First Round Complete in NFL Playoffs

The first round of the NFL Playoffs went down with some close, exciting games. We will have two new teams in the Super Bowl, as the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t make the post season, and the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles were eliminated in the opening round.

In the NFC, the fifth seeded Los Angeles Rams scored a touchdown on a Matthew Stafford to Colby Parkinson pass with 38 seconds left to beat the #4 Carolina Panthers 34-31. In Philadelphia, Christian McCaffrey scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to lead the #6 San Francisco 49ers to a 23-19 comeback victory over the Eagles to eliminate the defending champs. In Chicago, the #2 seeded Bears rallied to score 25 points in the fourth quarter to beat the #7 Green Bay Packers 31-27. Afterwards, Bears coach Ben Johnson sort of shook hands with Packers coach Matt LaFleur before going on an F bomb laced rant about how much he hates the Packers. Stay classy, Ben.

The Bears will host the Rams in Round 2. The teams did not play each other during the regular season. The #1 seeded Seattle Seahawks are coming off a first round bye and will host San Francisco. The NFL West rivals split their two games in the regular season.

Here’s a link to the Rams Panthers highlights

In the AFC, Josh Allen scored a touchdown with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter to lead the sixth seeded Buffalo Bills to a 27-24 victory over the #3 Jaguars in Jacksonville. It was the first road playoff win for the Bills since beating the Dolphins in Miami in the AFC Championship in 1992, breaking a streak of eight road playoff losses. In Foxboro, Massachusetts, Andy Borregales kicked three field goals and Drake Maye threw a fourth quarter touchdown pass to Hunter Henry as the second seeded New England Patriots beat the #7 Los Angeles Chargers 16-3. It was New England’s first playoff victory since winning Super Bowl LIII after the 2018 season.

And in Pittsburgh, the #5 Houston Texans led the #4 Steelers 7-6 after three quarters before the Texans blew it open in the fourth, scoring 23 points and winning 30-6. If this is Pittsburgh QB Aaron Rodgers’ last game, it was memorable for the wrong reasons. Rodgers completed 17 of 33 passes for 146 yards and no touchdowns, with one interception that was returned for a Houston touchdown. Rodgers also fumbled on a sack, which was also returned for a touchdown. It was Pittsburg’s seventh straight playoff loss and the first road playoff win for Houston.

The second round in the AFC will feature the top seeded Denver Broncos hosting the Buffalo Bills. The teams did not play each other in the regular season. The New England Patriots will host the Houston Texans in the other AFC second round game. These two also did not play each other during the regular season.