NFL Divisional Round: Destiny is calling me

The four teams left are all on a mission.

The Divisional Round was, thankfully, much more competitive than the Wild Card Round. This weekend, 3.5 of the four games — or seven of the eight halves — were tightly contested.

I do not find Cris Collinsworth to be a particularly insightful analyst, but I’m going to quote him for the second time in a month: “There are no more Cinderellas.” The four teams that remain are battle tested, have overcome obstacles, and are capable of winning it all. 

Of course, in the end only one team will be left celebrating at the podium, as the players wait for their chance to hold the Lombardi Trophy after Roger Goodell first presents it to the franchise’s owner, for some reason.

When the Super Bowl winner is crowned, we can look back and say, “ah yes, this was a team of destiny.” Right now, though, the Ravens, 49ers, Lions, and Chiefs all look like fate is on their side.

The Ravens, especially Lamar Jackson, have learned from the past

In the first half against the Texans, the Ravens were in danger of repeating past mistakes. The last time they were the No. 1 seed four years ago, the Ravens fell at home to the Titans. Now they found themselves locked into another dogfight with an AFC South team. 

Although Baltimore had kept Houston’s offense out of the end zone, a punt return touchdown let the Texans tie the game at 10-all in the second quarter. The visitors would have been leading at halftime, too, if the usually reliable Ka'imi Fairbairn had made his 47-yard field goal try. 

As had happened in recent postseasons, Lamar Jackson wasn’t at his best in the first half. He accounted for the game’s only offensive touchdown at that point — a 3-yard pass to Nelson Agholor — but Baltimore went three-and-out on four of its possessions. Jackson had been sacked three times and went into halftime with only 23 net passing yards. 

What happened after, however, was a different Jackson than we have seen in the playoffs. He accounted for all 55 yards of the Ravens’ first drive — 37 yards through the air, 18 on the ground — and ran in the 15-yard touchdown. That was the first of three Jackson-led touchdown drives of the second half, which put the game into blowout territory (on the Ravens’ fourth and final possession of the second half, they added a field goal with two minutes remaining). 

What changed? Well, a combination of adjustments and a determined quarterback. OC Todd Monken decided that, against a heavy blitz, Jackson should get the ball out more quickly. So he did and wasn’t sacked once after halftime. In the second half, Jackson was nearly perfect. As a passer, he went 9 of 11 for 100 yards and threw a 15-yard floater to Isaiah Likely for the touchdown. As a runner, he carried the ball five times for 50 yards, including on a key fourth down, and rushed for two scores.

Afterward, the soon-to-be two-time MVP acknowledged that he had heard the criticism about his struggles in the postseason. He also admitted that he cussed out the offense at halftime, a clear signal that Jackson has taken a step forward as a leader in the locker room since the last time he had suited up for the playoffs. 

That jibes with what we’ve seen from Jackson all season, particularly after his “Johnny” tweet. He is a man on a mission. He has not let wins over the 49ers (which cemented him as the MVP favorite) and Dolphins (which earned Baltimore its No. 1 seed) distract him from fulfilling a promise he made to the Ravens on his draft night: “They’re going to get a Super Bowl out of me.”

Jackson won’t be able to do it alone, but given how his offense followed his lead in the second half, and with the way that his defense played on Saturday (and the way it has played all season), he is closer to reaching that goal than ever before.

The 49ers can rally in the fourth quarter under Kyle Shanahan

With four minutes to go in the first half, the 49ers clung to a 7-6 lead over the Packers and had an opportunity to extend their lead. That’s when Kyle Shanahan channeled the Super Bowl version of himself. Considering that Shanahan has lost two Super Bowls — one as an OC, the other as a head coach — that is not a compliment. 

To be fair, the weather in San Francisco was not friendly to quarterback Brock Purdy, who had trouble gripping the ball in the rainy conditions. Still, it doesn’t excuse the ultra-conservative approach that Shannon took to the end of the second quarter, when he seemed perfectly content to settle for a field goal rather than a potentially game-changing touchdown. 

