The National Football League is down to eight teams after an intriguing wildcard weekend. Here are five of the top storylines.
5) Raiders fire general manager Mike Mayock.
Despite making the playoffs this season, it was not enough for Mike Mayock to keep his job as the Raiders general manager. The off-field controversies with players having improper conduct off the field, and the firing of head coach Jon Gruden due to improper emails proved to be too much.
4) Three blowouts.
Three games were decided by 20 points or more. The Buffalo Bills were the first NFL playoff team ever to go through an entire game without a punt, field goal or turnover, as they scored a touchdown on their first seven possessions in a 47-17 thrashing over the New England Patriots. Meanwhile in Kansas City, the Chiefs clobbered the Steelers 42-21, and the Los Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-11. In the Bills and Chiefs wins, quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes had five touchdowns each.
3) Questionable refereeing.
We also saw questionable refereeing on the weekend. In the Cincinnati Bengals’ 26-19 win over the Raiders, there was a 10-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Tyler Boyd that should not have counted because of an inadvertent whistle that was blown right before Boyd caught the pass. Then in the Cowboys’ 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the umpire was painfully slow in spotting the ball at the end of the game, which prevented the Cowboys from having one more play in trying to win the contest. As a result, the 49ers are playing the Green Bay Packers next weekend.
2) Tight ends shine.
This was a great weekend for tight ends. In the Bengals win over the Raiders, C.J. Uzomah had six catches for 64 yards and one touchdown. In the Bills win over the Patriots. Dawson Knox had five catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns. In the Buccaneers’ 31-15 win over the Eagles, Rob Gronkowski recorded his 93rd catch in the postseason on a touchdown pass from Tom Brady. That puts him in a tie with Reggie Wayne for the third most receptions by any player in NFL playoff history. Then in the Chiefs win over the Steelers, Travis Kelce led the team with five catches for 108 yards and one touchdown, along with one touchdown pass.
1) Bengals win first playoff game since 1991.
For the first time in over 30 years, the Cincinnati Bengals have won a playoff game. In the Bengals win over the Raiders on Saturday, Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow completed 24 of 34 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, while Bengals rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had nine catches for 116 yards. The Bengals’ last playoff win came on January 6, 1991 in a 41-14 win over the Houston Oilers. In this contest, the Bengals got an early touchdown from running back Ickey Woods, and never looked back.
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