National Football League

Did NFL just deliver its greatest playoff weekend ever?

Updated Jan. 24, 2022 12:16 a.m. ET

The NFL playoffs are the gift that keeps on giving, and the divisional round just made football fans across the world very happy.

With eight teams, four matchups and countless stars in action this weekend, history was made with every game coming down to the wire.

Starting with the Titans and Bengals on Saturday afternoon, the Bengals survived nine sacks to Joe Burrow to win 19-16 on a walk-off field goal and advance to the AFC Championship Game.

That was followed by the 49ers going to the frozen tundra and upsetting the NFL's top overall seed, the Green Bay Packers.

The 49ers won 13-10 without scoring an offensive touchdown. They return to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons — having ended Aaron Rodgers' season both times.

While Saturday's games were frantic, the Sunday slate was even more of a roller-coaster ride.

First, the Los Angeles Rams visited Tampa to take on the defending champion Buccaneers, dominating early while building a 20-3 lead. But they then needed a miraculous drive with less than a minute remaining to kick a last-second field goal to win 30-27.

With the bar set incredibly high by the time Sunday's nightcap rolled around, the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills somehow went out and topped everything that had preceded them.

Both teams exchanged heavy blows, especially late — they combined to score 28 points in the fourth quarter — and the Chiefs ultimately prevailed 42-36 in overtime.

Not only was it an exciting finish, but it also featured two great performances from the quarterbacks — Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes — with neither player stumbling.

Allen completed 27 of his 37 passes for 329 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed the ball 11 times for 68 yards. Mahomes was just as good, completing 33 of 44 passes for 378 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed for 69 yards on seven carries.

All of it left many observers declaring it the greatest weekend of playoff football in NFL history.

There is some evidence to back that up:

— It was the third time in NFL history that three of the four road teams won in the divisional round, with the others occurring in 1971 and 2008.

— It was the first time in NFL history that all four divisional-round games were decided by six points or fewer.

— It was the first weekend in NFL playoff history in which all four games were decided on the final play of the game, with the first three coming on walk-off field goals and the Chiefs winning on a touchdown in overtime.

— Across the four games, 41 points were scored in the final two minutes of regulation. The Bills and Chiefs accounted for 25 of those points.

— To amplify the wackiness, the four remaining teams have a combined seed total of 16, the highest seed total since the 2010-11 season (also 16).

There are only two rounds of the NFL playoffs remaining. It's difficult to imagine anything topping this.