Matt Mathias
Sports Editor
mcm5909@psu.edu
The Divisional round of this year’s NFL playoffs were nothing short of extraordinary. For each game, fans were glued to their televisions as the action unfolded Saturday and Sunday. Three of the four games played this past weekend resulted in upsets as well as the road team coming in and securing victory by means of a game winning field goal. The only game that was an exception to this was the Buffalo Bulls at the Kansas City Chiefs, and it certainly did not disappoint either.
The Bills headed into Arrowhead Stadium once more to face off against a team in the Chiefs that defeated them in the AFC Championship game last year. The matchup remained closely contested for the full duration of the game, however, nothing can compare to the final quarter and last few minutes of regulation. Within the final two minutes, both the Chiefs and the Bills would go on to score 25 points as the team with the lead continued to swing back and forth. Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, had an amazing performance on Sunday night as he boasted a statline of 27/37 with 329 yards passing as well as 4 touchdowns with no turnovers. His favorite target on the night who had a historic performance was wide receiver Gabriel Davis, who had 8 receptions and a whopping 201 total receiving yards. He also accounted for each one of Allen’s touchdown passes with 4 receiving touchdowns.
The first major point of chaos came on a fourth-and-13 for the Bills where Davis was able to score a touchdown and fellow wide receiver Stefon Diggs converted a 2-point attempt to give the Bills a 29-26 lead. However, Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, is no pushover. Mahomes got the ball back and immediately was successful in finding the speedy Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek “Cheetah” Hill for a 64-yard touchdown score, swinging the momentum back in the direction of Kansas City.
Allen was set to get the ball back with 62 seconds left in regulation. However, he may have been too efficient as he took his team down to score with another touchdown pass to Davis leaving 13 seconds on the clock for the Chiefs with the score being 36-33. This was plenty of time for Mahomes, as he found Hill and tight end Travis Kelce for two big passes down the field to get into range for kicker Harrison Butker, who drilled a 48-yard field goal through the uprights.
This game would come down to the flip of a coin in overtime with the way both of these offenses had been playing. The Chiefs were the team that won the toss as Buffalo wouldn’t get the ball back for the rest of the game. The final play of the game was a touchdown pass to Kelce, sealing victory for Kansas City. The final score was 42-36 with the Chiefs moving on to the AFC championship game. Their opponent will be the Cincinnati Bengals.
Following the game, Kansas City head coach, Andy Reid, was quoted on his advice to Mahomes over the final 13 seconds of the game saying, “When it’s grim, be the grim reaper.” Mahomes certainly would reap the tears of Buffalo fans following the game.
The Bengals pulled off their own upset against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday. Quarterback Joe Burrow and his offense have been streaking at the right time this postseason. His number one weapon, rookie Ja’Marr Chase, has been an important piece to their success as teams have struggled to contain him. The final score of this matchup was 19-16 with the Bengals winning in the final seconds by way of a field goal from rookie kicker from Florida, Evan McPherson.
The Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have had huge aspirations for this postseason. However, they would have to face a solid team in the San Francisco 49ers. The conditions in Green Bay were anything but pleasant as snow and brittle temperatures affected everyone on the field. Rodgers struggled offensively in this game as the 49ers from sunny northern California showed their grit in the weather. The 49ers would go on to win by a score of 13-10, knocking off the number one seed in the NFC. Aaron Rodgers is now 0-4 versus the 49ers in the playoffs.
Lastly, the Los Angeles Rams faced off against the defending Super Bowl champions in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady continues to defy the sands of time as he has put together yet another fantastic year in the NFL. However, the new-look Rams, with former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford under center, have shown their poise all season as well. With a stout defense and an electrifying offense, the Rams were prepared to compete with the Bucs. In fact, LA ran away with this game at one point when the score was 27-3.
Brady, on the other hand, would not let this game slip away that easily. With the help of a few LA turnovers and some efficient offensive possessions, the Bucs were able to claw their way back and tie the game at 27. With their final possession, Stafford was able to complete a long, downfield pass to standout wide receiver Cooper Kupp to put the Rams within field goal range. The final score was 30-27 with the Rams coming out on top.
These matchups may have led to some of the most competitive and well played football that a divisional round of the playoffs has ever offered. With a weekend like that, fans can rejoice knowing that there is more football to be played this coming weekend. The 49ers will face the Rams in Los Angeles while the Bengals will face the Chiefs in Kansas City. The victors of these games will face off to decide who gets the chance to compete for a Super Bowl championship.
The Behrend Beacon 
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