The Jets had to go with backup quarterback Luke Falk with starter Sam Darnold on the shelf with an injury.  But, the Jets’ defense played great against Tom Brady and the Patriots, holding them to only one touchdown, and New York nearly pulled off the upset!  In fact, they led at one point midway through the 3rd period 7-6 after Bilal Powell’s 7-yard scoring run.

But New England did a great job stopping the Jets’ ground attack, holding the New Yorkers to only 78 yards rushing on 28 attempts, less than 3 yards per carry.  Plus, they picked off Falk twice and sacked him 4 times.  And the Jets’ inability to sustain consistent drives offensively gave the Pats a tangible field position advantage in the game.

And, despite a sub-par game by Brady, he was able to march New England to their lone touchdown in the final period – a short run by Sony Michel, and the Pats remain unbeaten.

The Jets, however, are still alive in this playoff tournament, but now advance to the elimination round.

Sometimes you sit down to play a game and, in your mind, you feel that it will be kind of a tedious exercise.  That’s how I felt when this game popped up on my schedule.  And, then you start rolling and you end up with a classic battle!  The Chargers and Broncos faced off in an elimination game, and we had a little bit of everything!  Two running-backs who each had four rushing touchdowns, eight starters who were hurt during the contest, and a remarkable 4th quarter comeback forcing overtime!

L.A.’s Austin Ekeler scampered 61 yards for a TD on his very first carry, ended up the day with 162 yards rushing and scored the last of his 4 touchdowns in overtime to lead the Chargers past Denver 42-35.

But, the Broncos had nearly a miracle comeback, scoring four touchdowns in the final quarter to force overtime.  I do overtime like they do in college, and Los Angeles scored on their initial possession.  When Denver had their chance, unfortunately, Joe Flacco tossed an interception to end the game.

But this one was way more fun and entertaining than I would have ever expected!!  Kind of why we play these games!!!

How do you win a game without scoring a touchdown?  Well, enter Mason Crosby and the Packers.  Crosby’s four field goals were all Green Bay needed to nip the Los Angeles Rams 12-10.

The Rams actually out-played Green Bay, running up 375 yards of offense to the Packers’ 221.  Plus, they scored the game’s only touchdown.

But six turnovers, including an interception thrown by Jared Goff on a 1st and goal from the Green Bay 4 yard line, did the Rams in.

Both quarterbacks played great in this game featuring Daniel Jones for the Giants and Matt Ryan for Atlanta . . . but the Falcons brought a much more balanced attack, rolling up 120 yards on the ground to go along with Ryan’s 380 yards passing as they scored 24 second half points to rally for a victory and eliminate New York from the tournament.

Julio Jones was Ryan’s favorite target, snaring five passes for 165 yards and a pair of scores.  Atlanta stays alive and moves into the elimination round.

Every so often you sit down to roll a game and you just marvel at an individual performance.  Well, imagine doubling that and watching TWO amazing individual efforts.  That’s what I experienced when the Chiefs hosted the Colts.

Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill went off on Indianapolis!  Mahomes was 24-32 for 398 yards, no interceptions and SIX touchdowns!!  Hill hauled in 6 of those completions for a remarkable 212 yards and 3 TD’s!  Throw in Travis Kelce’s 7 catches for 97 yards and 3 TD’s of his own, and you have a good old fashioned rout!!!

In Kansas City’s two victories in this tournament, Mahomes has now completed 47 of 70 passes for 710 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions!

Well . . . . this one was pretty ugly!!!  The Steelers and the Dolphins!  Neither team could move the ball, with both teams racking up the exact same total yardage – only 237 yards apiece.  Ryan Fitzpatrick of Miami was 13-29 for 171 yards and 2 TD’s, but suffered 3 interceptions and, personally, lost two of the Dolphins’ three fumbles.  On the other side, Steelers’ QB Devlin Hodges was just as bad – completing 14 passes for only 122 yards.  Plus, Pittsburgh’s running game was awful, averaging only 2.7 yards on 44 rushes.  In fact, the highlight of the game may have been Miami’s fake field goal, where Albert Wilson completed a touchdown pass to the place-kicker, Jason Sanders!  So, the Steelers are still alive while the Dolphins are eliminated . . . but, unless Ben Roethlisberger is healthy enough to play in their next game, I’m not optimistic about their chances, despite their great defense.

