Summary

The NFL's divisional playoff weekend showcased dramatic finishes and compelling storylines, with the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs securing victories in thrilling fashion.

Abstract

The recent NFL playoff weekend was hailed as the greatest in the league's history, with four games that captivated audiences across the United States. The Bengals, led by Joe Burrow, ended a 30-year playoff drought with a last-second field goal against the Tennessee Titans. The 49ers, despite a challenging season, also advanced with a buzzer-beater field goal against the Green Bay Packers. The Los Angeles Rams, featuring a newly acquired Matt Stafford, overcame the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady with another game-winning field goal. The weekend concluded with a spectacular overtime victory for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Buffalo Bills, highlighting the talents of young quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. These games underscored the NFL's dominance in television ratings and its ability to deliver enthralling entertainment.

Opinions

The author expresses a strong personal connection to the Cincinnati Bengals, emphasizing the significance of their win due to a long playoff victory drought.
Joe Burrow is praised for his skill and impact on the Bengals' turnaround, likened to Kevin McCallister outsmarting his opponents.
Aaron Rodgers is described as a talented but brooding quarterback who has struggled in postseason play despite regular-season success.
The San Francisco 49ers' journey to the playoffs is noted as particularly impressive given their initial 3–5 record and the strength of their division.
The trade for Matt Stafford is characterized as a strategic move by the Rams to bolster their chances of winning the NFC.
Tom Brady's age and physical condition are contrasted with his continued dominance in the league, with the author expressing admiration for his achievements.
The Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs game is highlighted as the pinnacle of the weekend, showcasing the prowess of the league's young quarterbacks and the unpredictable nature of the NFL.
The NFL is celebrated for its ability to captivate and unite fans, with the author's own mother engaging with the games and expressing excitement.

The Greatest Weekend in NFL History

Joe Burrow, Tom Brady, and more

The NFL is the most brutal and Darwinian of all sports and it’s not close. It’s also the most entertaining, heart-pounding, thrilling, fun product ever delivered on television. Period.

The numbers prove it: out of the 50 highest-rated telecasts of 2021, the NFL had 29 — that’s 60% (https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/top-rated-shows-2021-ncis-yellowstone-squid-game-1235143671/.).

Two things contribute to this: Compelling stories and hope. All four games had this.

Cincinnati vs. Tennessee

I am a life-long Bengals fan. I am from Dayton, OH (30 minutes from Cincinnati) and even though I moved away in 1988 I have never lost my passion for the team. It is well documented that they hadn’t won a playoff game in over 30 years up until they beat Las Vegas a week ago. Perspective dump: that was before text messages, the internet (seriously who really used it at that time), and email.

If you took those things away today, the world would stop for a week. Maybe more. There would be weeping and gnashing of teeth, sackcloth, and ashes. People would probably find purpose but that’s another article for another day.

Enter Joe Burrow. He looks like Macaulay Culkin and he’s so good he looks like he’s toying with defenses like Kevin did with Joe Pesci. He has completely turned this franchise around, given it hope.

It’s a great story. A kid from Ohio, benched at Ohio State, wins a title at LSU, then walks right in and hoses the dumpster fire in the ‘Natti. He surpassed the amount of Touchdown throws in the playoffs that Cincy QB’s have thrown in the last 30 years….combined. Two. For good measure, another rookie, Evan Mcpherson had a leg of gold.

Mcpherson, 52- yarder at the buzzer to win. Bam. Bengals win 19–16.

San Francisco vs Green Bay

Aaron Rodgers was the storyline here. He’s a grumpy, brooding, disgustingly talented, quarterback, who dominates the regular season and has underachieved in the postseason.

Every year he toys with the Packers about retiring and throws sneaky left jabs at the front office about personnel. He knows he’s going to play the whole time, then he goes out and wins 13 games. And loses in the playoffs…a lot.

In the last three years, he has had home-field advantage and been expected to go to the Super Bowl. Bagel. Would he get his second Super Bowl win this year? Not if the Green Bay special teams have anything to say about it. They were awful.

San Francisco played in the best division in football and it was doubtful they would even make the playoffs. The two best teams in that division all year were the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. They started out 3–5. They were in a knife fight just to get into the playoffs. Two road wins later, they are one game away from a second Super Bowl appearance in three years. Amazing. On top of that, it snowed in Green Bay. That’s 50 claps right there.

Robbie Gould, 45-yards at the buzzer. Bam. Niners win 13–10.

LA Rams vs Tampa Bay

So many stories here. The Rams suckered the Lions into trading them Matt Stafford this year so they could beat up the NFC. Seriously, it was a bizarre trade. “Look Lions guys, our Quarterback stinks and yours is way better. We’ll trade you ours for yours so we can win the NFC.” Deal.

Stafford delivers. He threw beautiful moon balls to Cooper Kupp all year including one that sealed the game last night. A great story about Kupp — his future wife supported both of them financially in college so he could focus solely on football. Paid off.

Tom Brady is always a story. I swear I’m only a few workouts away from being more buff than him. He’s 44, doesn’t really run much, and is skinny as a rail. But he kicks everybody’s behind. Every year. I can’t do that. I run/walk two miles and collapse. Anyways, his 8th Super Bowl win wasn’t in the cards this year and that sucks. I love the guy and he almost did it. Down 27–13 with about three minutes left he almost delivered. An inexplicable defensive call at the end presumably by the Bucs’ coaches and he’s out. Belichek would have won that game.

Matt Gay, 30 yards at the buzzer. Bam. Rams win 30–27.

Buffalo vs Kansas City

Game of the year so far. Inexplicably great. The NFL is in all its glory right here. Two young guys, Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen are ruling the league right now and probably will for the next 5–10 years.

Allen is rapidly climbing my list of favorite players to watch. Buffalo had Super Bowl clunkers in the ’90s (well, one was close — against the Giants) but they had a major reason to hope this year and that hope was alive and well with 13 seconds left. I honestly don’t know if I have ever seen anything like I saw in the last 13 seconds of regulation last night.

For all of Allen’s greatness, Mahomes stole the show. His football IQ is off….the….charts. Kansas City started off 3–4 and looked like they were going to capsize this year.

Mahomes to Travis Kelce, 8 yards in OT. Chiefs win 42–36.

The NFL comes into our living rooms for five glorious months a year. It galvanizes cities and people. For crying out loud, my mom was watching the games last night and texting me with emojis. It’s just fantastic.

Three games left. Enjoy.