01/11/26 10:34:00
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01/11 22:33 CST Patriots, 49ers, Bills, Bears and Rams advance to NFL's
divisional round
Patriots, 49ers, Bills, Bears and Rams advance to NFL's divisional round
By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers eliminated the defending Super
Bowl champion Eagles, the Patriots dominated the Chargers and Josh Allen willed
the Bills past the Jaguars.
San Francisco, New England and Buffalo joined the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles
Rams in advancing to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs with victories in
the wild-card round.
The No. 6 seed 49ers (13-5) will face the top-seeded Seahawks (14-3) next
Saturday. The No. 6 seed Bills (13-5) will visit the No. 1 seed Broncos (14-3),
also on Saturday.
On Sunday, the No. 2 seed Bears (12-6) will host the No. 5 seed Rams (13-5),
and the No. 2 seed Patriots (15-3) will be home against the winner of Monday
night's game between the Texans and Steelers.
Purdy tossed a 4-yard TD pass to McCaffrey with 2:54 remaining to lift the
49ers to a 23-19 comeback win at Philadelphia on Sunday. McCaffrey also caught
a 29-yard TD pass from wide receiver Jauan Jennings.
The Patriots sacked Justin Herbert six times and held Los Angeles to just 207
yards in a 16-3 win on Sunday night.
Allen led Buffalo to a 27-24 comeback victory in Jacksonville in Sunday's first
game. Allen scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter and Cole Bishop
intercepted Trevor Lawrence's pass to secure Buffalo's first playoff win on the
road since the 1992 AFC championship game at Miami.
On Saturday, the playoffs kicked off with two wacky games.
The Bears trailed the Green Bay Packers 21-3 at halftime and 27-16 with just
under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter before Caleb Williams threw a
pair of touchdown passes. His 25-yard TD toss to D.J. Moore put Chicago ahead
31-27 with 1:43 remaining. Then Jordan Love's desperation heave into the end
zone from the Bears 28 was knocked down as time expired to secure Chicago's
first playoff win since the 2010 season.
Williams finished with 361 yards passing, two TDs and two interceptions for the
Bears.
In the opener on wild-card weekend, Matthew Stafford threw a 19-yard touchdown
pass to Colby Parkinson in the final minute and Los Angeles rallied to beat the
Carolina Panthers 34-31 in a game that was much closer than expected.
The Rams were double-digit favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook against the Panthers
(8-10). The Rams jumped to a 14-0 lead, but couldn't take advantage of
first-half turnovers and allowed Carolina to get within 17-14 at halftime.
Stafford, who earned All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career on
Saturday, threw for 304 yards, three TDs and had one pick. Puka Nacua, who was
a unanimous All-Pro selection, had 10 catches for 111 yards and one TD and also
had a 5-yard TD run.
The Rams are back in the divisional round for the second straight season. Last
year, they were 13 yards away from eliminating Philadelphia before a sack and
an incomplete pass ended their season with a 28-22 loss.
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