After what some may call the wildest Wildcard round in NFL History, all remaining teams were just 2 games away from playing for the Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara. The games that took place on Saturday were 2 games with completely different stories, 1 an OT thriller between the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills. The other was a blowout where the Seattle Seahawks would beat the doors off of the San Francisco 49ers. Now, read as I take a deep dive into those 2 matchups, followed by the Sunday matchups.
Starting at 4:00 on the East Coast, the Buffalo Bills would look to go to a Mahomesless AFC Championship game for the first time since 2017. The game started with a Field goal followed by a Josh Allen TD to Mecole Hardman. Then Bo Nix would find Frank Krum in the end zone for his only reception of the afternoon. The Bills would tie it up with a field goal, then Nix would find a man in the endzone. Then, off a Josh Allen fumble, the Broncos were able to take a 10-point lead with a 50-yard field goal.
The Broncos would enter the half and extend the lead with a field goal. Josh Allen would respond with a TD to Coleman. Then quickly responded again with a TD to Dalton Kincaid to take the lead, then they would extend the lead with a field goal. Bo Nix would drive down the field and find Mims in the endzone, then Josh Allen would march down the field to get a field goal to go to overtime. Each team would get a possession, but the game would end with a Broncos field goal.
The Seahawks Vs 49ers was a blowout win in favor of the Seahawks on the first play of the game. A kick return TD would clinch the win, but the Seahawks weren’t done; the final score was 41-6.
The Patriots would face off against the Texans, and the weather was a wintry mix. The Patriots would take a quick lead 7-0 before the Texans were able to claim their lead 10-7, before the Patriots would respond, going up 21-10.
In the second half, the Texans would get 2 field goals, and the Patriots would respond with a TD on a 1-handed snag by Boutte. The Patriots would win the game 28-16. 8 turnovers combined between both teams, 4 INTs by CJ Stroud would help the Patriots win.
The Bears would go into another OT thriller against the Rams, a defensive game. The 4th quarter would end with the Bears marching down the field, a 4th down play where Caleb Williams would retreat from the 12-yard line all the way to the 40 before throwing off of one foot into the endzone to secure OT. In OT, just like the Broncos game, each team got a possession in OT, but unlike Saturday, Caleb Williams would throw an INT for the Rams to secure the win, and now 1 game away from the Super Bowl.
A great set of games, OT thrillers, 4th quarter comebacks, 5 turnover games, and of course, blowouts. The matchups for Sunday will be Patriots Vs Broncos in Denver, and a division matchup in the NFC championship game between Seahawks and Rams, in Seattle. Each team left in the season has 2 more games to win before hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
