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The San Francisco 49ers are hoping their recent regular-season dominance over the Los Angeles Rams extends to the playoffs.
The Niners have swept the season series against the Rams the past three seasons and take a six-game winning streak in the series into the NFC title game on Sunday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The epic football playoff game between Buffalo and Kansas City reached nearly 43 million television viewers on Sunday, the most for any event since last year's Super Bowl as the NFL struck gold with its rousing weekend.
Jay Feely stood on the Arrowhead Stadium sideline witnessing one of the best quarterback duels in the NFL's 102-year history, the capstone to what many are calling the greatest weekend of games the league has ever seen.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the third straight week, the Los Angeles Rams took a huge early lead.
For the second time in those three weeks, they subsequently gave it all away.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers didn't know if they would even get another chance when they punted the ball away in the final two minutes of the season finale still needing a touchdown to extend their season.
SCOREBOARD
Sunday, Jan. 30
Cincinnati at Kansas City, 3 p.m. EST. The Bengals advanced to the AFC championship game for the first time since the 1988 season by beating Tennessee 19-16 on Saturday.
A six-point victory seemed like a rout this wild weekend.
Even if it was in overtime.
Kansas City's hold-your-breath 42-36 win over Buffalo capped a divisional round in which the other three games were decided on final-play field goals giving the visitors wins.
Patrick Mahomes found Travis Kelce in the corner of the end zone early in overtime, and the Kansas City Chiefs rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills 42-36 on Sunday night in a sizzling finish to a wild divisional-round weekend.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Stafford stood on the sideline helplessly watching Tom Brady be Tom Brady, leading another exhilarating comeback.
This time, though, the seven-time Super Bowl champion left too much time on the clock, giving Stafford a chance to create some playoff magic of his own.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — If Tom Brady played the last game of an unprecedented career, he ended with one of his toughest losses after a stunning comeback.
Bloodied and battered by the Los Angeles Rams, the 44-year-old seven-time Super Bowl champion rallied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back from a 27-3 deficit, only to see the defense surrender a big play in the final minute to set up Matt Gay's winning 30-yard field goal.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay All-Pro right tackle Tristan Wirfs is inactive for Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams with an ankle injury.
Wirfs was hurt during the previous week’s wild-card victory over Philadelphia and had been listed as questionable.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Robbie Gould lived up to his name.
On a field littered with snow flurries, Gould made a 45-yard field goal Saturday night as time expired and the San Francisco 49ers knocked off the top-seeded Packers 13-10 and possibly ended Aaron Rodgers’ tenure in Green Bay.
L.A. RAMS (13-5) at TAMPA BAY (14-4)
Sunday, 3 p.m. EST, NBC
BETTING LINE: Buccaneers by 3, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are excited about another opportunity to face a regular-season nemesis in the playoffs.
The defending Super Bowl champions host the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC divisional round Sunday, looking to avenge a pair of losses to the only team they’ve played but yet to beat since Brady joined the Bucs in 2020.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams will not have left tackle Andrew Whitworth or safety Taylor Rapp available when they play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC divisional playoff game Sunday.
So Pro Picks was correct on one count in the Patriots-Bills wild-card game. One of those teams was a bogus playoff contender.
We just had the wrong team. For an Upset Special, no less.
The beating Buffalo put on New England came the night before Tom Brady and the Buccaneers crushed Philadelphia.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Von Miller remembers every detail of each time he has sacked Tom Brady, starting all the way back in his second NFL season a decade ago.
He savored and catalogued their meetings over their years, highlighted by the AFC championship game in which Miller dropped Brady 2 1/2 times in the Broncos' win over the Patriots in January 2016.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mike Evans has no interest in debating where he ranks among the NFL’s best pass catchers.
The only receiver in league history to begin a career with eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons is comfortable with who he is, as well as his value to Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills pitched a near-perfect game in their playoff victory against the New England Patriots.
The Bills became the first team in NFL history to score touchdowns on their first seven drives of a playoff game, before kneeling down on the final possession of a 47-17 win over New England.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have added Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to their candidate list for head coach.
According to a person with knowledge of the process, speaking Tuesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the organization is not announcing interviews before they're completed, the Vikings have requested a virtual meeting with Morris about the vacancy created when Mike Zimmer was fired last week.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matthew Stafford was nearly flawless in his first career playoff victory. Odell Beckham Jr. made huge plays as a receiverand as a passer in his own first postseason win.
