Tomlin avenges firing in playoff win over former team as Pats edge Steelers
In his last two starts against the New England Patriots, reigning league MVP Matt Corral has thrown for at least 400 yards but in both instances, New England was the one to get the last laugh.
Corral and the Pittsburgh Steelers' comeback effort fell short as with 53 seconds left in the game and the ball on the 23-yard line, Corral would be sacked and throw three straight incompletions as New England held on to beat the Steelers 24-20 on Wild Card Saturday to advance to the Divisional Round.
New England seemed poised to run the clock out, up four points in the final four minutes after another red zone sack forced Pittsburgh to settle for a field goal after getting the ball to the New England 20-yard line. Three straight penalties made it 1st and 25 from the New England ten-yard line but the Patriots picked it up on a 25-yard run by Damien Harris, who scored earlier in the game on a 75-yard touchdown run. Harris rushed for 156 yards and a touchdown.
The Patriots would pick another first down before coming up on 2nd and 2, where they would run into the Steel Curtain on back to back plays, forcing a punt with 2:23 left in the game.
The Steelers comeback effort started with no hiccups as Corral completed a seventeen yard pass to former New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry and then back to back eleven yard completions to Dionatae Johnson and Henry respectively to get the ball across the 50-yard line. Despite having three timeouts, Pittsburgh chose to continue pushing the tempo, even after a 10-yard completion to Najee Harris to get the ball on the 23-yard line.
Corral would be sacked by a relentless Christian Barmore to get the ball back to the New England 34-yard line. Corral's next three passes would fall incomplete as New England settled into a deep zone, forcing Corral to throw into tight coverage down the field in an effort to pick up the first down.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[NE] O. Beckham Jr. 8 Yd pass from M. Jones (5:50)
[PIT] D. Johnson 23 Yd pass from M. Corral (3:42)
[NE] D. Harris, 75 Yd run (3:32)
Quarter 2
[NE] J. Tucker, 35 Yd FG (1:20)
Quarter 3
[PIT] N. Harris 88 Yd pass from M. Corral (10:50)
Quarter 4
[PIT] M. Gay, 46 Yd FG (14:51)
[NE] C. Rambo 44 Yd pass from M. Jones (12:16)
[PIT] M. Gay, 48 Yd FG (5:04)
---------------------------------------------------------------- New England Patriots
QB Mac Jones: 14 of 22, 199 yards, 2 touchdowns, sacked 0 times.
HB Damien Harris: 20 carries, 156 yards, touchdown.
HB Kenny McIntosh: 9 carries, 44 yards, 4 receptions, 51 yards.
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 7 carries, 15 yards.
WR Odell Beckham Jr: 3 receptions, 33 yards, touchdown.
WR Charleston Rambo: 2 receptions, 63 yards, touchdown.
TE Darnell Washington: 2 receptions, 24 yards, fumble.
LT Patterson: 91.5 PFF grade | LG Onwenu: 97.2 PFF grade | C Alexander: 73.4 PFF grade | RG Tomlinson: 71.7 PFF grade | RT Brown: 100 PFF grade
LB Trez Marshall: 9 tackles, tackle for loss, sack (69.8 PFF grade)
CB Jaire Alexander: 6 tackles (79.8 PFF grade)
CB Roger McCreary: 5 tackles, tackle for loss (51.6 PFF grade)
S Jordan Poyer: 4 tackles, interception (87.9 PFF grade)
LB Gio Whitfield: 5 tackles, tackle for loss, sack (73.7 PFF grade)
IDL Quincey Thompkins: 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks (93.8 PFF grade)
CB J.C. Jackson: 4 tackles (92.5 PFF grade)
IDL Christian Barmore: 3 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 sacks (90.1 PFF grade)
Pittsburgh Steelers
QB Matt Corral: 34 of 47, 451 yards, 2 touchdowns, interception, sacked 7 times.
