Even with the higher stakes, the trolls were still present in the NFL's divisional round. The Philadelphia Eagles hung on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams 28-22 in the NFC divisional round on Sunday. A snowy Lincoln Financial Field set the scene for a Rams fourth-and-11 from the Eagles' 22-yard line with 31 seconds left in the game.
After containing Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry to 84 rush yards, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott discussed how his defense heard all the storylines that the team would have a hard time containing him in the Divisional Round game.
Henry rushed 16 times for 84 yards and a touchdown and failed to secure either of his two targets in the Ravens' 27-25 divisional-round loss to the Bills on Sunday. Henry's opportunities were somewhat capped by a game script that saw the Ravens trail from the 8:52 mark of the second quarter on.
After Lamar Jackson’s “Cars” metaphor on Saturday, Derrick Henry is embracing a new nickname: “Don’t call me Derrick. Just call me McQueen.” Henry had 186 yards rushing on 26 carries last night (7.2 yards per carry average) and two touchdowns.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman on the first drive of the game. Ravens QB Lamar Jackson rolls right and hits Isaiah Likely for a big gain on Baltimore's opening drive.
In trademark fashion, Henry hit the milestone in the second half. He rumbled for 46 yards on the Ravens' first drive of the half, finishing with a touchdown to cut Baltimore's deficit to 21-19.
Following the Ravens' wild-card demolition of the Steelers, Lamar Jackson compared Derrick Henry to the Pixar character Lightning McQueen. It's a nickname that The King is leaning into.
The best week of actual football is here. The NFL divisional round, while not as lengthy as the wild-card round, typically features the best four games we get of the season. And I don't expect this week to be any different.
In the days leading into the divisional round of the playoffs, there was a lot of discussion about the Ravens' 35-10 win over the Bills early in the regular season.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens made things interesting, but Buffalo's defense held on to give the Bills a victory in Sunday's AFC divisional round matchup.
But just as Andrews looked to run with the ball, Buffalo Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard landed a perfectly placed punch on the ball, knocking it out of Andrews’ left arm. Bernard fell on the fumble, and the Bills gained possession and drove down to kick the game-winning field goal.