The two-month, slow-motion collapse of the Arizona Cardinals will no doubt cause some soul searching and tough questions in the coming days, weeks and months for the franchise.
The most obvious and pressing: Is this Kliff Kingsbury-Kyler Murray marriage really going to work or not?
Dak Prescott kept handing it to all the wrong people.
He should have delivered the football to umpire Ramon George instead of to his center Tyler Biadasz before time ran out on Dallas' season, leaving Cowboys fans ruminating the quarterback draw that was called with no timeouts and just 14 seconds left.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kyler Murray's first NFL playoff start quickly turned into a nightmare.
The dynamic quarterback and his Arizona Cardinals teammates had about the worst start imaginable in Monday night's 34-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC wild-card round.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Rams had a 20-point lead on Arizona with 4 1/2 minutes left at raucous SoFi Stadium. Matthew Stafford’s 13-year quest for his first playoff victory was all but complete after Los Angeles' dominant performance on both sides of the ball.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker is being evaluated for a concussion after he appeared to briefly lose consciousness in a helmet-to-helmet collision Monday night late in the third quarter of a playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — J.J. Watt is in uniform for the Arizona Cardinals and Eric Weddle is playing for the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL West rivals' playoff showdown Monday night.
Watt was activated off injured reserve earlier in the day for the Cardinals (11-6), who are going after their second playoff victory in 12 seasons when they face the division champion Rams (12-5) at SoFi Stadium.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers sure aren't advancing the easy way.
A week after overcoming a 17-point deficit and then holding on at the end to get into the the playoffs, the Niners nearly blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter before holding on for a 23-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams must play without both of their starting safeties in their opening playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. Leading tackler Jordan Fuller is out for the season with a right ankle injury, and Taylor Rapp is in the NFL's concussion protocol.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have begun the search for a new coach by seeking interviews with an initial slate of seven candidates, including Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — If Kyler Murray wants to understand just how important it is to seize the opportunity whenever a team reaches the NFL playoffs, the Arizona Cardinals star only needs to look at his counterpart across the field at SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
ARIZONA (11-6) at LOS ANGELES RAMS (12-5)
Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN/ABC
BETTING LINE: Rams by 4, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
Not only do NFL fans get three night games to savor during wild-card weekend, but they also can revel in the rivalries.
AFC East foes New England and Buffalo, who split victories on the road during the season.
Daniel Carlson’s latest clutch field goal for the Las Vegas Raiders earned him some fans from across the country.
Carlson’s overtime winner from 47 yards on Sunday gave the Raiders a 35-32 win over the Chargers and clinched a playoff berth for the Pittsburgh Steelers by avoiding a tie.
NEW YORK (AP) — Five players, including dynamic pass catchers Cooper Kupp and Davante Adams, are unanimous choices for The Associated Press 2021 NFL All-Pro Team.
Joining the Rams' Kupp and the Packers' Adams in receiving votes Friday from all 50 members of a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league are Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, Steelers edge rusher T.J.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Ambry Thomas' rookie regular season for the San Francisco 49ers got off to a rough start but couldn't have had a much better finish.
The third-round cornerback out of Michigan went from an overmatched rookie who seemed like he needed time to adjust to the rigors to making the interception that sealed a Week 18 overtime win over the Rams and sent the 49ers to the playoffs.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cam Akers called his mother immediately after he tore his Achilles tendon last July, and he spent much of the next two days crying.
The Los Angeles Rams running back then dried his eyes and made a plan.
The Green Bay Packers are the only NFL team that didn't lose a game at home in the 2021 season. They're counting on their frenzied fanbase and frigid climes to help them get to the Super Bowl for the first time in 11 years.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Safety Eric Weddle is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Los Angeles Rams for the playoffs.
Weddle turned 37 last week, and he hasn't played in the NFL since the 2019 season, but the Rams signed him to their practice squad Wednesday to address their glaring need at safety.
The Arizona Cardinals are a team in desperate need of a spark, stumbling into the playoffs with a 1-4 mark over the past five games.
J.J. Watt and his bionic left shoulder might be able to provide it.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Ran Carthon had been preparing to be an NFL general manager decades before he even got involved with an NFL team.
As a kid growing up, Carthon would talk with his NFL playing dad, Maurice, about the talent level of various players around the league, and took a big interest each year in the draft.