ClutchPoints
Just four teams remain in the NFL playoffs as conference championship week is upon us. Divisional Round weekend is one of the best weeks of the year, and it delivered once again on Saturday and Sunday with four games that had just about everything.
To start the weekend off, the Broncos escaped the Bills at Mile High 33-30 in overtime thanks to five Buffalo turnovers. The game had plenty of lasting ramifications, as Bo Nix was knocked out for the rest of the playoffs due to an ankle injury and the Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott after missing another opportunity to get to the Super Bowl.
Late on Saturday night, Rashid Shaheed started Seahawks-49ers with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the way to a 41-6 Seattle victory before the Patriots and Rams punched their tickets to championship weekend with wins on Sunday.
Who were the big winners and losers from Divisional weekend? Let’s get into the list.
The Seahawks came into the weekend as the biggest favorite on the board, in part because they are a rested and ready No. 1 seed and in part because the 49ers came into the game with a historically long list of injuries. In Week 18, with the top seed and the NFC West on the line, Seattle stifled this same Niners team 13-3 in Santa Clara.
On Saturday night, it quickly became clear that things were going to get worse before they got better for Kyle Shanahan and company. Shaheed’s kickoff return got the Seahawks in front right off the bat, and the 49ers’ first two series ended with a turnover on downs and a fumble.
Kenneth Walker went over 100 yards and scored three touchdowns, Sam Darnold appeared no worse for wear despite his mysterious oblique injury, and Seattle’s defense ran it up to eight consecutive quarters keeping this explosive San Francisco offense out of the end zone in a 41-6 win.
Seattle will get to stay home again in the NFC Championship Game, and it’s going to take a heck of an effort to take Mike Macdonald and company down.
The Bears have made magic all season to capture the NFC North title and the No. 2 seed in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach, and they pulled off their best Houdini act yet in the Wild Card Round to beat the Packers after trailing 21-3.
On Sunday, after a surprisingly low-scoring game against the Rams in the cold at Soldier Field, the Bears needed one more miracle to keep their season alive on fourth-and-4 with less than a minute to go. Caleb Williams, as he has done all season, came up with the goods and tossed one of the best touchdown passes you’ll ever see to Cole Kmet to tie the game.
OH MY, CALEB WILLIAMS LAUNCHES IT ON FOURTH DOWN pic.twitter.com/J8FWTHegHh
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