Due to a mix of short passes and runs, the Niners were only at Green Bay’s 43-yard line when they took their first timeout with 34 seconds left in the half. They were able to add just 13 more yards before the field goal attempt on fourth down. The 48-yard try might have been no problem for their former kicker Robbie Gould, who never missed a postseason kick in his career. But it was asking a lot of rookie Jake Moody in his first playoff game, especially in the rain. Predictably, Moody’s kick was blocked (and appeared like it was wide anyway), and San Francisco came away with zero points. 

For most of the second half, it looked like that missed opportunity would haunt Shanahan. Not only did Jordan Love lead two consecutive touchdown drives coming out of halftime, but Purdy’s shakiness hadn’t gone away. The loss of Deebo Samuel, who left with a shoulder injury in the first quarter, didn’t help Purdy. Neither did his off-target throws or his teammate’s drops. (On the other hand, what did help him was the Packers dropping two would-be interceptions, among their other self-inflicted mistakes.)

In many respects, Purdy brought to mind his predecessor, Jimmy Garoppolo, who could manage games but who couldn’t come up in the clutch in the postseason. The difference between them — well, other than that opponents wouldn’t drop Jimmy G’s interceptions — is that Purdy delivered when it mattered most. On the 49ers’ go-ahead drive, Purdy went 6 of 7 (his one miss was George Kittle’s drop) for 47 yards and carried the ball two times for 14 yards. Christian McCaffrey then ran in the winning touchdown with 1:07 remaining. 

Soon after, Dre Greenlaw snagged his second interception of the night, even though Love had thrown just one pick in his previous nine games, to seal the victory. The Niners survived Shanahan’s questionable playcalling in the first half and their quarterback’s mostly rough performance, which they hadn’t been able to do in the past. 

In fact, this was the first time in Shanahan’s coaching career that San Francisco had come back from down five or more points entering the fourth quarter. Previously, he had been 0-30 on such occasions. Perhaps that’s the biggest sign yet that this could finally be the 49ers’ year again, almost three decades after their last Super Bowl win.

The Lions are a laughingstock no more

The Lions have long been a punching bag of sports fans. They haven’t won a championship since 1957. They are the only NFC franchise to never appear in a Super Bowl. They were the first NFL team to ever go 0-16. They traded their longtime quarterback, who immediately won a Super Bowl with the Rams the next season. They hired a coach who looked like a stereotypical meathead ex-jock and talked about biting off kneecaps in his introductory presser. They had the longest playoff win drought in the league. 

Well, they did anyway, until their win over their former quarterback and the Rams last week. Oh, and that head coach, Dan Campbell? Yeah, he turned out to be a pretty good hire. In three seasons, he took the Lions from 3-13-1 to 12-5 and a first-place finish in the NFC North. 

One week after their first postseason win in 32 years, the Lions topped the Buccaneers to advance to their second ever NFC title game appearance — and first in, again, 32 years. 

As the No. 3 seed, Detroit wouldn’t have hosted the Divisional Round matchup if the Cowboys, the No. 2 seed, had beaten the Packers in the previous round. The reason the Cowboys were the No. 2 seed in the first place, however, was because of a controversial call against the Lions on what would have been their go-ahead two-point conversion in Dallas a few weeks earlier. 

But, in karmic payback of sorts, the Cowboys’ loss paved the way for the Lions to get one more home game this postseason. And they did not let down their diehard fans on Sunday. 

Although the Lions seemed in control for much of the afternoon, the Bucs weren’t going away. Every time Detroit took a lead, Tampa would soon match it, whether because Baker Mayfield — living out his own comeback story — was dealing, or Mike Evans was making ridiculous Mike Evans-type catches, or Cade Otton was doing his best Gronk impersonation. 

That includes when little-used Lions back Craig Reynolds ran in a touchdown on fourth-and-goal. It was Reynolds’ first carry since October, and the staff still trusted him in such a pivotal situation. Yet Mayfield immediately answered with another touchdown. In a curious move that could have come back to bite him in the butt (not kneecaps), Campbell did not throw the challenge flag when Mayfield was clearly down before tossing the ball away. He should have lost yards on a sack, but instead, he faced a third-and-10 and then connected with Rachaad White on the next play for the tying score.

