NFL Power Rankings after Divisional Round: Ravens rolls, San Fran survives, will meet Chiefs and Lions

And then there were four. The Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs gave us our first look at the one seeds from each conference. One rolled into the conference title game, while the other needed a go ahead TD in the final minute of the game. Detroit is a win away from doing something that’s never been done in franchise history and the Chiefs are back in their sixth straight AFC Championship. These are our Power Rankings after week two of the NFL postseason.

1) Baltimore Ravens 13-4, last week 1

Rust? What rust? It might have taken the Ravens a little while to get the ball rolling but once they did, there was no stopping this three headed monster that without question looks like the favorite to win the Super Bowl after blowing out the Texans at home. Baltimore dominated Houston on the ground, in the air and on D.

John Harbaugh rested his starters in Week 18 which meant Lamar Jackson and the rest of the Ravens heavy hitters hadn’t played in over 20 days. It was Lamar’s legs that carried Baltimore in the first half as the offense needed a couple of cranks before revving up in final two quarters. Jackson’s passing stats weren’t out of this world, because they didn’t have to be.

He went for 152 yards but tossed two TDs and ran for another two. He led the Ravens rushing attack that went for 229 yards on the DeMeco Ryan’s defense that was incapable of slowing down Jackson, Justice Hill and Gus Edwards. It’s incredible how Harbaugh and his coaching staff are capable of watcing starting running backs go down for the season, and replace them without the offense skipping a beat.

The key to winning playoff games is running the ball and playing good defense. The Ravens do both of those. Oh, and they have the league’s sure shot MVP as their quarterback. If the Ravens lose in the next two games, it will be because of self inflicted wounds, because when this team is rolling there isn’t a team in this league that can stop them.

2) San Francisco 49ers 12-5, last week 2

I have to admit, I didn’t expect the Niners to struggle as much as they did against a Packers team that needed a win in Week 18 to even make the playoffs. Like the Ravens, the Niners rested their guys in the final week of the season having wrapped up the one seed.

Things got off to a rocky start when Deebo Samuel went down early in the first half. The Niners may have an offense stacked with explosive play makers, but when their dual threat WR goes down the offense takes a big hit and it took them a while to recover. Purdy looked rattled at times and was lucky not to be picked off at least twice after throwing a couple of balls right at Packers defenders. The San Fran defense did their part keeping Green Bay out of the end zone in the first half, holding the Pack to two Anders Carlson field goals.

In the second half the defense made a handful of mistakes that gave Green Bay chance after chance to win the game. The first one was a pass interference flag on 3rd and 15 deep in GB territory which led to a go ahead TD just a play later. Christian McCaffery and George Kittle would wake up the offense on the next possession, combining for a couple of big plays to get the home team in the end zone on Run CMC’s 39 yard dash to the end zone.

It may not have been Purdy’s best day, but after Carlson left the door open for a 4th quarter come back, missing a 41 yard field goal he came up with one of the drives of his life. Down by four with the Niners season on the line, the second year QB went 5/6, converted a couple of huge first downs and set up the McCaffery TD with a 9 yard scramble to get his team inside the 10.

3) Kansas City Chiefs 11-6, last week

The Chiefs showed us the difference between a champion and a contender on Sunday in Buffalo. The Bills did everything they had to do to win that game, but somehow, some way the Chiefs pulled it off again. This time they did it on the road as Patrick Mahomes proved he can win a playoff game anywhere, in any conditions.

I know, I know. The “this ain’t the Chiefs team of yesteryear” rhetoric gets a little old, but it’s true. Patrick Mahomes was good, he wasn’t great. He completed 73% of his passes, but KC’s offense looked as it has all year in the first half, below par. Knowing they get the ball back to start the third quarter, KC kicked the offense into overdrive and got on the board when they needed to. That would start a streak of three straight TD drives, two of which were finished off by Mahomes and Kelce who converted into the most prolific quarterback/receiver duo in NFL playoff history with their 15th and 16th postseason TD.

Buffalo scored 17 in the first half, but the Chiefs defense stepped up and held the Bills to just a TD in the final two quarters. As the defense stepped up, so did Isaiah Pacheco and the run game. The second year running back had 60+ yards in the second half and scored a TD which was the third in as many possessions for the Chiefs who got back to what got them to this part of the season.

It could have been four straight TD drives, but Melcore Hardman fumbled into the end zone as he tried to stretch to the goal line two plays after the Bills fake punt failed miserably. The fumble in the end zone would have been enough to flatten the spirits of any other team, but defense responded and kept Buffalo off the board for the rest of the way. This team knows how to win and the moment is never too big for them. The same can’t be said for the Bills.

4) Detroit Lions 12-5, last week

The team with an entire city backing them but history working against them continued their run to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. For the second straight week Ford Field was rocking, and for the second straight week Jared Goff led his team with a calm coolness, and composure of a quarterback who has been in this situation before.

While we need to give Goff his proper credit, Jamhyr Gibbs might be the best running back in the playoffs not named Christian McCaffery. He only got 9 carries for some reason, but he blew the game open with his 31 yard TD run at the start of the fourth quarter. He had 74 yards on nine carries, and had the Bucs rock solid defense on their toes all day in Detroit.

It hasn’t always been the case this season, but the Lions defense showed up and made some big plays to start the game and to finish the game. After a Detroit three and out on the opening series of the afternoon silenced the crowd in the Motor City, the defense ignited them just a couple plays later by picking off Baker Mayfield. The Bucs had a chance to tie up the game with under two minutes in the fourth quarter, but again the defense came up with one of the biggest plays of the night picking off Mayfield for the second time and ending the game to put the Lions in the NFC Championship, and just a game away from their first ever Super Bowl.

