening. 

 

Meanwhile in Green Bay, the frosty weather  and swirling snow made for a bone chilling two-degree wind chill temperature in Lambeau Field as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Green Bay Packers, 13-10 on a Robbie Gould 45-yard field goal as time ran out to stun the football world. 

A blocked punt by 49ers player Jordan Willis and then the scoop and score from the Green Bay six-yard line by Talanoa Hufanga tied the game at 10-10 with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 'Niners special teams also blocked a field goal attempt by Packers kicker Mason Crosby as the first half ended, which saw the Packers holding a 7-0 lead thanks to a six-yard touchdown run by AJ Dillon on the first drive of the game. The 49ers defense had five sacks of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers while Green Bay sacked San Francisco QB Jimmy Garoppolo four times.

In the third quarter, Gould made a 29-yard field goal to cut the 49ers deficit to 7-3 before Green Bay got a 33-yard field goal by Crosby early in the fourth quarter to make it 10-3. That set the stage for all the craziness in the final five minutes of the game that sent the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game against either Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams next weekend.