The momentum shifted more noticeably in the Lions’ favor in the fourth quarter. First, rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, who was taken with the No. 12 overall pick in a move that was criticized at the time, busted loose for a 31-yard touchdown. Then, Jared Goff, once a castoff in the Matthew Stafford trade, expertly led a 10-play, 89-yard scoring drive that ate up nearly six minutes of clock. 

Not that Lions fans could breathe at that point. When your team has known nothing but heartbreak for decades, you can’t count on any win until the final whistle blows. And once again, Mayfield and Co. weren’t folding. A touchdown drive that took less than two minutes got the Bucs back in the game, though their two-point conversion attempt (an end zone fade??) fell incomplete. 

The failed two-point try ended up being a positive omen for Detroit. Tampa, down eight points, had one more chance to tie the game after the two-minute warning. Then linebacker Derrick Barnes stepped in front of a Mayfield pass and snared the first interception of his career. 

The win was the perfect encapsulation of the Lions’ “all grit” motto: every player, from the stars of the team to the role players, doing their part and coming together for each other and the city. Detroit hasn’t ever seen a Lions team like this before — and they might not be done making history.

The Chiefs can’t be counted out

Well, I’ve got to hand it to the Chiefs and Bills, for once again producing a game of epic proportions. Unfortunately for the Bills, that meant another torturously painful ending to a season that had high expectations. 

At this point, it should feel inevitable that the Chiefs will play in the AFC Championship Game every year because, well, this will be their sixth straight appearance. Not that long ago, however, Kansas City wasn’t guaranteed to make a run in the postseason.

After their three-point loss to the Bills in Week 14, the Chiefs were in the midst of a 2-4 stretch. Though they were able to piece together enough wins for an eighth consecutive AFC West title, KC hadn’t been dominating in usual fashion. The Chiefs finished 11-6, with five of those losses decided by one score. It was the worst statistical season of Patrick Mahomes’ career, for a few reasons. His receivers dropped an NFL-high 38 passes, the offense trailed only the Jets in number of penalties, and Mahomes was under more pressure than normal due to a less sturdy offensive line. As a result of all of those things, Mahomes tried to do too much and recorded a career-most 14 interceptions. 

But, at the same time, this was the best defense Kansas City has fielded since Mahomes has been quarterback. So there was room for optimism heading into the postseason. If the defense continued to stand tall, all Mahomes would need is for a couple of his weapons to step up. 

That’s what happened last week, when he hooked up with rookie receiver Rashee Rice and steadfast tight end Travis Kelce for a combined 15 catches and 201 yards. It happened again in Buffalo, the first time Mahomes and the Chiefs have gone on the road in the postseason. Kelce was the game’s leading receiver, logging five catches for 75 yards and both of Mahomes’ touchdowns. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who was responsible for a couple of back-breaking drops earlier in the season, hauled in two big-time catches in the second half that both led to eventual touchdowns. Running back Isiah Pacheco totaled 111 yards and what ended up being the game-winning score.

KC’s offense was far from perfect, though. Most notably, Mecole Hardman fumbled twice, the last of which went through the end zone for a touchdown. That turnover could have cost the Chiefs the game, especially when the defense was without Derrick Nnadi, Willie Gay, and Mike Edwards for the second half. 

But the Bills, as is their cursed existence, couldn’t get out of their own way. Take your pick of gut-wrenching twists in the fourth quarter: Stefon Diggs letting a Josh Allen bomb go through his fingers. Sean McDermott trying to run a fake punt with Damar Hamlin. The generational trauma of Tyler Bass’ wide right field goal.

If it’s any consolation to Buffalo fans, even if Bass’ field goal had gone through to tie it at 27-27, Mahomes would have gotten the ball back with 1:30 left. And let’s face it, he almost certainly would have orchestrated a game-winning drive that would have ripped their hearts out all the same.

Because no matter what kinds of ups and downs the Chiefs went through this season, Mahomes is still Mahomes, and as long as he’s under center, Kansas City always has a chance to win.