Round Three
Some of the most exciting and interesting games I have ever rolled! In fact, of the 12 games I played in the third round, 9 of them were decided by one score or less! And now we’re down to the final 16 in this Super Bowl tournament!!
Here are the results of Round Three:
Kansas City 31, Houston 30 – Incredibly, a missed extra point came back to haunt the Texans as Patrick Mahomes rallies the Chiefs late in the game to eke out a one-point victory. With 7:30 left in the contest, Houston QB Deshaun Watson hit Randall Cobb for a 12-yard TD to give the Texans a 9-point lead . . . but the snap on the PAT was fumbled. Mahomes then led Kansas City on a 75-yard march, culminating in Tyreek Hill’s 14 yard TD pass with 4:30 to play. A successful extra point narrowed the lead to two points. The KC defense then held Houston to a “three and out” on their next possession followed by Mahomes connecting on passes of 22, 17 and 18 yards to Hill and a 23 yarder to Sammy Watkins, leading to Harrison Butker’s game winning field goal as time ran out!
San Francisco 35, Seattle 26 – In the first significant upset of the tournament, the 49ers eliminated the heavily favored Seahawks by nine points on the road. QB Jimmy Garoppolo had a tremendous game throwing for five TD’s. The Niners had no turnovers in the game, while intercepting Seattle’s Russell Wilson twice. San Francisco running back Raheem Mostert had a solid game, tallying 90 yards rushing on only 11 carries.
Pittsburgh 44, Jacksonville 0 – It’s kind of remarkable that Jacksonville made it this far in the tournament . . . but, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers put an end to their playoff aspirations with an old-fashioned butt whipping, pounding the Jaguars 44-0! Big Ben was sensational, connecting on 38 of 45 passes for 376 yards and 4 TD’s! But, it was Pittsburgh’s defense that really stood up – holding the Jags to a remarkable 126 yards of total offense in the victory.
Detroit 42, Chicago 38 – In a fun “shoot-out” at Soldier Field, the Lions pull the mild upset behind QB Matthew Stafford, who connected on 25 passes and 4 touchdowns in the 4 point Detroit victory. The Bears actually had the lead, 38-35 with only one minute to play after Mitch Trubisky found Jimmy Graham for an 11 yard TD pass. But, a big kick-off return by Detroit’s Jamal Agnew, followed by completions of 22 and 25 yards to tight-end T.J. Hockenson, led to Stafford finding Marvin Jones behind the Bears’ secondary for a game-winning 15 yard TD with only five seconds remaining in the game. Two very evenly matched teams – Detroit rolled up 473 yards of offense to the Bears’ 470.
Tennessee 20, Baltimore 19 – Continuing this trend of very close games in the tournament, the Tennessee Titans, behind the pounding running of Derrick Henry, nipped the Ravens by one point! Henry was terrific, rushing 25 times for 147 yards and two TD’s. And, while the Ravens’ running game was great, tallying 230 yards on only 36 carries, the Titans defense really shut the door on Lamar Jackson’s passing game, holding Baltimore to a paltry 160 yards passing in the contest. But, because this was a battle of unbeatens, both will advance to the Sweet Sixteen round.
Tampa Bay 30, New Orleans 17 – In another battle of unbeatens, it was Tom Brady and the Bucs serving notice that they are on top of their game, forcing four New Orleans turnovers on the way to a 13-point victory. Brady threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns, with his primary go-to guy being Rob Gronkowski, who hauled in 5 passes for 143 yards and two scores. New Orleans was impacted by five injuries to starting players, including offensive stalwarts Drew Brees and Michael Thomas. But, stay tuned . . . these two may meet again in this tournament as both advance to the next round!
Indianapolis 21, New England 20 – In yet another one-point game, it was the Colts and Philip Rivers advancing to the next round and sending Cam Newton and the Patriots packing. New England actually had a 17-7 lead at the half, but Rivers rallied Indianapolis to two second half TD’s, a 1-yard run by Jordan Wilkins and a 4-yard pass to Michael Pittman. Stafford finished the day completing 25 passes to nine different receivers for 283 yards and two scores. Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor also had a nice game in the victory, rushing for 94 yards on just 16 carries.
