And Then There Was Four

What a weekend for the Divisional rounds, and what a weekend for the Lions! We wish we could say the same thing about the Bills, but sadly, nope!

Let’s recap the four big games in a speedy fashion because there are some big moments from the weekend that you need to hear about.

NFL Divisional Round

Let’s run these in reverse. (we’ll skip the fake punt)

Kansas City Chiefs 27 | Buffalo Bills 24

❓️ I’m not sure what’s the better/worse storyline. It depends on who you are a fan off I guess, it’s kind of all good news or all bad news. If you’re a Bills fan, you’re just heartbroken. Then your team couldn’t pull this off, and you’re bounced from the postseason early again. Bills fans are also likely reeling at the fact that the Chiefs and Mahomes have bounced them from the playoffs 3 of the last four years. If you’re a Chiefs fan, your brain might explode because Patrick Mahomes has made the AFC Championship game in all six seasons that he’s started.

👀 My eyes couldn’t believe it when the Bills had an opportunity to tie the game up at the 1:47 mark, and then Tyler Bass missed the 44-yarder wide right (okay, my eyes could believe it a little bit, he was pushing kicks right all day)

👉️ Everyone wants to point fingers at Bass for the miss but let’s not forget that Stefon Diggs dropped a perfect 65 yard ball from Josh Allen in the 4th quarter.

💪 Josh Allen threw for 186 yards and 1 TD and he was 26 of 39. He also ran for 72 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries.

👉️ Patrick Mahomes only threw the ball 23 times. He completed 17 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns. Isiah Pacheco carried the ball 15 times and ran for 97 yards and 1 touchdown.

Tampa Buccaneers 23 | Detroit Lions 31

👉️ I’m not sure what I’m more surprised about here, is it that the Detroit Lions wiill be playing in the NFC Championship or that the Buccaneers were in this game all the way until the end?

👉️ We had ourselves a game entering the final quarter when things were tied up 17-17. The Lions would score on consecutive possessions and would be up 14 points, but the Bucs would score later when Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans would connect for a TD.

👀 The Bucs were down 8 after missing their 2-point conversion attempt and would get another chance to score, but Baker would throw an INT, which would seal the deal for the Lions. Baker finished 26 of 41 for 349 yards, 3 TDs, and 2 INTs.

👉️ Jared Goff finished the day 30 of 43 for 287 yards and 2 TDs.

⚡️I’m still in shock. The Lions are just one win away from playing in the Super Bowl. The Lions haven’t played in an NFC Championship since 1991, when Barry Sanders was in his 3rd season.

Green Bay Packers 21 | San Francisco 49ers 24

☂️ Rain was a factor in this matchup with players slipping all over the field and Brock Purdy struggled to get a decent grip on the football on Saturday.

❤️‍🩹 Pair the weather with the 49ers losing Deebo Samuel on the opening drive to a shoulder injury and the Niners struggled against an up and coming Packers team.

👉️ Brock Purdy, although struggling to get his grip on the ball, threw for 252 yards and 1 TD after completing 23 of 39 throws. Purdy did help the Niners seal the deal with a 12-play, 69-yard drive that Christian McCaffrey scored on with only 1:07 left to play in the game.

👀 McCaffrey had himself a great game with 128 total yards and 2 TDs. He had 17 carries and 7 receptions.

👉️ You have to give some credit to Matt LeFleur and the Green Bay Packers. They are one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and they have played great the last two months. Jordan Love made impressive plays on Saturday and was 21 of 34 for 194 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs. One of those interceptions came on the final drive, where Love was looking to the Packers for a comeback win.

Houston Texans 10 | Baltimore Ravens 34

👀 It almost looked like the Baltimore Ravens hadn’t played football in a few weeks. That’s basically what happened after having a bye week and they were able to rest some dudes in week 18. The Ravens got off to a slow start in this one, and they were tied 10-10 at halftime.

👉️ It was all Ravens and all Lamar Jackson in the 2nd half. The Ravens shutout the Texans in the final 30 minutes and they scored 24 points. Lamar finished 16 of 22 for 152 yards and 2 TDs. He also rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.

⏲️ Let the countdown to an epic AFC Championship game vs the Chiefs begin! We’ll see you Sunday for this one.

What Else Happened This Weekend?

⛳️ Amateur golfer Nick Dunlap, who is a sophomore at the University of Alabama, won the Amex Open on Sunday. He is the first amateur tow in a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson did it in 1991. Check this out: Dunlap can get paid in college under the NIL deals, but he can’t take in the $1.5 million prize for 1st place because he's an amateur. Nope, that money goes to 2nd place Christiaan Bezuidenhout. I hope Beuidenhout Venmos Dunlap so he can buy his buddies some drinks on campus. (just kidding, Dunlap is only 20 years old 😉)

🏈 The Las Vegas Raiders have named Antonio Pierce their full-time head coach.

🏈 The Ohio State Buckeyes NIL collective has spent $13 million recruiting players in the transfer portal this winter. The Buckeyes are getting buying some Alabama players after Nick Saban announced his retirement. QB Julian Sayin, who was the No.1 prospect for the 2024 recruiting cycle, and Safety Caleb Downs are coming to Columbus.

🏀 The Cameron crazies of Duke had their blue hearts broken on Saturday when Pittsburgh beat Duke 80-76. Pitt hasn’t won in Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1979.

That’s going to be all for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more news and more on what to watch this week.

Have a great start to the week!

-The Daily Breakroom