What we covered here
• A thrilling opening round of the NFL playoffs: Another day, another series of edge-of-your-seat playoff games in the NFL playoffs’ wild card round. The Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots are all moving on after tight wins.
• The Niners upset Philly in a shocker: The 49ers seize the lead late and stop the Eagles’ last-ditch drive on fourth down and it seems like San Francisco is going to escape Lincoln Financial Field with an upset. Another thrilling playoff game, but this one ends with defending Super Bowl champions going down.
• Buffalo Bills escape Jacksonville: It was back-and-forth in Duval – with a minute to go, the Bills took the lead, the fourth lead change of the fourth quarter. An interception of Trevor Lawrence by the Bills’ secondary ends the game and the Bills win, 27-24.
• The Patriots dominate the Chargers: The Pats returned to the playoffs and simply dominated the Los Angeles Chargers, not allowing Justin Herbert to get anything going on offense and doing just enough to win 16-3. It’s the first playoff win for MVP candidate Drake Maye.
• One game on Monday: The wild card round wraps up on Monday with a showdown between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers.
49ers overcome Eagles and a serious injury to their star TE by leaning on Christian McCaffrey
Things were looking dire for the San Francisco 49ers in the first half. The Philadelphia Eagles were ahead 13-7, then Niners star tight end George Kittle went down with an apparent serious Achilles injury.
But the 49ers, who are used to dealing with injured stars, didn’t despair.
The San Fran defense stood tall, preventing the Eagles from finding the end zone for the rest of the game.
And the 49ers put the weight of their offense on their insanely talented running back Christian McCaffrey, who was up to the task.
Still trailing in the 4th quarter, 49ers offensive guru head coach Kyle Shanahan dug into his bag of tricks.
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings took a handoff from Brock Purdy, then lofted a 29-yard throw to Christian McCaffrey streaking down the sideline for the touchdown to take a 17-16 lead.
Later, trailing again, McCaffrey capped a 66-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown catch from Purdy to put the Niners in front for good.
McCaffrey finished the game with 114 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns as the 49ers advance to face their NFC West division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks.
Final Score: 49ers 23, Eagles 19
Bills escape Jacksonville with the win in another playoff thriller
The Bills escape Jacksonville with a victory after scoring the go-ahead touchdown with a minute to go as reigning MVP Josh Allen put the team on his back and carried Buffalo to victory.
The Bills and Jaguars went back and forth down the stretch, trading the lead four times in the final 15 minutes. The Jags had the ball with a minute to go and looked set to end this game with one more last-ditch effort, but another Trevor Lawrence interception by the Buffalo defense ended things abruptly.
Josh Allen ended the game with another excellent game, going 28-of-35 for 273 yards, a passing touchdown, two rushing touchdowns and another 33 yards on the ground.
The Bills will await the results of the rest of the games today and tomorrow to find out who they play next.
Final score: Bills 27, Jaguars 24
First look at (some of) next weekend's divisional round schedule
There’s still one more wild card round game to go - tomorrow night’s showdown between the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers in the Steel City – but we already know part the matchups of next weekend’s divisional round slate.
Saturday
- Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos - time TBD
- San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks - time TBD
Sunday
- Los Angeles Rams at Chicago Bears - time TBD
- Pittsburgh/Houston at New England Patriots - time TBD
Patriots dominate Chargers in defensive slopfest
Let’s fast forward to the fourth quarter (because nothing real notable happened in the first three quarters) and pick it up when a team finally found the endzone.
The Patriots were up 9-3 and Drake Maye found tight end Hunter Henry for a 28-yard touchdown.
Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense has many chances to get into the endzone but it almost always (or at least felt like) it ended in a sack.
Herbert was sacked six times and appeared to be in discomfort in the fourth quarter after a sack-fumble.
Overall, a brutal way for the Chargers season to end but the Pats defense proved their worth on a cold night in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
And they will get to do it again next weekend against the winner of Monday’s Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans game.
Final: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
Bloody but not beaten
The Patriots beat up the Chargers, but New England head coach Mike Vrabel is the one who left bloodied. A giddy Vrabel grabbed Milton Williams in a bear hug after Williams officially put Los Angeles out of its misery by sacking Justin Herbert.
Williams’ helmet caught Vrabel in the lip, and the coach wiped his mouth to see it was bleeding.
That only made the hard-nosed coach happier. Vrabel bounced over to the bench like a little kid to show Williams what happened.
It might have been the hardest hit absorbed by the Patriots, who humbled the Chargers into a dismal 16-3 loss.
Blooded and not beaten, New England moves on to the divisional round to play either Pittsburgh or Houston.
Patriots close out a dominant win against the Chargers
After a masterclass from the Patriots’ defense, Drake Maye and the offense returned to the field to run out the clock and seal the victory for New England.
The biggest blemish of the night for the Pats was a bloody lip for head coach Mike Vrabel, who was celebrating a little too hard with defensive end Milton Williams, with the 290 lb. lineman accidentally bumping his coach in the face a little too hard.
After a final kneel down from Maye, the Patriots advance with a dominating performance over the Chargers.
Final score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
Thanks for coming out, Chargers
It hasn’t been a pretty sight.
But at least the Chargers appeared to have figured things out on this drive until they didn’t.
After getting to the Patriots 34-yard line, the offensive line broke down and Justin Herbert was sacked on fourth down, which effectively ended the game.
