The NFL Divisional Round offered plenty of action, even though the home team won three of four games.
After a season rife with upsets and dramatic efforts to overcome long odds, just four teams remain in competition for the Lombardi Trophy and the opportunity to join the ranks of Super Bowl winners.
The Kansas City Chiefs handled the Jacksonville Jaguars despite seeing star quarterback Patrick Mahomes go down with a lower leg injury in the second quarter that severely impacted the ability of the Chiefs to take advantage of his outstanding athleticism.
The Chiefs managed a 27-20 win, with Mahomes completing 22-of-30 passes for two touchdowns while avoiding costly turnovers. The injury to Mahomes will likely impact the game plan for Kansas City as they move on to the AFC Championship game.
The Chiefs will face the Cincinnati Bengals for all the marbles in the AFC. This is the second consecutive season that the Bengals have advanced to the title game and are facing the Chiefs in a rematch of last season’s epic finish.
The Bengals went into Buffalo to face the Bills in the snow and were able to consistently harass Bills quarterback Josh Allen en route to a 27-10 win. The Bengals prevented Allen from scoring a touchdown while intercepting him once in a critical play that set the tone for the remainder of the game.
In the NFC, the New York Giants hoped to continue their remarkable 2022 season with a massive matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles stymied any hope that Big Blue had of overcoming long odds to earn a berth in the Championship.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts had two touchdowns against no interceptions, and the Eagles’ defense turned the game one-dimensional by opening a big lead and forcing New York to go away from the run game, which had been the strength of this offense. Philly won 38-7 in the biggest blowout of the weekend.
Philadelphia advances to the NFC Championship and will face the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers faced a tough Dallas Cowboys team in the weekend’s final game, which quickly devolved into a contest to determine which defense was stronger.
Nick Bosa, a 49ers’ defensive end, caused the Dallas offense fits throughout the game, and his efforts were a key part of quarterback Dak Prescott’s two interceptions. For the second straight season, the 49ers spoiled any chance of the Cowboys getting back into the winner’s circle, and the team will now face yet another long offseason of work ahead of the 2023 season.
The Eagles will host the 49ers in Philadelphia on Sunday to determine who will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia and San Francisco have been the two top-rated teams throughout the season, and it is only fitting that it will all come down to a head-to-head between these two dynamic teams. San Francisco and Philadelphia will play at 2:00 p.m. CST on January 29.
The Kansas City Chiefs earned the right to host Cincinnati for the AFC Championship, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. CST on January 29 to finally conclude the 2022-23 NFL Playoffs and establish which AFC team will compete on the biggest stage in professional football.
