The Green Bay Packers, behind an almost perfect game on both sides of the ball, pulled off a huge upset, beating the higher ranked Dallas Cowboys in Dallas, 48-32. The Cowboys had not lost at home all season, yet the Packers defense was too much for Dak Prescott, who threw two interceptions, and was constantly harassed by the Packers D- line. Jordan Love, the Packers quarterback had a near perfect game, going 16 of 21 for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Packers running back Aaron Jones blasted thru the Cowboys defensive line, with 21 carries for 115 yards and three touchdowns. The score is a bit misleading, as the Packers had this game fully in control, at one point leading 27-0, before the Cowboys put up a couple of late touchdowns to make the score look a bit more palpable. Green Bay becomes the first ever #7 seed to win a playoff game in NFL history!
Next up for the Packers is a trip to Santa Clara next Saturday at 5pm PST, to play the #1 seed San Francisco 49ers! This game will be the 10th meeting between the two teams in the playoffs, which is a NFL record!
In other playoff games, the Houston Texans, under former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryan, throttled the Cleveland Browns, 45-14, giving Ryan his first playoff win as a head coach. Rookie quarterback CJ Stroud looked very comfortable in his first ever playoff game, going 16-for 21, 274 passing yards and three touchdowns, and becoming the youngest ever quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history. Stroud and the Texans team were also helped out by a stingy defense, which forced two Browns turnovers that led to Texans points. The Texans now have the huge task of facing off against the #1 AFC seed Baltimore Ravens next weekend.
Mahommes' helmet cracking due to frigid conditions at Arrowhead: Photo Credit: Emily Curiel.
The Miami Dolphins played the Kansa City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where it was -4 degrees at kickoff, with blustery COLD winds. It was so cold that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahommes' helmet shattered on one play, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid's mustache had icicles on it as the game progressed. Check out this video of how a water bottle immediately froze up after being removed from a store refrigerator: https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-chiefs-arrowhead-stadium-cold-frozen-water-bottle/46376997 The Dolphins, who have not played a game this season in weather that was not any colder than 65 degrees, just could not handle the elements nor the Chiefs, losing by a score of 26-7. Mahommes' was 23-41, with 262 passing yards and one touchdown. the Miami offense totaled two yards better at 264 yards in total, as Miami had no run game in the frigid conditions. And yes, Taylor Swift was there to support her boyfriend, KC tight end Travis Kelce! The Los Angeles Rams went to Detroit to play the Lions, who have had the longest playoff appearance drought in the NFL before this game (not since 1991). One of the interesting stories is about the starting quarterbacks. Rams QB Matthew Stafford played that position for twelve seasons for the Lions, while QB Jared Goff was with the Rams before they traded him to Detroit three years ago. Goff had the hot hand early on, throwing three touchdowns in the first half. The Rams offense also made some big time plays, and this expected shootout lived up to the hype in the first half, with the score being 21-17 Lions at halftime. The 2nd half both defenses tightened up and was a low scoring half, but in the end, the Lions hung on to claim the victory, 24-23. After 32 years, Detroit has won a playoff game! Party-time in the streets of Detroit were celebratory into the wee hours! Detroit now gets to play another home playoff weekend next weekend.
The snow was shoveled, and the temperature warmed up to a charming 17 degrees in Buffalo, where the Bills hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills were in charge for most of the game, as Bills QB Josh Allen went for 21 of 30, threw on 203 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bills to a 31-17 victory over the Steelers. They next host the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday at 3:30 pm PST. These two teams have met up six times, but this time, will be the first that the Chiefs will be playing a playoff game on the road in Buffalo!
in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers defense made the Philadelphia Eagles and QB Jalen Hurts have one of their worst losses with a 32-9 beatdown. This game was all Bucs, as QB Baker Mayfield threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. One wonders what kind of cleaning house the Eagles organization will go thru in the off-season. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay travels to Detroit to play the Lions next Sunday.
Outside of the games on the field, the 49ers front office made news when assistant general manager Adam Peters, who has been credited as being one of the crucial pieces in the front office of building the 49ers player personnel to where it is today, has been hired as the Washington Commanders general manager. The Niners will probably look from within the organization for someone to fill Peters spot, so we shall keep on eye on how that situation develops.
Oh, as I wrote about the Los Angeles Chargers requesting an interview with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks about that head coaching vacancy, it has now also been reported that the Chicago Bears have an interest in poaching 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak to be the Bears offensive coordinator! This is what happens when you build a system of high-quality professionals in every aspect of a team; other teams will want to hire away that talent!
Going to slip in a couple of other football notes that happened over the weekend. The New England Patriots moved quickly to fill their head coaching job by hiring from within, elevating linebackers coach Jerod Mayo to replace Bill Belichick to lead the team. A couple of interesting notes about Mayo; He played for the Patriots and Belichick from 2008 to 2015, and he will be the youngest head coach in the NFL at 37 (beating LA Rams head coach Sean McVay by one month), and the first black head coach the Patriots have had. He and upper management have their work cut out for them, as the once almighty Patriots have been on the down-slide for the last few years, with this last season finishing with a 4-14 record.
In college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide moved quickly to replace the retiring Nick Saban, choosing the runner-up for the College Football Championship Washington Huskies head coach, Kalen DeBoer to replace the legendary Saban.
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