Drew Brees couldn’t go, and was replaced in the Saints’ lineup by Teddy Bridgewater.  You would think that, alone, might explain Dallas’ 23 point victory.  But, Bridgewater doesn’t play defense . . . and he didn’t get flagged for ten penalties for 90 yards . . . and he didn’t fumble the ball at the Cowboys’ 11 yard line.

He did, however, complete 66% of his passes for 271 yards, one TD and no turnovers.

No, it was the Saints’ defense that did not seem to have an answer for Dak Prescott, the Dallas quarterback, who was 24-31 for 361 yards and 3 scores to three different receivers.  Ezekiel Elliott added 98 yards on the ground and a pair of TD runs as the Cowboys get a statement victory over the favored Saints.

Dallas now advances to the 2-0 winner’s bracket, while the Saints move to the elimination bracket.

The Bears controlled the clock, with 80 offensive plays compared to only 57 for the Lions.  They also did not turn the ball over.  The problem was that they struggled to get it into the end zone, and were knocked out of the tournament in a 15-point loss to Detroit.

Matthew Stafford and the Lions’ offense was jus more efficient, averaging 4.6 yards per rush, compared to Chicago’s 2.7; and averaging 15.8 yards per completion, while the Bears only averaged 9.5 yards.

Detroit’s trio of running-backs, Bo Scarbrough, Ty Johnson and J.D. McKissic each scored a touchdown, while wide-out Marvin Jones tallied over 100 yards on only 4 receptions.

THE BEST GAME OF THE TOURNAMENT!!  Every now and then you roll a “Classic” game.  This was one!

On the game’s first possession, Raider runningback DeAndre Washington had a 44 yard run from scrimmage setting up Josh Jacobs’ 9 yard TD run.  But the heavily favored Ravens came right back with 17 points on a Justin Tucker field goal, a touchdown run by Gus Edwards and a scoring pass from Lamar Jackson to Hayden Hurst.

But Oakland got another Jacobs TD with just less than a minute to play in the half to cut Baltimore’s lead to 3.  Amazingly, after the kickoff, Jackson connected with wideout Seth Roberts for a 65 yard gain and a first and goal at the Oakland 2 yard line.  But, perhaps even more remarkably, the Raiders failed on three running plays to score and time ran out on them in the first half!

The 3rd quarter belonged to Oakland.  Quarterback Derek Carr, who only threw four incompletions the entire game, helped orchestrate two scoring drives, a field goal by Daniel Carlson to tie it and a TD pass to Darren Waller to give them a seven point lead heading into the final period.  Amazingly, the field goal was set up by a 58 yard run from Jacobs, and the TD pass was set up by a 41 yard run by Jacobs!

Baltimore tied the score early in the 4th quarter on a short touchdown run by Mark Ingram, and then the teams swapped field goals.  So, with just less than two minutes to play we are all tied at 27.  But Carr drives the Raiders all the way to the Ravens’ four yard line before the drive stalled with Carlson splitting the uprights for a 3 point lead with only 45 seconds to play.

But here’s where Jackson worked some of his magic!  With the ball at his 25 yard line after a touchback, he connected with Willie Snead for 15 yards, then hit Mark Andrews for 49 yards and, with only 10 seconds remaining, found Andrews in the end zone for the game-winning TD!

Remarkably, Oakland’s Jalen Richard returned the subsequent kick-off 72 yards to the Baltimore 13 yard line as time expired!!!!  What a game!

In the first big upset of this tournament, the lowest seeded team in the AFC, the Cincinnati Bengals, top the Tennessee Titans by a touchdown to keep their playoff hopes alive.  Meanwhile, the Titans are to highest seeded team to be bounced from the playoffs – despite a terrific game by Derrick Henry.