Herbert has been sacked six times all game.
Just a brutal way to end the season for LA.
Score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
It's the two-minute warning and the Chargers are doing their best to do anything on offense
This final playoff game of the day is at the two-minute warning and it’s fourth-and-9 for the Chargers.
It’s about as close to a game-deciding moment as we’ve gotten all day.
Score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
Patriots avoid distaster and punt it away
The Patriots managed to avoid disaster as offensive lineman Jared Wilson showed great hands recovering a fumble after Drake Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh – his third sack of the game.
It looked like a possible touchdown return opportunity before Wilson saved the day.
The Patriots were happy to escape the possession with a punt.
Score: Patriots 16, Charger 3
Herbert shaken up after fumble
The night just went from bad to worse for the Chargers.
On a drive where Justin Herbert channeled his inner Lamar Jackson and found success running with the ball, it ended just as quickly after he was sacked and fumbled the ball in the process.
Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss recovered the fumble but Herbert remained on the ground in some discomfort after taking the sack.
Herbert walked back to the sideline and did not receive medical attention, according to the NBC broadcast.
The Chargers need a little luck to get back into this game with just under eight minutes remaining and down 13 points.
Score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
NE Gonzalez to locker room with head injury
Patriots’ cornerback Christian Gonzalez has left with a head injury. He left the field and went to the bench, but the spotters called down to have him evaluated for a concussion.
He left the field for more evaluation, per NBC.
That’s a big loss for New England, and it will be interesting to see if Los Angeles starts tossing the ball more without him in the secondary.
Score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
Patriots score the game's first touchdown and a possible knockout blow
This game is officially a war of attrition, and much like the original New England Patriots (yes, I’ve been watching Ken Burns’ “The American Revolution”) the Pats are grinding their way to victory.
No much has been easy or pretty for New England tonight, but they’ve consistently managed to move the ball downfield, sometimes kicking a field goal, other times flipping field postion and leaning on their stout defense.
This time however, the Patriots to able to put a cherry on top of a drive.
Drake Maye floated a beautiful deep ball Hunter Henry for a 28-yard touchdown that may prove the knockout blow in this game.
Score: Patriots 16, Chargers 3
This is officially an ugly showing for the Chargers
The one stat to know is – the Chargers are 1 for 8 on third down.
That sums up the night for Justin Herbert and the LA offense.
It’s ugly.
Score: Patriots 9, Chargers 3
Patriots tack on another FG as neither offense can reach the end zone
The Patriots drive got off to an inauspicious start as Los Angeles’ Teair Tart sacked Maye Dangerously inside the Patriots’ 10-yard line.
Drake Maye shrugged off the long-yardage situation and completed a 19-yard pass to Hunter Henry to pick up a first down and give the offense some breathing room.
Maye later took a shot downfield to Kayshon Boutte for a 42-yard gain and the Patriots were suddenly in scoring position.
But once again, neither team seems capable of finding the end zone as another drive ends in a field goal – this time a 39-yarder from Andy Borregales as New England extends its lead.
Score: Patriots 9, Chargers 3
Chargers can't get anything going on offense
Chargers had another good chance at getting points on the board after the Drake Maye fumble.
And again, could not find any ounce of success offensively.
Justin Herbert is struggling in the brutal New England atmosphere, only having 93 yards passing.
Patriots get the ball back with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter.
Score: Patriots 6, Chargers 3
Oweh a big add for the Chargers
Odafe Oweh, who just forced Drake Maye into that critical fumble, continues to be a great November trade deadline pickup for the Chargers.
He has 7.5 sacks since coming via the Harbaugh Express (John and Baltimore to Jim and Los Angeles). The Ravens freed up about $8 million but gave up one of the best edge rushers this season.
Oweh will be a free agent after this season.
Score: Patriots 6, Chargers 3
Patriots fumble and neither offense really seems capable of doing anything
The Patriots’ offense might be finding some rhythm coming out of the locker room to start the second half.
The drive started with a 10-yard run from Rhamondre Stevenson, then a play later, Drake Maye dropped a beautiful pass in for 17 yards to Hunter Henry.
Maye later went back to Stevenson for another 17-yard pick-up on a catch-and-run.
The Chargers forced a third-and-short play, but Maye kept the ball on designed run for six yards and a first down in the Chargers’ red zone.
The drive ended in disappointment for the Pats, however, when Odafe Oweh got to Maye for a strip sack. Da’Shawn Hand recovered for Los Angeles and the Chargers offense is back on the field.
Score: Patriots 6, Chargers 3
Another three-and-out for the Chargers
You’ve heard it before and you will hear it again.
The Chargers got the ball to start the second half and immediately went three-and-out, punting it back to the Patriots.
LA needs to get something going in this half before it gets too late.
Let’s see if the Pats can extend their lead.
Score: Patriots 6, Chargers 3
Second half is underway!
The Pats kick the ball away to the Chargers and we have 30 more minutes of football on this packed Sunday.
Long scramble from Drake Maye sets up Patriots FG to take lead at halftime
The Patriots started the drive in good field position after trading punts with the Chargers.
Drake Maye once again took matters into his own hands with a 37-yard scramble down to the Los Angeles 17-yard line.
After a couple incomplete passes, the Patriots settled for a 35-yard FG from Andy Borregales and a halftime lead.
A defensive struggle for much of this half as neither team has gotten across the goal line yet.
Halftime score: Patriots 6, Chargers 3
