36 • January 27, 2022 - February 2, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Sports A coin toss and field goal send the Chiefs and Bengals to the AFC Championship By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews
“That’s a kicker’s dream,” said McPherson, “to have the game on your shoulLast Saturders.” Overall McPherson day’s opening AFC was 4-4 on field goals, indivisional round playcluding a long of 54 yards. off game between “We’re here to make some the Cincinnati Bennoise, and teams are going gals and the Tennesto have to pay attention to see Titans began a us,” Bengals second-year weekend of incredible quarterback Joe Burrow emgames. The outcome phatically stated. Burrow was of each of the four impressive in completing in NFL postseason 28 of his 37 matchups were decidpasses for 348 yards and ed on the final play. one interception. He enThe Bengals, the dured endless pressure from AFC’s No. 4 seed, the Titans defense and was Quarterback Pat Mahomes and the Kansas Chiefs will be knocked off the sacked nine times. top seeded Titans seeking their third straight appearance in the Super Bowl when While the Bengals-Titans they host the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship by 19-16 on the game was low scoring, the road on a field goal Game on Sunday (Still photo courtesy of YouTube) Chiefs-Buffalo Bills pairing as time expired to was an offensive slugfest, advance to the AFC ChampiThey will be taking on the Kansas with the Chiefs landing the final blow. onship Game on Sunday. With City Chiefs, who are returning to the They defeated the Bills 42-36 in overthe score tied at 16, rookie Evan conference final for a fourth straight time in what was an epic playoff battle. McPherson kicked a 52-yarder ad- time. The Chiefs are also the first team The teams combined for 25 points in vancing the Bengals to the confer- to ever host four consecutive con- the last 2 minutes of regulation with ence championship game for the ference championship games. The the lead exchanging three times. The first time since 1988. winner moves on to the Super Bowl. Chiefs’ Harrison Butker’s 48-yard field
goal at the end of regulation sent the game into overtime. The Chiefs won the coin toss and their sensational quarterback Patrick Mahomes led them on a eight-play, 75-yard drive capped off by an eightyard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce to end the game and send them to a meeting with the Bengals this Sunday (3:00 p.m.). Mahomes threw for 378 yards, connecting on 33 of his 44 passes and three touchdowns. He also ran for a team-high 69. Bills QB Josh Allen was just as spectacular, going 27-37 for 329 yards with 68 on the ground. Buffalo’s most glaring fault was calling the wrong side of the coin before it was tossed to determine which team would get the ball to start overtime. NFL rules state that if a team scores a touchdown on the opening possession in overtime, it ends the game. “All you can do is play the rules the way the rules are explained, and that’s what we did,” said Mahomes. This will be the second meeting this season between the Bengals and Chiefs. The Bengals had a narrow 34-31 win in Cincinnati on Jan. 2.
The Rams and 49ers pull off upsets to advance to the NFC title game By JAIME C. HARRIS Amsterdam News Sports Editor Seedings in the NFL playoffs this season have been of little importance. There are no No. 1 seeds remaining of the four teams still in the tournament and only a single No. 2 (the Kansas City Chiefs). In the National Football Conference, two upsets last weekend in the divisional round set the stage for familiar foes strapping on their helmets for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. On Saturday, the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers went into Green Bay where temperatures were in the low teens and vanquished Aaron Rodgers and the top seeded Packers 13-10 on a 45-yard field goal by Robbie Gould as time ended in regulation. A day later in Florida, where the weather was much warmer, quarterback Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFC’s No. 2 seed, fell short of engineering an improbable comeback and were defeated by the No. 4 seed Los Angleles Rams 30-27 as Matt Gay guided a 30-yard field goal through the uprights as the final second ticked off the scoreboard. “Always tough to lose at the end of the year,” said Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion who led the Bucs to the title last season. “One team, one
year, it’s never the same after AM NEWS that. It doesn’t feel good to 01/06/22 lose any one of those games. I’ve lost at every one of those stages. It all sucks to lose in the end.” AM NEWS After trail01/13/22 ing 27-3 with a little over seven minutes to go in the third quarter, the Buccaneers made a furi- Jalen Ramsey, the Los Angeles Rams’ three-time Firstthe NFC ous comeback team All-Pro cornerback, will play a pivotal role inAM NEWS championship game against the San Francisco 49ers on and tied the 01/20/22 Sunday (Wikipedia photo) game at 27 on a 9-yard rush by running back Leonard Fournette with outstanding.” A Rams win over the 49ers 42 seconds left in the fourth. But the at home on Sunday (6:30 p.m. kickRams were able to move into field goal off ) will afford them the luxury of also range on two passes from their quarter- playing the Super Bowl at their home back Mathew Stafford to wide receiver two weekends later as it will be held at Cooper Kupp totaling 64 yards. gleaming SoFi Stadium in AM Inglewood, NEWS “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” California. 01/27/22 said Stafford. “I mean, we sure let ‘em But first things first. The 49ers have back in the game with a bunch of mis- beaten their NFC West division rival six takes on offense. Our defense played straight times and handed Rodgers, ar-
guably the most complete combination of skill and acumen to ever play QB, another disappointing loss in01024 NFC chamNE pionship games. His record is nowAM 1-4 01/06/ and0the74470 Packers’ loss for7the second con22784 secutive season at home as the conference’s No. 1. The 49ers offense and their quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo failed to generate a touchdown but one by the special teams on a blocked punt and a defense 01034 that pressured Rodgers all night AM were NE the 0difference. The victory was the 49ers’ 01/13/ 7 sixth in74470 the last22784 seven games and fourth in a row, including a 27-24 OT win over the Rams on the road in their final regular season game. It was a must win for the 49ers to clinch a playoff spot. “When a team gets hot, it’s dangerous,” said Garoppolo, who has weath01044 ered constant criticism about AMhis NE mediocre performances7 this season.01/20/ “So 0 74470 22784 we’ve just got to keep this thing going, focus on next week now, and keep this thing rolling.”
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