Arizona 37, Minnesota 30 – In a game that Arizona never trailed in, they held off a furious rally by the Vikings to secure a seven-point victory eliminating Minnesota and advancing to the next round. Kyler Murray was the key in this one, throwing for 353 yards and 2 scores, and rushing for another 46 yards, including a 23-yard scramble for a TD. His primary target was All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins, who caught 7 passes for 140 yards and a score. Vikings QB, Kirk Cousins, had another solid game, tossing for 314 yards, but it was the Cardinal’s consistency on offense, rolling up 438 yards, that was the difference in the contest.
Cleveland 31, LA Chargers 24 – Another close game in this round! This time, it was the Browns coming from behind for the victory. At the end of the third quarter, the Chargers led 24-20. Early in the final period, Cleveland’s kicker, Cody Parkey, hitting a 43-yard field goal to cut the lead to one point. The rest of the quarter was a testament to frustration as neither team could mount a drive. That is, until there was only about 2:00 to play. After a punt, the Browns took over in their own territory and Baker Mayfield finally started clicking, hitting Kareem Hunt for 23 yards, Austin Hooper for 21 and Rashard Higgins for 22, setting up Nick Chubb’s two-yard TD run with only 35 seconds left! Cleveland elected to go for two, and Mayfield found Hooper in the end zone to give them a four point lead. Joe Reed had a big kick return, which was followed by a 46 yard Justin Herbert pass to Keenan Allen. Another 15 yard completion to Allen put the ball at the Browns’ 14 yard line with only 5 seconds remaining. Herbert connected with Mike Williams but he was stopped at the 3 yard line as time expired!
Dallas 22, Washington 19 – Washington did everything right. They outgained the Cowboys 420 to 221. They sacked Dallas quarterback Andy Dalton 9 times and they held Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to 34 yards on a combined 17 carries! How then, did they lose? For as much as they moved the ball offensively, they just could not seem to put the ball in the end zone! They only had one TD – a fourth quarter 2 yard run by Antonio Gibson. Other than that, it was four Dustin Hopkins field goals. And Dallas was able to score three TD’s, two after Washington turnovers in their own territory. The Cowboys, who did not turn the ball over, now advance to the next round.
Buffalo 41, Las Vegas 34 – Another one-score game!! Unbelievable! This time it was the Bills, down 27-24 midway through the third period, scoring 17 unanswered points to hold on and beat the Raiders by 7. Buffalo’s quarterback, Josh Allen, had another solid performance, competing 23 passes for 273 yards and 4 scores, while adding another 57 yards on 9 carries on the ground. Bills running back Devin Singletary also added offensive support, rushing for 96 yards on 20 carries and finding paydirt once. David Carr, of the Raiders, continued his sensational play, hitting on 26 of 39 for 349 yards and a pair of scores to All-Pro tight end Darren Waller, who finished with 9 catches for 119 yards in the loss. But, again, because this was a battle of unbeatens, both teams will advance to the next round.
Green Bay 21, LA Rams 16 – This was an amazing game, where the teams took turns dominating the contest! At first it was the Rams. In fact, when they scored their first touchdown, with 6:45 remaining in the first half, the statistics looked crazy! At that point Los Angeles had run 40 plays to the Packer’s 6! And, they had rolled up 228 yards of offense compared to Green Bay’s 15. But they only led 9-0 (they missed the PAT on that TD). At this point, Aaron Rodgers and the Pack took over, scoring 21 unanswered points to take a 21-9 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Rams weren’t done yet. With 11:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, Cam Akers scampered in from 28 yards out to cut Green Bay’s lead to five points. After trading punts, LA got the ball back with only 1:50 to play. Rams’ QB, Jared Goff, went to work. He hit Robert Woods for 15 yards, Cooper Kupp for 8 and then Josh Reynolds for 31 down to the Packers 16 yard line with only 5 seconds remaining. But Goff’s next pass was deflected picked off by Raven Greene at the 4 yard line to end the game!