HB Najee Harris: 12 carries, 66 yards, 11 receptions, 189 yards, touchdown.
TE Hunter Henry: 13 receptions, 145 yards.
WR Diontae Johnson: 6 receptions, 62 yards, touchdown.
WR Jimmie Dobbs: 3 receptions, 47 yards.
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster: 1 reception, 8 yards (strapped up by J.C.)
S Minkah Fitzpatrick: 12 tackles
LB Devin Bush: 9 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
DE Stephon Tuitt: 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
S Terrell Edmunds: 8 tackles, tackle for loss
NFL Wild Card Results
SF 35 - CHI 17 | BAL 31 - HOU 24 | SEA 27 - ATL 24
NE 24 - PIT 20 | LAR 29 - GB 26 | CLE 34 - JAX 24
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- NFL Divisional Round Schedule
Baltimore Ravens (11-7) at Kansas City Chiefs (13-4)
Los Angeles Rams (10-8) at Dallas Cowboys (13-4)
Cleveland Browns (11-6) at New England Patriots (14-4)
Seattle Seahawks (11-7) at San Francisco 49ers (13-5)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
HB Najee Harris (PIT): 12 carries, 66 yards, 11 receptions, 189 yards, touchdown
S Demani Richardson (CLE): 4 tackles, 2 interceptions, touchdown
QB Jordan Love (GB): 27 of 39, 302 yards, 3 touchdowns
OLB Khalil Mack (CHI): 10 tackles, sack
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Injuries
T Jack Conklin (CLE): Season (ankle)
TE Dalton Schultz (DAL): Season (hamstring)
T Isaiah Wynn (NE): Season (elbow)
HB Kareem Hunt (SF): Season (knee)
Patriots advance to back-to-back AFC Championship game behind rushing attack
Even with a first round pick at quarterback and giving Mac Jones a mega deal this year, the New England Patriots know who they are. Run the football, play physical defense and get after the quarterback, causing chaos.
They stuck to their game plan against the Cleveland Browns and even with the Browns late comeback led by C.J. Stroud's 453 passing yards, they dominated Cleveland at the line of scrimmage on their way to a 31-26 victory to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the second straight season.
Stroud threw for 402 yards in his last playoff start against New England which he bested this Saturday. A lot of his yards came in the fourth quarter where he threw two touchdown passes in the final two minutes to make the game appear closer than it was.
New England took a two possession lead in the second quarter with 34 seconds left in the game as Darnell Washington got behind the defense for a 47-yard touchdown and they never looked back.
Stroud for Jahan Dotson for a 44-yard touchdown in the third quarter to cut into the lead only for New England to respond with a ten play drive, nine of which were runs that ended with Kenneth Walker III punching it in after a previous long touchdown of his earlier in the game got called back.
Walker would also finish off another long drive with a one-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that took fourteen plays, eleven of which were runs. Walker finished the game with 44 yards rushing and two scores behind Damien Harris' 102 yards and Kenny McIntosh's 78 yards.
Harris' fumble late in the fourth quarter gave way to Cleveland's first touchdown of the fourth quarter and he would be stopped on fourth and inches on the ensuing possession which led to the second touchdown.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
I'm an idiot and left the post game page before writing this down. Watch the video.
---------------------------------------------------------------- New England Patriots
QB Mac Jones: 12 of 23, 175 yards, 2 touchdowns, interception, sacked 0 times.
HB Damien Harris: 24 carries, 102 yards, fumble (lost).
HB Kenny McIntosh: 13 carries, 78 yards, 2 receptions, 26 yards.
HB Kenneth Walker III: 12 carries, 44 yards, 2 touchdowns.
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 3 carries, 11 yards.
TE Darnell Washington: 3 receptions, 66 yards, touchdown.
WR Odell Beckham Jr: 2 receptions, 25 yards.
WR Parris Campbell: 1 reception, 24 yards.
