Playing the wild card
The Titans and Falcons were among the teams advancing in the NFL playoffs following wild card victories on the weekend, with a quirky play helping Tennessee to their win.
JAGUARS 10 BILLS 3 — At Jacksonville, Fla., Blake Bortles put together one decent drive all day, doing as much with his legs as his arm, and defensive-minded Jacksonville eked out an ugly and sometimes unwatchable victory against Buffalo in an AFC wildcard game Sunday.
In the post-season for the first time since January 2008, the third-seeded Jaguars (11-6) advanced to play at No. 2 seed Pittsburgh next week.
The sixth- seeded Bills ( 9- 8) will head home after ending the longest, current playoff drought in North American professional sports.
Bortles was a big reason Jacksonville won the game and a big reason it was so close. This was far from a passing clinic. It was more like a painful exercise in overcoming poor passing.
Bortles was off most of the day, misfiring short and long, but made up for it with 88 yards rushing. He scrambled for a long first down run after fumbling the ball late, prompting a Bills assistant to slam a clipboard and eliciting a huge grin from Bortles.
“We weren’t sharp, we made some bad plays and did some stupid stuff, but we found a way to win and that’s all that matters,” Bortles said.
He completed 12 of 23 passes for 87 yards, with a touchdown. His TD pass to backup tight end Ben Koyack late in the third
quarter was his best throw of the game. It also was a gutsy call on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
Bortles did the rest on the ground, scrambling for first downs and helping Jacksonville win its first playoff game at home since the 1997 season.
Saturday TITANS 22 CHIEFS 21 — At Kansas City, Mo., Marcus Mariota did everything to help Tennessee advance in the playoffs, throwing a crazy touchdown pass to himself, running for crucial first downs and providing the kind of spark that Tennessee needed to
rally from an 18-point halftime hole. He even threw a crucial block on the run that clinched the game.
It all added up to a heart-stopping victory over Kansas City, the first post-season win for the Titans in 14 years and one that will provide some relief — for the week, at least — for embattled coach Mike Mularkey and his underdog squad.
Mariota had 205 yards passing and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 22-yard strike to Eric Decker with six minutes left.
Derrick Henry added a careerhigh 156 yards rushing and an- other score for Tennessee (10-7), while a defence fileted by Alex Smith and the Chiefs (10-7) in the first half pitched a shutout in the second half — dooming the Kansas City franchise to another humiliating post-season defeat.
Smith threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns for the Chiefs, who haven’t won a home playoff game since January 1994.
FALCONS 26 RAMS 13 — At Los Angeles, Matt Ryan passed for 218 yards and hit Julio Jones for an eight-yard touchdown with 5:48 to play, and defending NFC champion Atlanta advanced from the wild-card round with a methodical victory over Los Angeles.
Devonta Freeman rushed for an early score and Matt Bryant kicked four field goals for the Falcons (11-6), who spoiled the Rams’ first playoff game in 13 years while showing off the postseason poise they earned from last season’s journey to the Super Bowl.
Atlanta never trailed at the Coliseum while winning playoff games in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history, jumping to an early 13-0 lead while capitalizing on two early mistakes by Pharoh Cooper, the Rams’ Pro Bowl kick returner.
The Falcons’ defence did more than enough to slow down the NFL’S highest-scoring offence, harassing Jared Goff into a 24-for-45 performance in his playoff debut. Robert Woods caught nine passes for 142 yards for the NFC West champion Rams (11-6).