Patrick Mahomes outlasted Josh Allen in perhaps the greatest game in NFL history. (Getty Images)
Riveting weekend of NFL playoff games ends with the greatest game in league history
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from NFL divisional playoff round …
Call it the greatest weekend of post-season games in the modern history of the NFL.
All four games decided on the last play.
Three of them won on last-second field goals by the visiting teams.
Two of the greatest quarterbacks of all time lost in last-play squeakers.
And then the two greatest quarterbacks of the present and future threw haymakers at each other in a game for the ages that may forever change the rules of overtime.
Cincinnati Bengals 19, Tennessee Titans 16
1. Mike Vrabel’s two analytics-driven decisions cost the Titans the game. After a touchdown tied the score in the second quarter, 6-6, Vrabel accepted a penalty prior to the PAT and went for 2 points from the 1-yard line. Derrick Henry was stopped for no gain. Really? Was an 8-6 lead rather than 7-6 worth the risk? Then with the score tied, 16-16, with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter, Vrabel went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Bengals’ 35 rather than attempt a go-ahead field goal of 53 yards. Again, Henry was stopped. That’s potentially four points left on the field. Incredibly, Vrabel wasn’t pressed on both dumb decisions in the post-game press conference. Vrabel disarmed questioners by commenting, “You guys make a living out of second-guessing. We don’t.” I like Vrabel but, geez, he should have been roasted for those calls. Coaches are big boys. They can handle it. Tennessee media failed badly.
2. Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson was perfect on field goals from 38, 45, 54 and then the game-winner from 52 yards at the final gun. Not only did the kicks sail between the uprights, each one was drilled right through the middle of the posts – no-doubters, all. A good kicker is such a weapon because he allows the coach to make play-calls with the confidence that he has three points in his pocket. The Browns can learn two things from the Bengals: 1. They need to appreciate the value of a kicker. Since former CEO Joe Banner and accomplice Mike Lombardi banished Phil Dawson to free agency in 2014, the Browns have burned through 10 kickers, including one (Cody Parkey) twice. 2. Kevin Stefanski has to come to grips with the fact that a field goal is worth three points and not minus-4 (or, a failure to score seven).
3. Wherever the Bengals wind up in the draft, mark them down in ink for offensive line help in the first round. They’re well-positioned to stock up. Just think how good Joe Burrow would be, say, behind the Browns’ offensive line. That said, Burrow’s only evident weakness this early in his career is his unwillingness to avoid sacks with throwaways. Throw it away and live for another play. After suffering nine sacks, Burrow did not say he would consult with his agent and family about playing the Bengals’ next game.
San Francisco 49ers 13, Green Bay Packers 10
1. Critics of Jimmy Garoppolo will say that the 49ers won (again) in spite of their lame-duck quarterback not because of him. (Garoppolo’s record improved to 37-15, counting postseason, with San Francisco.) They will point to: Garoppolo’s interception in the second quarter that cost the 49ers a sure three points and nearly cost them three more on a Green Bay field goal (which was blocked); his pedestrian numbers (11 of 19 for 131 yards and 57.1 passer rating); and the fact the 49ers scored all their points on special teams. But they fail to acknowledge the plays Garoppolo makes after his admittedly-annoying mistakes, such as the 12-yard completion to George Kittle and one of 14 yards to Deebo Samuel on the clutch drive to set up Robbie Gould’s 45-yard game-winning field goal. Interceptions happen to every quarterback. How the quarterback responds to an interception is what separates the great ones. “The [crap] that he takes, consistently people try to pull him down, and consistently all he does is deliver,” Kittle said to The Athletic. “He leads the team. He’s the sense of calm in the huddle. He’s the sense of calm in the storm. He allows us to play football at a high level.” Garoppolo has four fourth-quarter game-winning drives this year and 11 in his career.
2. If there is a model to project Stefanski’s future as a head coach, hopefully it is Kyle Shanahan and not Matt Nagy. Shanahan reached the Super Bowl in his third year with the 49ers and now has reached the NFC Championship Game a second time in his fifth year. He serves as his own offensive play-caller and has matured to where he doesn’t feel the need to showcase his offensive prowess to prove himself. He has learned that his No. 1 task is to win games – any way he can. If that requires taking the ball out of his quarterback’s hands, so be it. If it means possessing the ball on offense to eat clock and settling for field goals, fine. Stefanski coaches as if he believes the only way to win is to score touchdowns on every possession. He needs to learn when to take his foot off the gas pedal and manage the game with all three phases of his team.
3. I believe Aaron Rodgers has played his last game for the Packers. I believe it will be a mutual decision. I believe Rodgers would like to pull a Tom Brady and move to a Super Bowl-contender, but that depends on Green Bay’s asking price in a trade. Otherwise, I believe he will retire.
Los Angeles Rams 30, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27
1. The Rams mortgaged their future with trades for Jalen Ramsey, Matthew Stafford and Von Miller, and then they were gifted Odell Beckham Jr. by the Browns. They are owned by one of the wealthiest men in the NFL, who was determined to get his team in the Super Bowl this year to play in his $5 billion SoFi Stadium. Well, the plan is one victory away from being realized. As a result, the Rams are without their picks in the first, second, third and fourth rounds in 2022; and the first and fourth rounds in 2023. Worth it? Only if the Rams beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
2. Tom Brady’s amazing fourth-quarter comeback fell short when Stafford moved the Rams into position for a game-winning field goal. So Brady remains tied with Browns legend Otto Graham with seven league championships in 10 league championship game appearances. For that reason, I think Brady comes back at the age of 45 to try to surpass Graham next year.
3. Beckham earned another $750,000 contract incentive with the Rams’ win, giving him $1.25 million so far in post-season incentives. He can earn another $750,000 if the Rams make it to the Super Bowl and $1 million more if they win it. He’ll get $500,000 if he’s active in the Super Bowl and the Rams lose. So, not only did Beckham emerge as the only winner in the blockbuster Giants-Browns trade of 2019, he has run away with all the alimony in the messy divorce from the Browns.
Kansas City Chiefs, 42, Buffalo Bills 36 (OT)
1. Total exhaustion. In the last 2 minutes of regulation, there were 25 points scored, three lead changes and one tie. Patrick Mahomes threw for 177 yards – after the 2 minute warning, and then won it in overtime on a TD to Cleveland Heights’ own Travis Kelce. This game had four penalties and zero turnovers. Greatest game I’ve ever seen.
2. I loved Mahomes for saying immediately after the game, “No. 17, Josh Allen, played his ass off. Pardon my language.” Allen was amazing, throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns and running for 68 yards. His 136.0 passer rating out-pointed Mahomes’ 115.5. In his last two games, Allen threw for nine touchdowns and no interceptions. And it wasn’t good enough to get him to his first Super Bowl?
3. Many will second-guess Buffalo coach Sean McDermott’s decision to kick-off into the end zone after Buffalo went up 36-33 with :13 left instead of booting the ball short of the end zone and forcing the Chiefs to use a few seconds on the kick return. Mahomes completed two passes for 43 yards to set up the game-tying field goal and force the overtime. Allen never saw the ball in overtime, as the Chiefs won the toss and Mahomes went the length of the field against a gassed Buffalo defense for the winning TD to Kelce. There is no doubt in my mind this will generate a hot discussion in league Competition Committee meetings to lift the sudden-death provision of overtime and provide both teams at least one possession. The current rule ends the game if the first team with possession scores a touchdown. Ironically, the Chiefs proposed the rules change to allow both teams one possession in the past and the Bills -- plus every other team -- showed no interest in pursuing it.
