January 22-23, 2022 will forever be known as the greatest weekend in the history of the NFL. It is truly that simple. There is certainly no weekend in recent memory that can compare to what football fans across the country witnessed. The high level of talent, dramatic comebacks, back and forth affairs, star power, it was all present.
Bengals vs. Titans
The wild weekend got kicked off with a bang as the AFC North Champion, Cincinnati Bengals, took on the #1 Seed Tennessee Titans. It was a game that certainly played right into the Titans wheelhouse. It was a low scoring game, their defense had several redzone stops to go with 9 sacks of Joe Burrow, and Derek Henry was back from injury. The game came down, as most do, to who had the better quarterback. On Saturday afternoon, that quarterback was Joe Burrow. Burrow completed 75% of his passes and threw for 348 yards including very clutch throws at the end. Compared to Ryan Tannehill who threw 3 interceptions on the day. The Bengals were able to defeat the Titans on the leg of their rookie kicker who kicked a 54-yard Field Goal as time expired. Their kicker, Evan McPherson, even called his shot beforehand according to Joe Burrow. Sending the Bengals to their first AFC Championship game since 1989.
49ers vs. Packers
To conclude the Saturday action, the San Francisco 49ers took on the Green Bay Packers. It felt like the Packers had a clear advantage with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Especially considering Jimmy Garoppolo had never played in a game under 35 degrees before. However, it became clear early on that the Packers were not going to have their normal fire power. Aaron Rodgers was not his normal self throwing for only 225 yards with no touchdowns. The Packers amassed only 10 total points in the contest. The real swing in the game was the special teams unit of the 49ers. The critical mass of the game was a block of the Packers while punting out of their own endzone. This led to a recovery and touchdown by the 49ers to tie the game at 10. The Packers could not get anything going as Debo Samuel was able to get the 49ers into field goal range and allow Robbie Gould to win the game as time expired.
Rams vs. Buccaneers
In what might be Tom Brady’s final game, the Rams pulled off a victory against the Bucs. It appeared that the Rams were going to blow out the Bucs as they increased their lead all the way to 27-3 with 7:07 left in the 3rd quarter. Then, as he inevitably does, Tom Brady did his thing. Somehow, someway, the Buccaneers crawled their way back into the game. It took a comedy of errors from fumbles to bad passes, but the Buccaneers tied the game at 27 with 42 seconds left. The Rams were able to get on the back of Matthew Stafford and march down the field. Keeping up the theme of the weekend, Matt gay hit a game winning field goal as time expired.
Chiefs vs. Bills
Lucky for us fans, the NFL saved the best game for last. The Divisional Round of the playoffs was capped off by an epic battle between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. We all got what we wanted. The game was a high scoring duel in what felt like the real Super Bowl we all would want. Patrick Mahomes threw for 348 yards and 3 touchdowns. Including 177 yards in the final 2 minutes of regulation. Meanwhile, Josh Allen threw for 328 yards including another 68 on the ground and 4 touchdowns. Those 4 touchdowns were record setting as they all went to Gabriel Davis. Davis set the NFL record as the only player with 4 touchdown receptions in a single playoff game.
We all were on our feet as 25 points were scored in the final 2 minutes of the game. How many times did you look over to the person you were watching with and say, “That has to do it, right?” Then be wrong every single time. None was more improbable than Patrick Mahomes marching down the field in 13 seconds to nail a game tying field goal. It is even more crazy when you learn that final route by Kelce in regulation was improvised. It is unfortunate that a coin toss had to decide the fate of the Bills, but those are the rules as they currently stand. Patrick Mahomes was able to do his thing and march the Chiefs down the field for a touchdown. Capping off one of the most incredible weekends in NFL history with one of the most incredible games.
Conclusion
The NFL games this past weekend will forever be remembered. The incredible play of the best athletes in the world, coupled with incredible drama. All culminating in a game for the ages between the 2 star quarterbacks in the AFC for the next 12 years. The data proves how incredible of a weekend we witnessed. Never have 4 playoff games ended on a final play score in NFL history. In addition to that, viewership for the weekend was at an all-time high. 42.7 million people tuned in for the Chiefs and Bills Game with a peak of 51.7 million viewers. There is no doubt we are all lucky to have witnessed the spectacle of football this past weekend. Our only hope is that Championship weekend and the Super Bowl can live up to the hype as well.
