NFL Playoffs - Divisional Round Review

The Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs both served notice they are the ones to beat in the AFC for the right to advance to the Super Bowl in Miami in three weeks.
Tennessee ambushed the vaunted Baltimore Ravens, 28-12 for the road win on Saturday night as running back Derrick Henry went off for the second consecutive week, rushing for 195 yards (on 30

Titans RB Derrick Henry dominated in win

carries) while also throwing for a three-yard score to Corey Davis in the third quarter to give the Titans a 21-6 lead.
The Titans also had two scoring passes and a one-yard scoring run from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who threw for less than 100 yards for the second straight playoff game while his team won the game. That feat hasn't been done since the 1974 season when the Pittsburgh Steelers did it en route to a Super Bowl title. The Miami Dolphins also did that in both of their Super Bowl winning seasons of 1972 and 1973.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson suffered through a miserable playoff game for the second straight year even though he put up big yardage numbers individually. Jackson was sacked four times and turned the football over three times (two interceptions and a fumble) while throwing for 365 yards and rushing for 143 yards in the loss.
The Titans controlled the game from the beginning and will advance to face the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday in Kansas City for the AFC championship.



Meanwhile, the Chiefs were a comedy of errors in the first quarter as they fell behind the Texans, 24-0 before storming back to take a 28-24 lead at the half as they went on to defeat the Texans, 51-31 and will host the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game next Sunday.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes had five TD passes

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (321 passing yards) had five touchdown passes in the rout with three of them going to tight end Travis Kelce, who had ten receptions for 134 yards.
The Chiefs amassed 434 yards in offense as they rattled off 41 unanswered points before Houston finally scored again late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to ten points at 41-31. From there, the Chiefs scored ten more points in the final quarter as they scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions to set a new NFL playoff record. In addition, the K.C. defense had five quarterback sacks, including three by defensive end Frank Clark, to help the big comeback.
Kansas City fumbled away a punt return (Tyreek Hill) which led to a Texans touchdown as QB Deshaun Watson threw his second scoring pass to make it 21-0. The Texans also blocked a punt for another score to help build the 24-point lead in the first quarter.
The Chiefs finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter when Mahomes hit running back Damien Williams (three touchdowns scored in the game) on a 17-yard scoring pass and then for whatever reason (with a 24-7 lead) on their next possession, the Texans tried a fake punt on 4th-and-three from their own 30-yard line which Kansas City stopped and that completely changed the momentum as Mahomes and company scored three more times to get the 28-24 halftime lead.



In the NFC games, the San Francisco 49ers dominated the visiting Minnesota Vikings, 27-10 on Saturday as their defense allowed just 147 total yards of offense while they sacked Vikings QB Kirk

49ers D had six sacks in big win.

Cousins six times and forced two turnovers.
San Francisco running back Tevin Coleman (105 rushing yards) scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and QB Jimmy Garoppolo had a scoring pass to lead the offense. Minnesota tied the game 7-7 when Cousins threw a 41-yard scoring pass to WR Stefon Diggs with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter.
After that, it was all 49ers as they rolled to the easy win. They advanced to their first NFC Championship Game in six years and will host the game next Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.



The game on Sunday evening saw the Green Bay Packers beat the visiting Seattle Seahawks, 28-23 as QB Aaron Rodgers (243 passing yards) and WR Devante Adams hooked up for two scoring passes. Adams caught eight passes for 160 yards along with the two scores and also made a big third down catch for first down late in the game as the Packers were able to run out the clock to secure the win.

Rodgers (right) and the Packers beat Russell and the Seahawks

The Packers raced out to a 21-3 halftime lead and were able to hold off the Seahawks, who made it close with a one-yard scoring run by Marshawn Lynch (two rushing TD in the game) with 9:37 left in the fourth quarter. Seattle had a chance to get the lead, but the Packers defense stiffened by sacking Seahawks QB Russell Wilson on a third down play with 3:22 remaining in the game.
Wilson passed for 277 yards and also rushed for 64 yards in the loss as the Packers will advance to the NFC title game for the first time in three seasons. Green Bay will travel to play the San Francisco 49ers, who back in November beat the Packers, 37-8. 




Saturday, January 11
San Francisco 27, Minnesota 10
Tennessee 28, Baltimore 12

Sunday, January 12
Kansas City 51, Houston 31
Green Bay 28, Seattle 23