This team doesn’t have a blueprint to victory. They can beat you in a number of ways, and that’s what makes them so dangerous. Some day’s it’s Goff, other days it’s Gibbs and the run game. Other days it’s a the defense that comes to the rescue. They got a little bit of everything on Sunday, and they are going to need the same in San Fran next week.

5) Buffalo Bills 11-6, last week

After years and years of heartbreak and a handful of trips to Kansas City in efforts of getting back to a long awaited Super Bowl, Buffalo finally had their chance. They did enough to host the Chiefs in Orchard Park with Bills Mafia behind them on a frigid day in Orchard Park.

If there was formula for the Bills to beat the Chiefs, Josh Allen and Buffalo checked off pretty much every one of those boxes. They needed to run the ball to keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. The Bills ran for 182 yards and had the ball for 37 minutes. They had to keep Mahomes from shredding their already banged up defense. They limited him to 215 yards. Josh Allen could not turn the ball over. He didn’t threw an interception and his only potential gaff was a fumble that was recovered by Spencer Brown.

The defense and the offense did their part, but a faked punt on 4th and 5 from deep inside their territory and a missed 44 yard field goal by Tyler Bass (who was 9/9 in the last two minutes of the 4th or in OT with a chance to tie or take the lead) cost the Bills the game. The decision to fake the punt was mind-blowing, but the Bills defense made up for the coaching error by forcing the fumble in the end zone and keeping Buffalo in the game.

Unfortunately for Buffalo there is a constant curse that follows team like a shadow, and last night it reared it’s ugly head as Bills fans heard the most hated words in Western New York, again. “Wide right.”

6) Green Bay Packers 9-8, last week

Every time it seemed like the Niners were going to pull away, the Packers came up with a momentum swinging play to deflate Levi’s Stadium and make you think that Green Bay could actually keep their incredible playoff run alive.

Jordan Love and the Pack were playing with house money, and essentially nothing to lose. The team that was supposed to be a in transition phase in the years following the Aaron Rodgers era made the playoffs and gave the top team in the conference a run for it’s money on their home turf.

After creating nothing on the offensive end in the first half, San Fran scored a TD and had a chance to end the second quarter with a FG that would put them up four at halftime. A blocked field goal prevented the Niners from entering the second 30 minutes with the wind in their sails.

Then a fumbled pitch to Aaron Jones backed the Pack up 11 yards and brought up a 3rd and 15 to start their first drive of the second half. A pass interference call on SF kept the drive alive and a play later Love hit Bo Melton in the end zone for an opportunistic TD on the heels of the penalty.

Opportunistic is the perfect word to describe Matt LaFluer’s team. They have been taking advantage of every opportunity they have had over the last month and a half, and even after McCaffery busted a 39 yard TD run, Keisean Nixon answered with a 73 yard kick return to give GB the lead back.

Unfortunately for the Packers, they were made to pay for the few opportunities that they didn’t take advantage of. Anders Carlson missed his 41 yard FG to force the Niners to have to score a TD late in the 4th quarter, and then Love was picked off doing something that we hadn’t seen him do in over a month. He forced the ball into an area he should have been throwing it and got picked to bring the Packers season to an end.

7) Houston Texans 10-7, last week

This is only the beginning for this franchise that has been starved for success since it’s inception in 2002. They have a rookie quarterback and a rookie head coach that are going to keep this team relevant for the next decade.

Unfortunately, the fact that the Texans have a rookie QB and a rookie head coach showed in their match up with the best team in the league. The Houston offense has won a lot of people over with their passing attack led by CJ Stroud, despite the loss of three of their top receivers over the course of the season. Stroud was silenced on Saturday in M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens defense, who had an extra week to rest and prepare for the Houston offense, shut down the running game, allowing 38 yards on 14 rushes. With the front four keeping the ground game in check, the secondary could focus on locking down Stroud and his receivers. The only TD the Texans scored was a 67 yard punt return from Steven Sims as the Ravens kept Houston out of the red zone all afternoon.

On the defensive end, there wasn’t much that DeMeco Ryan’s team could do. They allowed over 200 yards on the ground to Lamar Jackson and Baltimore, and as much as their defense held on for dear life in the first half, the offenses inability to get first downs took it’s toll on a Houston D that was on the field for almost two thirds of the game.

8) Tampa Bay Bucs 9-8, last week

The division winner that everyone wanted to play coming into the playoffs almost came up with a second surprise in as many weeks. Baker Mayfield and the Bucs went into the Motor City and almost came out with one of the most improbable runs to the NFC Championship that we have ever seen.

Tampa was going to have to keep pace with the Lions, and to do so it was going to be up to the QB chosen to replace Tom Brady in the Bay. The guy who had to earn the starting job through a preseason QB competition with someone named Kyle Trask threw for 350 yards and three TDs. It was his second 300 yard game of the postseason, but it wasn’t enough to declaw the Lions in Detroit.

Nobody believed in this team outside of Tampa, but the grit that Mayfield injected throughout the locker room, and the resilience Todd Bowles defense showed to bounce back from a nightmare season last year gives this team plenty to believe in looking towards the future.

The only thing that puzzles me, is why didn’t the Bucs take a timeout and force the Lions to kick what would have been a 48 yard field goal to officially close the game out? If they miss that kick, Tampa Bay has a chance to march down the field and tie up the game. You never deem a game over, especially when it’s that close in the playoffs.