Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 pick in 2018 and joined Tampa Bay on a one-year deal.
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Dates: 13-28 January 2024 |
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers knocked the Philadelphia Eagles out of this season's NFL playoffs and into next week's divisional round.
The Eagles were narrowly beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl Classic last February and were the last team to lose their undefeated record this season for the second straight year.
They were 10-1 at the end of November, but their season had come to a miserable end, losing six of their last seven games with a 32-9 loss at Tampa Bay.
Earlier on Monday, the Buffalo Bills to beat Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17 to set up a mouth-watering matchup with Kansas City.
The Bills lost at that point two years ago in Kansas City after an epic shootout between star quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes that the Chiefs won 42-36 in overtime.
Now the Chiefs head to Buffalo next Sunday to keep their hopes of back-to-back Super Bowl victories — and a third NFL title in five years — alive.
Philadelphia had more wins by the end of November than Tampa Bay had managed all season, as the Bucks entered the playoffs with a 9-8 record — the worst of the 14 teams to advance to the postseason.
Led by Baker Mayfield, who replaced the retired Tom Brady this season, the Bucks have won five of their last six games and won the NFC South.
The difference in each side's form showed on wild card weekend, when the Bucs took a 16-3 lead with three field goals and a 44-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to David Moore.
A Dallas Goedert touchdown made it 16-9 just before halftime gave the Eagles hope of arresting their slump.
But that evaporated late in the third quarter as Tampa Bay forced the Phillies to concede a safety and the Eagles' defense was again redundant as Trey Palmer scored a 56-yard touchdown.
Chris Godwin scored three touchdown passes and 337 passing yards late for Mayfield, who re-established himself on his third team after leaving the Cleveland Browns after the 2021 season.
Bills beat Steelers after Buffalo blizzard
Josh Allen's 52-yard score added to his 15 rushing touchdowns in the regular season.
Pittsburgh's game was moved from Sunday to Monday after a state of emergency was declared in the Buffalo area, with high winds and heavy snow forecast.
After several feet fell in upstate New York, the Bills appealed to fans to help shovel snow from Highmark Stadium for $20 (£15.70) an hour plus hot drinks and breakfast.
The temperature was -7C – nothing compared to -20C for the Chiefs' home win on Saturday – and the Bills caught the Steelers out cold as they charged to a 21-0 lead with three touchdowns.
Allen set up scoring strikes to Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid in the first quarter before running it in from 52 yards out in the second quarter — the longest run of his career.
image source, Sarah Stier
Fans had to clear the ice to get to their seats at a Bills game
Pittsburgh rallied with a Deonte Johnson touchdown just before halftime before the two teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter.
And even though Calvin Austin's touchdown cut the score to 24-17 late in the fourth quarter, Buffalo struck right back as Khalil Shakir did well to get into the end zone after the catch.
It produced three touchdown passes for Allen and the Bills' sixth win since early December.
