Divisional Round Recap: Best Weekend of Football EVER?? + Should OT Rules Go?

 Oh. My. God. What a weekend. That last 48 hours of football has everyone's jaws on the ground. What did we just witness. After a snoozefest of a wildcard weekend, the Divisional Round might have been the best weekend of football we've ever seen. 4/4 games came down to the final play and 3/4 games resulted in upset wins. The only game in which the favorite won, they probably should have lost! Let's get into each game of this monumental Divisional round.

49ers 13, Packers 10

49ers: In a weekend of shockers, this might have been the most shocking result. The underdog Niners came into Green Bay with nothing but adrenaline and the hunger to knock off the Super Bowl favorite Packers. They did just that. They played the entire game like they would have wanted to, running the football well and playing good defense. For much of the game, the defense held up, but the offense was very incapable of sustaining drives. Then came the game changing play late in the 4th. Down 10-3 but about to get the ball back, Niners DE/special teamer Jordan Willis blew through the interior and got one of the best blocks on a punt I've seen. The ball flew off the outstretched arms of Willis high into the air and then right at the feet of another Niners' special teamer who waltzed in untouched for the endzone to tie up the game. That was the moment when we all thought, oh my god, the Niners might actually do this. 4 minutes later, veteran, sure-legged Kicker Robbie Gould knocked the game-winning 45 yard field goal through and sent the Niners back to the NFC Championship in possibly the most unlikely circumstances ever.

Packers: Not only is this loss going to hurt for a long time based off of the fact that they blew this game due to multiple special teams collapses, this loss is going to hurt in terms of the future of the team. The Packers' inability to win the Super Bowl with some of the team's they've had over the past decade has been shocking, but to lose in the Divisional round to a 10-7 team is quite possibly the worst and most embarrassing loss of Aaron Rodgers' entire career. This loss all but assures he won't be taking snaps under center in Green Bay next season, or for that matter, potentially at all. If they lose Rodgers, they might lose Adams in FA as well. The Pack is over $40 million dollars over the salary cap, 2nd worst in the league. After that terrible loss, the Packers' Super Bowl window may have just slammed shut abruptly.

Game MVPs: Deebo Samuel, WR (83 scrimmage yards), Robbie Gould, K (2/2 FGs, 45-yarder for the win, 7 total points), Jordan Willis, DE/ST (blocked punt that was returned for TD)

Bengals 19, Titans 17

Bengals: One week after ending a 30 year playoff win drought, the Bengals have accomplished another feat that will immortalize this 2021-22 team regardless of these final two weeks of games. For the first time since 1988, the BENGALS are going to the AFC Championship! The resilience that this team showed on Saturday was wild. The glaring need for upgrades along the offensive line was more clear than ever in a game which the Titans set the post-season single game record for sacks with 9. Joe Burrow joined just Donovan McNabb as the only QBs to win a post-season game in a game in which they were sacked 8 or more times. Joe Burrow is really that guy. Despite having pressure almost instantly in his face on every single play, he rallied back and made the big plays when necessary. Who would have thought the hero in the end would be rookie Kicker Evan McPherson. What a rookie season he's had for being a kicker and with his game-ball winning performance, he has proved he will be around the jungle for a very long time. McPherson was MONEY all day long and sealed the game with his 54-yarder to stab the dagger into the heart of the Titans. The Bengals are moving on to the AFC championship game for the first time since '88 behind the leg of Evan McPherson and the fierce hands of the defense which picked off Ryan Tannehill 3 times!

Titans: A truly tough loss here, but there is some bright side to it. Sure, they were an unconvincing no. 1 seed, but they actually played pretty respectably. I was very down on their defense going into this game but they held up extremely well the entire game and obviously pulled off the clinic of the offensive line of the Bengals by setting the single game post-season sack record with 9. They need to figure out that secondary in the off-season, it is what is really holding them back, but they aren't too far off on defense. As far as the offense goes, there's some more question. RB Derrick Henry was decent in his return from multiple months of missing time. He will be back to his old ways come next season. AJ Brown had a dominant game like we all expected. The kicker here was QB Ryan Tannehill. As consistent as he's been over the past few seasons for this team, that may have been his worst game as a Titan. He threw 3 picks, all of which were really bad, and might have been the sole reason they didn't come out on top. The last of the INTs with a minute to go was what sealed the fate of Tennessee and will have them going into an off-season where they could bring in another QB to compete with Tannehill and make him prove himself once again. Not the end of the world going out here, but this could have been their year to go all the way with the guaranteed home-field advantage throughout the playoffs that came with their no. 1 seed.

Game MVPs: Evan McPherson, K (4/4 FGs, 54 yard long for the win, 13 points),
Logan Wilson, LB (8 total tackles, 1 TFL, 1 pass deflection, game-winning INT), DJ Reader, DT (6 total tackles, 2 TFL)

Rams 30, Buccaneers 27

Rams: After creating a super team throughout the off-season and then at the mid-season mark some more with the adds of Odell Beckham and Von Miller, the Rams showed they were all in on this season. After going on a bit of a slump right near the time those moves were made, they were beginning to become the laughing stock of the league. Look at them now. No one saw them here, yet here they are. About to host the NFC Championship game and then with a potential win, would be at home in the Super Bowl which is also at LA's SoFi stadium. What a wild and resilient way to win. QB Matthew Stafford continues to build on his strong post-season with the game he had on Sunday. Sure, there were some bad moments and throws, but they will be heavily overshadowed by a couple of the out-of-this-world tosses that he made and made look easy. Hell, he just outdueled Tom Brady on his home turf in the playoffs. Few QBs EVER can say that. The Rams were up 27-3 and allowed the Bucs to score 24 unanswered to tie the game late, but this team came right back together and ended up sealing it with a 40 yard pass to Cooper Kupp to set up Matt Gay's game-winning kick. The Rams are heading to the NFC championship despite 4 turnovers on offense and the defense making several key errors. Just imagine what they might do if they play a clean game next time out...

