Sam Hubbard scored on a 98-yard fumble return, the longest in postseason history, and Joe Burrow accounted for two touchdowns as the Cincinnati Bengals registered a 24-17 victory over the visiting Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night in the AFC wild-card round.
Logan Wilson had 10 tackles and forced the fumble on the game-changing play and Ja’Marr Chase had nine receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown for third-seeded Cincinnati. Burrow passed for 209 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another score for the Bengals, who won their ninth straight game and will visit the Buffalo Bills in next weekend’s divisional round.
Tyler Huntley passed for 226 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for sixth-seeded Baltimore. Huntley started in place of Lamar Jackson (knee), who missed his sixth consecutive game. J.K. Dobbins and Demarcus Robinson caught touchdown passes for the Ravens.
Huntley was involved in the big play that changed the momentum early in the fourth quarter. The score was tied, and the Ravens had third-and-goal from the Cincinnati 1-yard line when Huntley kept the ball and tried to lunge over the goal line. But Wilson leaped and knocked the ball out of Huntley’s hands and right to Hubbard, who raced 98 yards to give the Bengals a 24-17 lead with 11:39 remaining in the contest.
Bills 34, Dolphins 31
Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and his team’s defense stood firm in the fourth quarter as Buffalo defeated visiting Miami in an AFC wild-card game.
The second-seeded Bills forced the Dolphins into a fourth-and-1 near midfield late in the game. Miami took too long getting to the line of scrimmage to snap the ball, causing a delay-of-game penalty, and Skylar Thompson threw incomplete on fourth-and-6.
Allen went 23-for-39 passing for 352 yards and had three total giveaways versus the Dolphins. Stefon Diggs caught seven passes for 114 yards, and Gabe Davis had six for 113 and a touchdown. Thompson, a rookie quarterback starting for Miami in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, finished 18-for-45 for 220 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Giants 31, Vikings 24
Daniel Jones accounted for 379 total yards in his first NFL playoff start and sixth-seeded New York pulled off a wild-card upset of third-seeded Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Jones threw for 301 yards on 24-of-35 passing with two touchdowns while adding 78 yards on 17 rushes. Saquon Barkley snapped a 24-24 tie on a 2-yard touchdown run with 7:47 left, carrying 325-pound defensive end and former teammate Dalvin Tomlinson into the end zone. Barkley rushed for 53 yards and a pair of scores while adding another 56 yards receiving.
Kirk Cousins hit 31 of 39 passes for 273 yards and two scores, but it wasn’t enough to move the Vikings into the NFC semifinals. The spot goes to the Giants, who will visit top-seeded Philadelphia next weekend.
–Field Level Media