WR Jakobi Meyers: 1 receptions, 19 yards.
WR Charleston Rambo: 1 reception, 4 yards, touchdown.
LT Patterson: 79.3 PFF grade | LG Onwenu: 98.5 PFF grade | C Alexander: 90.4 PFF grade | RG Tomlinson: 92.7 PFF grade | RT Brown: 92.3 PFF grade
CB Jaire Alexander: 8 tackles (39.8 PFF grade)
S Malachi Moore: 7 tackles (59.7 PFF grade)
LB Trez Marshall: 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss (75.1 PFF grade)
LB Gio Whitfield: 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks (74.7 PFF grade)
IDL Christian Barmore: 4 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks (92.4 PFF grade)
IDL Akiem Hicks: 3 tackles, tackle for loss, sack (93.5 PFF grade)
IDL Deatrich Wise Jr: 2 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks (88.0 PFF grade)
EDGE Von Miller: 2 tackles, tackle for loss, sack (72.8 PFF grade)
EDGE Micah Webb: 2 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack (81.4 PFF grade)
Cleveland Browns
QB C.J. Stroud: 28 of 41, 453 yards, 3 touchdowns, interception, sacked 11 times.
HB Nick Chubb: 14 carries, 66 yards, 10 receptions, 104 yards.
WR Jahan Dotson: 6 receptions, 220 yards,2 touchdowns.
TE David Njoku: 5 receptions, 30 yards.
TE Glenn Samuel: 3 receptions, 66 yards, touchdown.
S John Johnson III: 13 tackles.
LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: 13 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
LB Miles Whitfield: 12 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
CB Denzel Ward: 4 tackles, interception.
NFL Divisional Round Results
KC 35 - BAL 32 | LAR 26 - DAL 20
NE 31 - CLE 26 | SEA 24 - SF 14
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- NFL Conference Championship Schedule
New England Patriots (15-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (14-4)
Los Angeles Rams (11-8) at Seattle Seahawks (12-7)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Players of the Week
WR Jahan Dotson (CLE): 6 receptions, 220 yards, 2 touchdowns
S Kolby Harvell-Peel (BAL): 9 tackles, interception
QB Dak Prescott (DAL): 21 of 33, 209 yards, 2 touchdowns
CB Demorie Tate (DAL): 13 tackles, forced fumble
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notable Injuries
T Isaiah Wynn (NE): Season (elbow)
DE Quinnen Williams (NE): Out (elbow)
HB Chris Carson (SEA): Season (shoulder)
Patriots hold off Chiefs comeback efforts to advance to first Super Bowl post Brady, Belichick
As Darnell Washington went across the goal-line for his second touchdown of the day, the rout appeared to be on for New England, going up 28-7 with 1:15 left in the first half.
A few drops later from Washington and Company, a Mac Jones interception and Patrick Mahomes doing Patrick Mahomes things, New England almost had their own '28-3 moment' only to hold off the Kansas Chiefs rally thanks to J.C. Jackson's interception to seal the 35-31 victory on Sunday night to advance to the Super Bowl.
Five plays before, Clyde Edwards-Helaire had gotten behind the defense only for Mahomes to overthrow the running back that was destined for the endzone. Jackson was the nearest defender and took a mental note, baiting Mahomes into throwing the interception to seal the game after a questionable 33-yard pass interference penalty was on 4th and 7 had extended the drive.
The comeback all started after New England's forced a three-and-out following Washington's second touchdown, giving the Patriots and Jones the ball back with a minute remaining. Jones completed passes of twelve and seventeen yards to get to the Kansas City 39-yard line where Jones threw a would be touchdown pass to Charleston Rambo only for the receiver to drop it.
Washington would drop the next two passes thrown, one of which likely would have resulted in a touchdown. New England settled for a 56-yard kick which missed, giving Kansas City the short field and set up Harrison Butker's 45 yard field goal to cut into the lead.
