Saints hold off Panthers’ late rally
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints got it done with defense.
They’re headed to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs thanks to a 31-26 victory over Carolina in which they put the clamps on comebackminded quarterback Cam Newton. The home team sealed the victory Sunday with a 17yard sack of Newton on fourth down, the din practically lifting the roof of the Superdome.
The Saints, who were 3-0 against the Panthers this season, play at Minnesota on Sunday — a rematch of a season opener the Vikings won, 29-19.
It was the revived New Orleans defense that slammed the door on the Panthers, but quarterback Drew Brees had a spectacular game, too. He threw for 376 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including an 80-yarder to former Carolina receiver Ted Ginn Jr.
But the Panthers hung around thanks in large part to the play of Newton, who threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked four times.
A huge hit in the fourth quarter sidelined Newton for a play in the fourth quarter — he had to stop and sit on his way off the field — but he cleared concussion protocol and was allowed to resume playing.
That decision will likely be scrutinized because it came nine days after the NFL revised its concussion protocol and would “require a locker room concussion evaluation for all players demonstrating gross or sustained vertical instability (e.g. stumbling or falling to the ground when trying to stand).” — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
Chiefs break hearts again, blow 18-point lead in loss
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Frank Zombo sprinted to daylight, the announced crowd of 73,319 at Arrowhead Stadium cheering and yelling behind him.
This was Saturday, the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC wild-card playoff game, and the Chiefs had just surrendered a lead that at one juncture had stretched to 18 points. A dynamic 22-yard touchdown throw from Marcus Mariota to Eric Decker put the Titans ahead for the first time.
The Arrowhead Stadium crowd, by now well-accustomed to brutal playoff losses, slunk in its seats after the throw, realizing they might be witnessing yet another gutpunch game. Every break, every call, every gotta-have-it moment seemed to have gone against the Chiefs to that point, so there was little wonder when — on the ensuing twopoint conversion — everyone rose with joy at the sight of Daniel Sorensen’s sack of Mariota. The ball squirted free, and it looked like Zombo’s ensuing 58-yard return would give the Chiefs the lead again.
Alas, postseason redemption never seems to happen for Chiefs fans. For the second time in the game, referee Jeff Triplette promptly waved off a potentially game-changing play in the Chiefs’ favor by saying Mariota was down before the fumble due to forward progress.
“Again, forward progress,” said Triplette, who added the whistle came before the fumble. “He turned him around once, he turned him around a second time and he kept driving him back. You just rule forward progress at that point. (At that point), play’s over.”
The crowd sensed another heartbreaker in the making. And while the Chiefs trailed just 22-21 at that point with six minutes left in the game, they never recovered — or got the break they needed — to spare Kansas City another brutal season-ending loss.
While this one will most likely be remembered for iffy calls by the officials, it incorporated elements of other Chiefs playoff defeats over the years, too. The Lin Elliott Game in 1996, or their 45-44 loss to the Colts in 2014, for example. — Terez A. Paylor, Kansas City Star
Jaguars beat Buffalo for first playoff win since 2008
The Jaguars built a team centered around strong defense and a powerful running game.
With some unexpected contributors, that formula produced the franchise’s first playoff victory in more than 10 years.
Blake Bortles rushed for a career-high 88 yards and cornerback Jalen Ramsey pulled down a game-sealing interception as the Jaguars beat Buffalo 10-3 in front of 69,442 on Sunday at EverBank Field.
The Jaguars will play at Pittsburgh at 1:05 p.m. next Sunday. The winner of that game will play either New England or Tennessee in the AFC Championship Game.
Bortles completed 12 of 23 for just 87 yards but repeatedly was able to make critical plays with his legs.
His best throw of the day came late in the third quarter when he hit tight end Ben Koyack for a 1-yard touchdown to put the Jaguars up 10-3.
A gutsy call by coach Doug Marrone kept the offense on the field for fourth-and-goal from the 1 after running back Leonard Fournette’s attempt to jump over the line of scrimmage on third down resulted in no gain.
Bortles, who appeared to be stepped on while taking the snap, faked a hand-off to Fournette and fired a pass to Koyack in the back of the end zone.
The score was Koyack’s first of the season (second in career) and capped a 15-play drive that took 8:52 -- the Jaguars’ longest drive by time this season.
The Jaguars’ defense made the only touchdown of the day stand up.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was knocked out of the game with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter when his head slammed to the turf while he was being tackled by Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler.