What to know from Saturday’s NFL playoff action as Washington and Kansas City advance

CNN
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A team that booked its trip to the conference championship on Saturday returns to a comfortable spot after going seven straight years. The other has not been on such a big stage since 1992.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders are both one win away from the Super Bowl after convincing wins on Saturday. The Chiefs knocked off the Houston Texans 23-14, while the Commanders upset the top-seeded Detroit Lions 45-31.

It’s a remarkable turnaround for the Commanders, who won just four games a year ago. But the poor season allowed them to nab quarterback Jayden Daniels in the NFL draft, and the rookie has taken the league by storm in his first season, playing with poise while guiding his team deep into the playoffs.

For the Chiefs, that’s about as unremarkable as it gets. They have now won eight consecutive playoff games and have played in every AFC Championship game since the 2018–19 season. Patrick Mahomes and company are regulars this part of the season and look forward to a matchup against either the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens in the next round.

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s NFL divisional round:

The Commanders are unstoppable as they disrupted Detroit

Fox Sports’ Tom Brady, who has seen it all on the field, couldn’t believe what he saw Saturday night.

The points came fast and furious from the start at Ford Field in Detroit as Washington defeated the NFC’s top-seeded Lions by a score of 45-31.

With the score already 10-7 Commanders, Lions tight end Sam LaPorta made one of the best catches you’ll ever see to give the Lions a first half lead. Goff was forced out of the pocket by the Commanders’ pass rush, and when he was brought down, he threw himself at the second-year tight end. The Iowa product laid out and made an incredible one-handed grab for the score to put Detroit ahead 14-10.

The Commanders quickly answered with a TD of their own – a massive 59-yard strike from Jayden Daniels to Terry McLaurin to put the Commanders back on top 17-14.

Panic began to spread across Ford Field as the offensive miscues mounted for the home team. Goff sailed a pass over wide receiver Tim Patrick as he attempted another big play, but the ball landed in the hands of the Commanders’ Quan Martin, who zigzagged through the Lions’ players for a 40-yard pick-six to go with 10 .

The Lions’ attack had an emphatic response. On a trick play in reverse, Jameson Williams took the ball and ran through the Commanders’ defenders for a 61-yard score — punctuated by a front flip into the end zone to pull Detroit back to a three-point deficit, 24-21. Brady went wild in the booth: “This is video game stuff right here!”

The Commanders offense wasn’t content to just drive into halftime before three. Daniels threw a 38-yard prayer to Dyami Brown, which eventually led to a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz to extend the lead for the Commanders. After two quarters, Washington led by 10, 31-21.

It was a historic first half in Detroit. Seven touchdowns to seven different players in a game that produced 42 total points in the second quarter – the most in NFL postseason history.

The Lions defense made a key stop to start the half, forcing the Commanders to punt for the first time. The Detroit offense followed with a touchdown drive to get within three points.

But Daniels and the Commanders’ offense (and perhaps the ghosts that have haunted the Lions franchise for decades) were simply too tough to handle on Saturday night.

The rookie quarterback drove the Commanders downfield to the Detroit 16-yard line, where they faced a fourth-and-two. Washington head coach Dan Quinn decided to be aggressive and sent his offense to try to pick up the first down and succeeded with a quarterback keeper from Daniels.

A 15-play, eight-minute, 70-yard drive was capped by Washington running back Brian Robinson’s second touchdown of the game to once again make it a 10-point game.

Facing a 10-point deficit with just over 12 minutes remaining, Williams threw a jarring interception on one of Detroit’s trademark trick plays that has been a hallmark of the NFL’s top-scoring offense all season.

Washington capitalized again. This time it was running back Jeremy McNichols’ turn to pound the ball in for another touchdown to put the wild card Commanders up 45-28.

The Commanders scored 21 points off Detroit turnovers in the game.

After a field goal that cut the Lions’ deficit to 14 points, Detroit was back in the red zone in the final minute of the game, but a third interception of the night by Goff put any hopes of a Motor City Miracle to rest. All that remained was the winning formation for Washington. Daniels took a knee and the final seconds of the match ticked away.

“At the end of the day, after all of this, the loss today, I still love the guys,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the loss. “And I respect them. And I appreciate everything they put into it, but this is not the time to talk about a great year or how many wins. Just – because at this moment, I don’t think any of us feels like that.

“The whole point of doing what you do is to get to the show. That’s why you play this game, and we fell short.”

The Commanders advance to the NFC Championship game for the first time since the 1991-92 season, where they will play the winner of the Philadelphia-Los Angeles game on Sunday.

Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were heavy favorites coming into the game — after all, they’re the closest thing the NFL has to a dynasty right now.

The Houston Texans had other ideas, however, and the game at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday ended up being much more competitive than many people expected. But in the end, the Chiefs won again and advanced to their seventh straight AFC Championship game after defeating the Texans 23-14.

After the winners of back-to-back Super Bowls opened the showdown with a long kickoff return on the game’s opening play, the knee-jerk reaction was to think it was going to be a long day for the Houstonians. But the Texans held on, allowing only a Harrison Butker field goal, which Houston promptly answered with a Ka’imi Fairbairn field goal of their own. The Chiefs got three more points from Butker as both defenses were noticeably intense and solid as the first quarter ended 6-3 Kansas City.

The Chiefs were the first team to reach the end zone with a drive in the second quarter.

Mahomes found Travis Kelce wide open in the middle of the field, and the tight end rumbled through tacklers for a 49-yard play down to Houston’s six-yard line. The Houston D held, but couldn’t stop a third-and-goal effort from the one-yard line – Kareem Hunt took the field and ran off the tackle for an easy touchdown. The Chiefs were now up 13-3.

The Texans answered before halftime, once again, led by Stroud’s effort to find John Metchie for a clutch 24-yard touchdown to put the Texans in field goal range. After missing a 55-yard attempt earlier in the quarter, Fairbairn obliged this time, connecting on a 48-yarder to make it 13-6 at halftime.

After the break, both teams’ offenses settled in with two long drives.

The Texans ate up most of the third quarter with a 15-play, 82-yard drive that ended in a Joe Mixon touchdown. But Fairbairn missed the extra point and kept the Texans trailing by one point at 13-12 after it looked like Houston was tying it up.

The Chiefs’ ensuing drive started with a hiccup before taking off. The drive began with another connection between Mahomes and Travis Kelce, but the play was called back for offensive holding. On a third-and-six play from their own 23-yard line, Mahomes found Kelce again for another big gain, clocking 12 yards and a first down.

The Mahomes to Kelce connection continued to direct the Chiefs offense on their epic 13-play, 7:44 drive.

Kelce — who had another massive playoff game under the sport’s brightest lights — hauled in an 18-yard gain down to the Texans’ eight-yard line, setting up a first-and-goal.

On third down, Mahomes showed why he remains the gold standard in big-game situations. Mahomes was in danger of being packed into the backfield for a sack, but the slumping quarterback found Kelce once again, this time for an 11-yard touchdown to push the lead to 20-12.

Kelce’s offensive explosion drew happy reactions from his superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift, who took in the game from a suite along with WNBA phenom — and lifelong Chiefs fan — Caitlin Clark. The pair were seen throughout ESPN’s telecast of the game chatting, laughing and celebrating the Chiefs’ big moments.

Houston followed Kansas City’s epic drive with a fatal strategic error. On a fourth-and-10, the Texans inexplicably decided to go for it despite being rushed by a dwindling game clock. Houston decided not to call a timeout when the Chiefs’ pass rush made them pay, capping the drive by sacking Stroud for a 16-yard loss.

The Chiefs later added another Butker field goal to push Houston’s back against the wall.

The Texans responded with another strong drive, but were undone again by a third fumble on the kicking game.

With less than two minutes left in the game, Kansas City saved its biggest special teams play for last, blocking a 35-yard attempt by Fairbairn to cap the Texans’ comeback attempt.

The Chiefs conceded an intentional safety on their final offensive possession, but there was no miracle finish in the cards for the Texans as the game ended 23-14.

Kansas City was lifted by a massive game from Kelce, who caught seven passes for 117 yards and the touchdown that sealed the win. Kareem Hunt added a touchdown and carried eight times for 44 yards to lead the Chiefs in rushing.

But once again, the real story was Mahomes. His pass to Kelce for the game’s final touchdown was simply out of this world. Falling down as he was about to be sacked, Mahomes found his favorite target wide open in the end zone. His stat line wasn’t the most impressive, but he’ll take it — 16 of 25 passing for 177 yards and a touchdown.

For head coach Andy Reid, it was his 300th^th career win, joining George Halas, Don Shula and Bill Belichick as the only NFL coaches to reach that plateau.

The Chiefs await the winner of the Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills on Sunday.