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Sunday Games
AFC DIVISIONAL GAME
Houston Texans
at
Kansas City 51, Houston 31
At one point, the Texans opened up a 24-0 lead on the Chiefs, which required KC to mount a huge comeback if they were going to win. Only four teams in NFL playoff history had overcome 24 point leads to win (Buffalo overcame a 32-point deficit to Houston in 1993, Indianapolis overcame a 28-point lead to defeat Kansas City, New England overcame a 25-point deficit in the Super Bowl to win in overtime, and San Francisco overcame a 24-point lead to defeat the New York Giants.
However, the Chiefs not only managed to stage the comeback successfully, but they actually wound up beating the Texans by 20 points, something that had never been done before. That was a 44-point swing, which makes sense considering Kansas City scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives, and at one point in the third quarter, had scored 41 unanswered points. In fact, the Chiefs managed to score so often, and so quickly, that it hardly felt like the intensity of those comeback wins in the past. In a little over three minutes in the second quarter, the Chiefs scored three touchdowns to close to within a field goal. By halftime, they were actually leading, 28-24. And they kept pouring it on, turning what seemed like an exciting comeback into a blowout going the other way.
All of those other comebacks went to the final minutes, even to the final plays. Here in this one, you really got the feeling by somewhere in the third quarter that the Houston defense just could not stop, or even slow down, that KC offense, and that the game was getting out of hand. The Texans indeed had owned a 24-0 lead, but it was early in the game, meaning that it was so early, that the Chiefs had plenty of time to work with. And boy, did they ever work to overcome this deficit!
Again, they took the lead by halftime. And then they kept building on that lead in the third quarter, which made this feel not so much like a great comeback win, even though it actually was. Because in all of those previous comeback games, it was not at all sure that those teams would win, or even really make it a very competitive game, by the time that the third quarter ended. Each of those teams was still losing entering the fourth quarter. But the Chiefs already had a sizable lead at some point in the third quarter. The turnaround from being down and doing everything wrong through the third fifteen to twenty minutes or so, to the rest of the game, when they were doing everything right and all of the momentum was clearly and indisputably in their favor, was amazing.
In fact, this game reminded me of another comeback, although it is not known as a comeback game. I am referring to Super Bowl XXII, when Denver came out as the favorites, and were dominating in the first quarter, grabbing a 10-0 lead. But Washington stormed back with 35 points in a historical second quarter, and the game was never really in doubt again. That was how this game felt. You could not help but be impressed by Houston in the beginning, and then, you could not help but feel badly for them once the avalanche of the Chiefs momentum buried whatever chances the Texans once had had.
The two teams were fairly even statistically. The Chiefs actually produced slightly less yards than Houston, and the Texans also held onto the ball longer. The Chiefs produced a fair amount more first downs, however.
But the key, obviously, were those seven straight Kansas City drives that resulted in touchdowns, putting the game out of reach for Houston. No team in playoff history had ever had seven straight touchdown drives before, and the 41 unanswered points were obviously too much for the Texans to hope to recover from.
Patrick Mahomes showed maturity and leadership, remaining calm while firing up his team when they were down, and then enjoying the very hot hand once the Chiefs finally got the thing in gear. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 321 yards and five touchdowns. He also led KC in rushing, with 53 yards picked up on seven carries. His favorite target in the air was Travis Kelce, who hauled in 10 catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns.
On the losing side, Deshaun Watson completed 31 of 52 yards for 388 yards and two touchdowns. DeAndre Hopkins proved to be his favorite target with 118 yards on nine receptions. Carlos Hyde picked up 44 yards on 13 carries.
The Chiefs will next host the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City next weekend.
My pick: Accurate
NFC DIVISIONAL GAME
Seattle Seahawks
at
Green Bay Packers
Green Bay 28, Seattle 23
The Seahawks almost pulled off the second great comeback of the day, but stalled and ran out of time right at the end.
Still, for a while, it seemed like the Packers were simply going to blow Seattle out in this one, at one point leading 21-3.
But finally, the Seahawks got in gear. I am not from Seattle and did not see this team too often, but it seemed to me that in quite a few games, it took the Seahawks a while to really warm up and figure something out about what their opponents were doing. Seattle did that, but it proved to be a case of just too little, too late. They made a competitive game of it, but in the end, that was all that they could do. You never really got the sense that they had a great chance of winning.
In a successful effort for Green Bay, legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 16 of 27 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. That includes two truly key completions right at the end of the game, both of which were good for first downs, and which essentially helped to ice the game in the Packers favor. Davante Adams was his favorite target, grabbing eight receptions for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Jones added 62 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.
On the losing side, Russell Wilson completed 21 of 31 for 277 yards and one touchdown. Wilson also led his team in rushing, picking up 64 yards on seven carries. Tyler Lockett had a very impressive day, catching nine passes for 136 and a touchdown.
My pick: Accurate
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