Sunday wild-card games
Saints 21, Bears 9
Ravens 20, Titans 13
Browns at Steelers, late
Drew Brees will get to celebrate his 42nd birthday by preparing for a playoff game that will also feature the one active NFL quarterback older than him.
Brees completed 28 of 39 passes for 265 yards, connecting with Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray for touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the visiting Chicago Bears, 21-9, in an NFC wild-card game Sunday.
Alvin Kamara rushed for 99 yards and added a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter after sitting out the regular-season finale and not practicing this past week because of COVID-19 protocols.
The victory for the Saints (13-4) and Brees, who turns 42 on Friday, sets up a divisional-round meeting next weekend in the Superdome with Tampa Bay and 43-year-old QB Tom Brady.
The Bears (8-9) put forth a scrappy performance defensively that prevented the Saints from building more than a one-touchdown lead until Murray's 6-yard catch-and-run score made it 14-3 late in the third quarter.
But the Chicago offense struggled most of the game against a defense that ranked fourth in the NFL. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed 19 of 29 passes for 199 yards and one inconsequential TD pass to tight end Jimmy Graham as time expired. The Bears were held to 48 yards rushing.
Bears starting receiver Anthony Miller was ejected for shoving Saints defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson after a failed third-down play early in the second half. Gardner-Johnson also was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct but not ejected.
Ravens 20, Titans 13: Lamar Jackson finally has his first postseason victory, and coming away from Baltimore makes it even more impressive.
Jackson ran for 136 yards and a 48yard touchdown while throwing for 179 more as the Ravens rallied from 10 points down and beat the Titans in Nashville.
Baltimore also shut down 2,000yard rusher Derrick Henry and held Tennessee to its fewest points all season.
The Titans (11-6) had the ball and a chance to tie when Marcus Peters intercepted Ryan Tannehill's pass intended for Kalif Raymond with 1:50 left. After the turnover, the Ravens came onto the field and started waving good-bye to the Titans – drawing a taunting penalty they didn't mind at all.
“We finished finally,” Jackson said. “We finally finished.”
The Ravens (12-5) snapped a string of 21 straight games lost by the franchise in either the regular season or playoffs when trailing by 10 or more.
Henry ran all over the Ravens with 328 yards rushing combined in the past two meetings. With both Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams back on the Baltimore D-line, Henry had his worst performance this season with 18 carries for 40 yards.
Baltimore smothered a Tennessee offense that tied for fourth averaging 30.7 points a game and had more offensive yards per game during the season than any team but Kansas City. The Ravens finished with a 401-209 yards edge in total offense.
The Titans lost their first home playoff game in 12 years and have had three of their past eight postseasons ended on their own field by Baltimore.
Buccaneers 31, Washington 23 (Saturday night): Tom Brady threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tampa Bay past host Washington.
Brady was 22 of 40 passing and at 43 years 159 days passed George Blanda as the oldest player to throw a TD pass in a playoff game. A 36-yard scoring connection with Antonio Brown was Brady's longest in the playoffs since 2011.
Brady had to outduel Washington's Taylor Heinicke, who had a breakout performance in his second pro start and first in the playoffs in place of injured Alex Smith. Heinicke – signed in December to the practice squad – ran for 46 yards and a touchdown and threw for 306 yards and a score.