Then there were four…
Divisional Round came and went, but we did not quite get the same drama and exciting finishes of Wild Card Weekend.
The smallest margin of victory was seven points and the other two games were blowouts in every sense of the word.
It did give us the photo of the 2022 NFL season however with this shot during the Bills-Bengals broadcast.
After those four games we’ve put together our five big takeaways from the NFL’s Divisional Playoffs below.
1 – Andy Reid’s Biggest Gamble
In the blink of an eye, every Chiefs fan saw their worst nightmare unfold against the Jaguars when Patrick Mahomes had his right ankle rolled up on in a tackle attempt.
It was eventually diagnosed as a high ankle sprain but it did force Mahomes out of the game for a brief period, not that it seemed to impact the Chiefs offence too much with backup Chad Henne leading a 98 yard touchdown drive.
But the big dilemma facing Andy Reid was the fact Mahomes was pushing to get back into the game despite only having one functioning ankle.
A high ankle sprain is never a pleasant thing for an NFL player to deal with, but in the moment, full of adrenaline and probably painkillers as well, he was able to get back into the game and grind it out.
However the biggest issue now facing Reid and the Chiefs is how stable that ankle is heading into the AFC Championship Game.
We have seen other quarterbacks struggle to come back inside three weeks with a similar injury earlier this season and Mahomes is so good evading pressure, that he may be a sitting duck if he can’t move the way he would like.
The question facing Andy Reid is how limited Mahomes truly will be after a week of rehab and if he can trust his quarterback to make the right call in the moment.
2 – The Eagles Had Too Many Options
All week long we had been hearing about how the Giants were much better than their 48-22 loss to the Eagles in Week 14.
Well it’s up to you to decide on which was the “better” defeat for them to suffer, that or the 38-7 shellacking in the playoffs.
It’s not even a slight on the Giants, they had a good season relative to expectations, but the Eagles were far too good on the day.
After going back and forth with the Vikings last week, New York found itself on the wrong end of the one way traffic.
it’s fair to say head coach Nick Sirianni has responded to the critics who were on him after an inauspicious introduction to the City of Brotherly Love.
And now for the first time since 2017, the Eagles will be hosting the NFC Championship ready to take on all comers.
With a plethora of difference makers on hand, the Eagles are so tough to defend because they know so many different ways to win.
3 – Burrow Keeps His Cool
It was a spectacular scene at Highmark Stadium as the Bengals and Bills faced off in the snow, with Joe Burrow looking right at home playing in late January.
From the first drive, Burrow was locked in and managed to march the Bengals down the field for a pair of first quarter touchdowns.
Despite all of the concerns over the patchwork offensive line the Bengals were fielding, Burrow’s jersey stayed perfectly clean throughout the afternoon as the Bills just couldn’t get the necessary pressure on him.
It was a methodical, clinical performance from a team that came into the game with a point to prove after the way their regular season ended and Zac Taylor could not have coached a better game.
Having come out on the wrong end of the NFL’s playoff compromises after the cancellation of Bengals-Bills in Week 17, that was all the motivation Cincinnati needed heading into Buffalo.
Now they prepare to head back to the site of their biggest win last season full of confidence and ready to stun the world again (even if this year it is significantly less “stunning”).
4 – Buffalo Had Nothing To Give
In the end, it was a fairly meek ending to the 2022 season for the Buffalo Bills, with the team not able to match a motivated Bengals outfit.
When you consider what the team has been through of late, it was almost inevitable that they would run out of steam at some point soon.
Not just because of the drama of the last few weeks with the Damar Hamlin incident in Week 17, but going back to November, the Bills have been through some trying circumstances.
A blizzard sent their Week 11 home game from Highmark Stadium to Detroit to kick start a three week road trip.
You could see the strain that it had on them over the last few weeks, with the Dolphins pushing them all the way last week and having no answer for the Bengals.
Josh Allen took a beating and the cumulative toll of those hits showed, as they failed to find the end zone in the second half.
It was somewhat fitting that the Bengals defence came up with the game sealing play through this interception.
Despite all of those struggles, the Bills will no doubt feel this season is a failure with their super-talented core, lead by Allen, could not get to the Super Bowl having spent most of the season as the Super Bowl favourite.
The question now becomes whether or not they want to try and add even more talent to get them over the line or do they trust that this is the group to get them to where they want to be.
Needless to say, the frustration amongst the players, especially receiver Stefon Diggs was quite evident.
5 – Brock Purdy is Good Enough
He’s still a very limited seventh round rookie, but right now, for what the 49ers are asking of him, Brock Purdy is good enough for the 49ers.
It was far from a perfect performance in their win over the Dallas Cowboys, but Purdy avoided the back breaking mistake that plenty of other young quarterbacks have made in his position.
Kyle Shanahan has made life easy on him so far, setting up manageable situations that ensure he is not going to have to do more than what he is capable of.
With a talented supporting cast around him, he just has to get the ball into the hands of those playmakers and trust them to do the rest.
On the other side of the ball, the defence is more than capable of carrying the load and forcing turnovers to slow down even the most productive offences.
And in the big situations, it makes guys like Purdy so much more relaxed knowing they don’t have to do it all themselves and can trust the players around them.
But he’ll need to be at his best and then some when they travel to Philadelphia for a classic NFC Championship Game.