C.J. Anderson rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, while Todd Gurley rushed for 115 more yards and another touchdown, in the Los Angeles Rams’ first playoff victory in 14 years, a 30-22 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round.
Gurley and Anderson punished the Cowboys’ normally sturdy run defense and sent the second-seeded Rams (14-3) to the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game for the first time in 17 years. Los Angeles racked up a franchise playoff-record of 273 yards on the ground — also the most ever allowed in the post-season by the Cowboys, who were playing in their NFL-record 63rd post-season game.
The long-struggling Rams had won only one post-season game since their last trip to the Super Bowl in February 2002, but 32-year-old coach Sean McVay has added his first playoff victory to his spectacular franchise turnaround.
Photo: AFP
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for a touchdown and Amari Cooper caught an early touchdown pass for the Cowboys (11-7), who still have not won a playoff game on the road in 26 years. After winning the NFC East and beating Seattle last week, Dallas lost in the divisional playoff round for the sixth consecutive time and fell short of their first trip to the NFC championship game since January 1996.
Next weekend, the Rams are to face the winner of the other divisional playoff game in New Orleans between the top-seeded Saints and defending Super Bowl champions the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Rams are one win away from another Super Bowl trip after McVay’s high-flying offense largely kept it on the ground, methodically punishing the Cowboys’ run defense.
The Cowboys, who largely shut down Seattle’s league-best rushing attack last week, had not allowed two 100-yard rushers in a playoff game since the NFL-AFL merger.
Dak Prescott passed for 266 yards and rushed for a touchdown with 2 minutes, 11 seconds to play, but the Cowboys could not climb out after falling into a 23-7 hole midway through the third quarter. Elliott managed just 47 yards on 20 carries as Dallas lost for just the second time in their past 10 games.
Jared Goff passed for 186 yards and spent much of the night handing off, but the quarterback scrambled 11 yards for a first down with 1:51 to play, essentially wrapping up his first playoff victory.
CHIEFS 31, COLTS 13
Patrick Mahomes picked apart the Colts in his post-season debut, the Chiefs defense answered their chorus of critics with a stout performance, and Kansas City rolled to a victory over Indianapolis in the divisional round to end 25 years of playoff frustration.
Mahomes threw for 278 yards while running for a touchdown, and Damien Williams ran through snow and muck for 129 yards and another score, as the Chiefs beat visiting Indianapolis for the first time in five playoff meetings to earn their first American Football Conference (AFC) title game appearance since January 1994.
The AFC West champions are to play the winner of today’s game between the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers and the New England Patriots next weekend for a spot in the Super Bowl in Atlanta.
Andrew Luck was held to 203 yards passing for the Colts (11-7), while Marlon Mack was a non-factor on the ground. He had 46 yards rushing before leaving late in the fourth quarter with a hip injury.
With snow turning Arrowhead Stadium into a winter wonderland, the Chiefs (13-4) waltzed all over a Colts defense that nearly shut out the Texans a week ago. Mahomes and his teammates scored on their first three possessions, then again just before halftime, to take a 24-7 lead into the break.
If there was any question whether this would be Kansas City’s day, it was answered when Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri missed a 23-yard field-goal try off the upright just before halftime. It was the first time in 22 post-season attempts that he had missed from that close.
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