Buccaneers: This was a weird one for Tampa. They are so banged up and were playing exactly like they knew it. Something just felt weird about this one. They went down big, no one panicked, they came back, but then blew it, and no one seemed too upset. The rumors are starting to swirl that Tom Brady may be done after that game, but I don't see any way the best player of all time goes out like that. If Brady goes out, this would be the shocker of all shocks to me. I still think this was the best team in the NFC bracket and would have gone to the Super Bowl again if they were at full health. Brady is going to see his team coming back healthy and return for what might be one last dance next season. There will be no back-to-back champ this year.

Game MVPs: Cooper Kupp, WR (9 rec, 183 yards, 1 TD), Matthew Stafford, QB (366 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs passing, 1 TD rushing), Nick Scott, CB (5 total tackles, 2 pass deflections, 1 INT)

Chiefs 42, Bills 36 (OT)

Chiefs: Oh my god Patrick Mahomes. You are incredible. I don't understand how this guy can continue to blow our mind like this. We think we've seen just about everything from this guy, and then he adds something new to his legacy. This might be the best game I've ever seen, and Patrick Mahomes might have just put on the most clutch performance I've ever seen. In one of the biggest shootouts of 2021-22, the blows would just not stop coming. The Chiefs D obviously didn't impress, but they found a way to come out on top regardless. Down 3 with just 13 seconds to go and coming from their own 25 yard line, somehow, someway, Mahomes led his team almost half the length of the field in 9 seconds to set up the game-tying FG for Harrison Butker. The rest is history after the coin flip (which I will get into later). All I can say is wow. This guy is going to be one of the best football players ever. While he had a great game, obviously, credit guys like Tyreek and Travis once again. They continue to show that Mahomes has the best pass catching duo in football with their stud performances week in and week out. For the fourth year in a row, the Chiefs will be hosting the AFC championship in hopes of returning to their third straight Super Bowl.

Bills: As great as that win was for KC, it was 100x more heartbreaking for Bills' fans than it was exciting for Chiefs'. When Josh Allen found Gabriel Davis in the back of the end-zone (following one of the nastiest routes I've ever seen) for his 4th TD of the day, this one looked over. The Bills were up 3 with just 13 seconds to go. Then the biggest collapse of the decade came from their defense and that was that. This one is going to hurt for a year or more for the Bills, they thought they had the game won. They celebrated like they had it won. Hell, they DID have it won. Until they didn't. Either way, the Bills have to feel so good about the way their guys on offense played. Josh Allen is clearly a future MVP and will be the QB of the franchise forever. And how about WR3 Gabriel Davis??! The second-year pro out of UCF had one of the best post-season receiving games of all-time. Over 200 yards and FOUR TDs receiving! The 4 TDs is a post-season single game record. I seriously don't know how you move on from this, but they will have to, because if they can, they should be right back in the top 3-4 Super Bowl contending teams.

Game MVPs: Patrick Mahomes, QB (378 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs passing, 69 yards, 1 TD rushing), Tyreek Hill, WR (11 rec, 150 yards, 1 TD receiving) | Gabriel Davis, WR, Bills (8 receptions, 201 yards, 4 TDs receiving)

Should OT rules be changed?

YES! Why is this still a question. Three years ago, the upstart Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes gave Tom Brady and the Patriots all they could handle in the AFC Championship. When the Pats thought they had the game won, the Chiefs with Mahomes came storming back and were able to send it to OT, then, the Pats won the toss. The rest is history. Mahomes never got another chance with the ball and the Patriots were back to the Super Bowl. The NFL world was outraged that Mahomes didn't get another chance. We all know it's only fair. In the regular season, these coin tosses don't hold the same magnitude as the post-season. In the post-season, a the flip of a coin changes the course of NFL history. The careers of players. The legacies. All changed because the coin lands on one side and 90% of the time, the team that wins that toss will go on to win the game. Why should Josh Allen not get another chance to match Patrick Mahomes. This is what the playoffs are all about. Dueling until one team comes out on top. No one wanted that game to end, and no one outside of Kansas City is going to agree that the way things ended are what they should be. In the regular season, sure, I get that the games going much longer aren't always wanted, but in the PLAYOFFS?! C'mon man. Everyone wants to see both teams get a chance and even keep going until one team can't press on anymore. It's the PLAY-OFFS for a reason.

The obvious fix is changing to the college OT rules. For whatever reason, I still don't see the NFL making this much needed change, but this is what many believe it should be. In college, there are no ties, teams fight to the death until someone comes out on top. In college, both teams get a shot with the ball starting at the opposing 25 and see what they can score. If the score is matched by the other team, it goes to another OT, and then another if needed, and another, until one team cannot match the other. In the NFL, the rules could still be changed to make games not go on forever. Instead, teams could both start at the 50 yard-line instead of the 25, and be forced to go for 2 if they score. Scoring 8 points from the 50 is much harder and much less of a guarantee than doing it from the 25. Let them play on if they both do, someone will eventually fail. In the playoffs, we want to see it end that way. Hell, this rule could even be for just the playoffs only. Bottom line is that we want to see these teams fight to the death, and in a game as good and bloody as the Chiefs/Bills, Josh Allen should have gotten another chance...

Fix your game, NFL...