NFL PLAYOFFS - Wild Card Round Recap

Two home teams won and two lost this weekend in the NFL Playoff Wild Card Round.
On Saturday, the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons won road games to advance while on Sunday the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints both won home games to move forward to the Divisional Round next week.






AFC WILD CARD GAMES

Tennessee Titans 22, Kansas City Chiefs 21 - The host Chiefs blew an 18-point halftime lead and fell to the Titans as running back Derrick Henry (156 rushing yards) scored a touchdown and then quarterback Marcus Mariota connected on a 22-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Eric Decker to provide the final margin.

The Chiefs stormed out to a big lead in the first quarter as QB Alex Smith hit tight end Travis Kelce on a 13-yard scoring pass and rookie RB Kareem Hunt scored on a one-yard run.  The lead was 21-3 at halftime, but from there the Titans defense slammed the door on Kansas City.
One unusual scoring play for the Titans occurred when Mariota (pictured left) tossed a pass that was deflected back to himself and he broke the plane of the end zone for the touchdown to cut the Kansas City lead to 21-10 midway through the third quarter.


Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3 - A throwback type of playoff game to the old days of running and defense took place in Jacksonville as the Jaguars topped the Bills behind solid defense that limited the Buffalo offense to 263 yards in total offense.
The only touchdown of the game came in the third quarter when Jags' QB Blake Bortles threw a one-yard scoring pass to tight end Ben Koyack. From there, it was defense on both sides of the field as Bortles actually ran (88 yards) for more yardage than he passed for (87 yards), which was only the third time in NFL playoff history that happened.


NFC WILD CARD GAMES

Atlanta Falcons 26, Los Angeles Rams 13 - The Falcons surprised the host Rams by bolting out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter as kicker Matt Bryant (four made field goals) hit a pair of kicks and RB Devonta Freeman scored on a three-yard run.
The Rams countered in the second quarter with a 14-yard scoring pass from QB Jared Goff to WR Cooper Kupp and then a 35-yard field goal at the end of the first half.
Bryant drilled a pair of field goals in the third quarter to give the Falcons a 19-10 lead entering the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Rams kicker Sam Ficken nailed a 35-yard field goal to trim the Atlanta lead to 19-13.
Atlanta QB Matt Ryan threw an eight-yard TD pass to WR Julio Jones (nine receptions for 94 yards) with 5:48 remaining in regulation to provide the final outcome.


New Orleans Saints 31, Carolina Panthers 26 -  The Saints rode the arm of QB Drew Brees (376 yards passing with two TD and one interception) to victory as they outlasted the visiting Panthers in the final wild card playoff game of the weekend.
Brees (pictured right) hooked up with WR Ted Ginn, Jr. on an 80-yard scoring play and later with tight end Josh Hill to help give the Saints a 21-9 halftime lead. Panthers kicker Graham Gano made three field goals in the first half to keep it close.
In the second half, the Panthers and Saints exchanged third quarter field goals before Carolina QB Cam Newton had two TD passes in the final quarter, a 14-yard strike to tight end Greg Olson and a 56-yard scoring pass to RB Christian McCaffrey that made it 31-26 with just over four minutes remaining.
The Saints took a huge gamble with two minutes left in the game by going for it on fourth down (two yards to go) from midfield. Brees' pass was intercepted and the Panthers then drove down the field before an intentional grounding penalty call against Newton set up a third-and-23 situation. Following an incompletion, Newton was sacked on fourth down and the Saints are now marching onto the Divisional Round next week.