Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens scores a touchdown during an NFL Divisional Round playoff game against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium. Photo: Kara Durrette
The NFL campaign of 2023-2024 is rapidly approaching its grand finale, with the Divisional Playoff Round over last weekend representing a crucial phase. Four more teams were eliminated from the NFL playoffs in 2024, leaving us with our top four teams going head-to-head next weekend's NFC and AFC conference championship games. It's all on the line as to who will play at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Monday 12 February NZT in Super Bowl LVII.
Baltimore Ravens 34 - 10 Houston Texans
The Texans' Steven Sims produced an electrifying touchdown off the back of a 67-yard punt return, forcing the Ravens to hustle hard to win; at halftime, the score had been levelled at 10 - 10. However, in the second half, Super Bowl favourites Baltimore proved their superiority by shutting down Houston's attack. Quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been an overwhelming favourite for MVP all season, demonstrated his abilities by connecting for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
Jackson also displayed his trademark dual domination in the rushing game, constantly keeping Houston second guessing, gathering 100 yards and scoring two more touchdowns on the ground. The final touchdown from Jackson finished Houston's remarkable season off with a phenomenal final quarter.
San Francisco 49ers 24 - 21 Green Bay Packers
Fred Warner #54 of the San Francisco 49ers fires up the team before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. Photo: Michael Zagaris
The 49ers overcame the Green Bay Packers by the slimmest of margins on Saturday, in the end walking away with a narrow victory. The San Francisco defence shut out Green Bay's offence in the fourth quarter, even though they had trailed by a score of seven going into it-a deficit that hadn't previously been overcome beneath their coach Kyle Shanahan. With a little more than a minute left, Christian McCaffrey delivered a crucial touchdown run to give the team a three-point advantage.
The 49ers' Dre Greenlaw snagged an interception on a long throw on defence by quarterback Jordan Love which ended up being the Packers' last offensive play for the season. The 49ers advance to the conference championship game for a remarkable fourth time in their previous five seasons.
Detroit Lions 33 - 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions celebrates after the team scored a touchdown during an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field. Photo: Ryan Kang
The Buccaneers were unable to overcome a strong Detroit Lions outfit with Eminem backing them from the stands. Baker Mayfield's two interceptions alongside an unfortunate field goal miss from kicker Chase McLaughlin proved too much for Tampa Bay despite a strong showing on offence.
Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs spearheaded Detroit's offence with a cool 74 yards off nine touches. His game defining highlights feature a fourth-quarter touchdown strike of 31 yards for the Lions that moved them ahead 24-17.
With less than two minutes left, both teams went back and forth with drives to each other's end zones until the Buccaneers were provided with a final chance to send the game into overtime. But Tampa's quarterback Mayfield came up with a second interception that proved fatal, Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes secured the pig skin picking Mayfield off with the turnover essentially putting the game out of reach for the Buccaneers. A great win from Detroit who managed to hold on - they'll definitely need to be at their best up against the 49ers next week.
Kansas City Chiefs 27 - 24 Buffalo Bills
Jason Kelce celebrates. Photo: Kathryn Riley
In an energetic game in Buffalo, we saw a dream playoff matchup between the Chiefs and Bills. Both teams fought diligently, with neither side being able to break away and establish a serious lead of any kind. Josh Allen scored the initial touchdown for the Bills in the second quarter on a five-yard QB dash, providing them with an early 10-3 cushion. The Chiefs countered swiftly, scoring 10 unanswered points, featuring a red hot 22-yard touchdown from Travis Kelce. That moment saw his shirtless brother, former Eagles lineman Jason, going crazy with a beer in his hand in the corporate box right next to Travis's girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
The match was a constant back and forth affair which is now typical fashion every time these teams meet, and the Chiefs held a three-point advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter. They had excellent field position after a risky and rare botched fake punt, but a critical fumble close to the goal line gave the possession back to Buffalo. The Bills moved into Kansas City territory with barely two minutes remaining, but they fell short on third down.
Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass launched a 44-yard field goal, but for the first time in his career in the playoffs missed as the ball drifted across the right of the pylons, allowing the Chiefs to get away at the last minute once again in what was yet another all-time classic.