Ravens 34, Texans 10
Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Baltimore Ravens pulled away in the second half for a 34-10 win over the Houston Texans on Saturday to advance to the AFC championship game.
Jackson helped the Ravens (14-4) take control in the third quarter after the teams entered the half tied at 10.
His 15-yard scoring run put Baltimore ahead to stay. Although C.J. Stroud had a solid, composed first half for Houston, the Texans (11-8) ultimately couldn’t put up points against an impressive Ravens defense.
Now Baltimore will host the AFC title game for the first time since January 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders on their way to a Super Bowl championship. The Ravens will take on Kansas City.
49ers 24, Packers 21
Brock Purdy led a 12-play, 69-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter to help the San Francisco 49ers survive in a 24-21 victory.
The Green Bay Packers had a 21-14 advantage entering the fourth quarter after three lead changes in the third quarter. But momentum started to swing San Francisco’s way when Packers kicker Anders Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal wide left midway through the final period.
Purdy and the 49ers conducted what wound up being the game-winning touchdown drive after Carlson’s missed field goal.
The Packers had a chance to tie or take the lead on their final possession with under two minutes in the fourth quarter, but Jordan Love tossed an ill-advised pass over the middle to Christian Watson that was intercepted by 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
NEXT UP: The 49ers will play the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game.
SUNDAY:
Lions 31, Buccaneers 23
Jared Goff threw his second touchdown pass with 6:22 left and the Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 in the divisional round on Sunday, lifting Detroit into the NFC championship for the first time in 32 years and just the second time in franchise history.
The Lions (14-5) won two playoff games in a season for the first time since 1957, the last year they won the NFL title, and had two postseason games at home for the first time.
Now they have to travel to face San Francisco, the NFC’s top seed, next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl — a game they have never played in.
Goff finished 30 of 43 for 287 yards and directed an efficient second-half offense for the Lions, who had long touchdown drives on three consecutive possessions.
Chiefs 27, Bills 24
Travis Kelce caught two touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs advanced to their sixth straight AFC championship game with a 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Isiah Pacheco scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Chiefs clinched the win by running out the clock after Buffalo’s Tyler Bass was wide right on a 44-yard field goal attempt with 1:43 remaining.
The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs (13-6) move on to Baltimore to face Lamar Jackson and the conference’s top-seeded Ravens, who beat Houston 34-10 on Saturday.
Kansas City is 0-1 in the playoffs against the Ravens, following a 30-7 loss in the 2010 wild-card round. Baltimore defeated Kansas City 36-35 in their most recent regular-season matchup in Week 2 of the 2021 season.
Detroit Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes’ INT of Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield’s pass at the end of the 4th quarter sends the Detroit Lions to NFC Championship Game.
Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass’ would-be, game-tying, 44-yard FG sails wide right with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter.
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw seals a NFC Championship game berth for the 49ers with a diving interception of Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love.
Green Bay Packers kicker Anders Carlson’s fourth-quarter field goal flies wide left from 41 yards away.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson crosses 100-yard mark en route to second rushing TD of Divisional Round, which puts the Ravens up by 20 in the 4th quarter.