The third quarter would be all Kansas City as New England continued to struggle with drops with a drop by Washington ending their first drive of the second half, resulting in a nine play Kansas City drive that ended with Tyreek Hill scoring. On the next possession, Jones would throw an interception, leading to another Harrison Butker field goal.
New England's third drive of the third quarter would falter after a drop by Jakobi Meyers on 3rd and 6 which Kansas City took advantage of it, converting on their 3rd and 3 with a 30-yad pickup by Johnny Stanton to set up the game tying touchdown to Tyreek Hill following the two point conversion.
With the game tied, New England got back to their core, running the football on eight straight plays to open the drive before Jones completed a 9-yard completion to Washington to bring up first and goal where Rhamondre Stevenson pounded it in from the two-yard line to take the lead.
Mahomes would get the ball all the way to the New England 7-yard line but was sacked on 2nd and goal, forcing them to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to four with 3:56 left.
Drops would come back to bite New England once more as Washington would drop another pass on 2nd and 9 to force New England to punt the ball with 3:12 left in the game. Washington finished the game with four drops, Meyers had two drops with Kenny McIntosh and Rambo having a drop apiece.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
[NE] J. Poyer, returned interception 33 Yds (2:46)
Quarter 2
[NE] D. Harris, 10 Yd run (14:55)
[NE] D. Washington 22 Yd pass from M. Jones (6:44)
[KC] J. Stanton 52 Yd pass from P. Mahomes (5:53)
[NE] D. Washington 29 Yd pass from M. Jones (1:15)
[KC] H. Butker, 44 Yd FG (0:05)
Quarter 3
[KC] T. Hill 9 Yd pass from P. Mahomes -- 2pt (8:50)
[KC] H. Butker, 56 Yd FG (5:18)
Quarter 4
[KC] T. Hill 1 Yd pass from P. Mahomes -- 2pt (14:20)
[NE] R. Stevenson, 2 Yd run (9:15)
[KC] H. Butker, 27 Yd FG (3:52)
---------------------------------------------------------------- New England Patriots
QB Mac Jones: 11 of 27, 173 yards, 2 touchdowns, interception, sacked 0 times.
HB Damien Harris: 14 carries, 74 yards, touchdown.
HB Rhamondre Stevenson: 8 carries, 38 yards, touchdown.
HB Kenny McIntosh: 7 carries, 44 yards, 4 receptions, 51 yards.
HB Kenneth Walker III: 6 carries, 28 yards.
TE Darnell Washington: 4 receptions, 68 yards, 2 touchdowns.
LT Patterson: 83.8 PFF grade | LG Onwenu: 95.7 PFF grade | C Alexander: 81.0 PFF grade | RG Tomlinson: 89.3 PFF grade | RT Brown: 83.8 PFF grade
S Malachi Moore: 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble (90.2 PFF grade)
CB J.C. Jackson: 8 tackles, tackle for loss, interception (72.6 PFF grade)
LB Trez Marshall: 8 tackles, tackle for loss (69.0 PFF grade)
S Jordan Poyer: 4 tackles, interception, fumble recovery (44.5 PFF grade)
Kansas City Chiefs
QB Patrick Mahomes: 43 of 59, 400 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, sacked 4 times.
FB Johnny Stanton: 7 carries, 40 yards, 13 receptions, 158 yards, touchdown.
HB Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 5 carries, 30 yards, 4 receptions, 22 yards.
WR Tyreek Hill: 10 receptions, 81 yards, touchdown.
TE Travis Kelce: 7 receptions, 80 yards.
WR John Metchie III: 6 receptions, 48 yards.
LB Nick Bolton: 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss.
CB L'Jarius Sneed: 10 tackles, tackle for loss.
S Juan Thornhill: 7 tackles, interception.
LB Malcolm Rodriguez: 5 tackles, tackle for loss.
DT Chris Jones: 3 tackles, tackle for loss.
