NFL Wild Card weekend review: Bucs crush Eagles, Bills advance

The Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs is now complete, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills punching the final two tickets to the Divisional round on Monday night.

The Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and Green Bay Packers each won with relative ease while the Detroit Lions edged past the Los Angeles Rams in a game where both quarterbacks played their former team.

Let's recap all the action from a thrilling Wild Card weekend. 

Steady Bills beat Steelers

After the game was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to heavy snow in Buffalo, the Buffalo Bills put on a show for their fans as they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-17.

The Steelers went down 21-0 midway through the second quarter after Bills QB Josh Allen threw touchdown passes to tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kinkaid before scoring his team's third TD with 52-yard run. 

But Pittsburgh brought the game within seven points early in the final frame through a field goal, plus Mason Rudolph TD passes to Diontae Johnson and Calvin Austin III.

The Bills iced the game when Allen found Khalil Shakir over the middle and Shakir kept his balance and made a tackler miss before evading a swarm of Steelers defenders as he found the end zone.

After a mostly solid display that made fans in a frozen Highmark Stadium sweat just a little, Buffalo will host Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.

Bucs blow out defeated Eagles

After starting the season 10-1, the Philadelphia Eagles went into their Wild Card round matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with five losses in their final six regular season games.

Philly went down 13-0 early in the second quarter and fans thought they were in for more of the same, but a field goal and a TD pass to Dallas Goedert - and a failed Brotherly Shove two-point conversion attempt - put the Eagles within a score at halftime.

The teams traded punts for most of the third quarter, but disaster struck the Birds when a Buccaneers punt stuck the visitors at their own 10-yard line. A loss of yards and an intentional grounding penalty on Jalen Hurts gave the Bucs two points and the ball.

A 56-yard strike from Baker Mayfield to Trey Palmer gave Tampa a 25-9 lead, and the Eagles looked defeated. Philly turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive and the Bucs drove 83 yards in over six minutes to score and make it 32-9 via a Chris Godwin reception from Mayfield.

Mayfield came up huge for the Buccaneers, and they will travel to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday in the Divisional Round.

Cowboys embarrassed at home

The Dallas Cowboys crashed out of the playoffs with a disappointing 48-32 defeat to the Green Bay Packers.

Mike McCarthy's team were expected to advance to the Divisional Round, having won 16 consecutive home games entering Sunday. With their fans braced for what they hoped would be a landmark night, they were blown away by the Packers, who led 27-0 until the final two minutes of the first half.

Dallas threatened to rally when quarterback Dak Prescott picked out tight end Jake Ferguson for a touchdown with the final play of the first half before kicker Brandon Aubrey scored a field goal on their opening possession of the second half. 

That reduced Green Bay's advantage to 17 points, but the Cowboys had no answers on defense as the Packers scored touchdowns on five straight series until they pulled their starters in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys are now left dissecting what went wrong, with owner Jerry Jones saying he was "floored" by the team's loss.

Green Bay are still considered +2500 outsiders for the NFL Championship, but their performance will put the rest of the teams in the NFC on notice.

Read more: NFL Championship odds

Goff leads Lions home against his former team

The Detroit Lions won their first playoff game for the first time in 32 years as they beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-23 in a thrilling contest at Ford Field.

Lions running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for first-quarter touchdowns to help Detroit race into a 14-3 lead, with the Rams responding through a Brett Maher field goal.

The Rams, led by former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, scored two quick-fire touchdowns of their own to respond. Stafford picked out Puka Nacua with a 50-yard pass for one of them on a night where Nacua racked up 181 yards and a touchdown from nine receptions to claim a playoff record for a rookie.

With the pressure on, Lions quarterback Jared Goff found tight end Sam LaPorta to help his team reestablish their lead, only for Stafford to pick out Tutu Atwell for a score.

Only field goals were scored in the second half, but Goff got revenge on the team that traded him away earlier in his career, and the win ensured Detroit another home game next week.

Dan Campbell's team is +1000 to get their hands on the NFL Championship next month.

Dolphins freeze under the spotlight in Kansas

The Kansas City Chiefs moved into the Divisional Round with relative ease as they beat the Miami Dolphins 26-7 in freezing conditions at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday evening.

NFL records suggested it was the fourth-coldest game in the history of the sport, and the adverse conditions unsettled Mike McDaniel's Miami from the outset.

The Dolphins only managed 264 yards of offense, with Tyreek Hill scoring their only touchdown against his former team. They struggled without wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and defensive stars Bradley Chubb, Xavien Howard, and Jevon Holland, among others.

Not for the first time this season, Andy Reid's team had to settle for field goals on four occasions, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes guided his team over the line while running back Isiah Pacheco rushed for 89 yards and a TD from 24 carries.

Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice had a stellar night with eight catches for 130 yards and a score, while Travis Kelce gained 71 yards from seven catches, despite a few drops.

KC will visit the Buffalo Bills for a Divisional Round showdown featuring two premier QBs on what will likely be a cold day.

Stroud comes of age

In the first Wild Card round playoff game, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed he is one of the best in the business as he produced a clinical display to help his team overcome the Cleveland Browns 45-14.

Cleveland's number-one-ranked defense could not live with the rookie, who threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns. 

Houston's defense gave Cleveland's Joe Flacco all sorts of problems. He threw for 308 yards and a touchdown, but also had two interceptions.

Saturday was all about Stroud, who became the youngest starting quarterback to win a playoff game in NFL history. He and the Texans will meet the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens, who finished the regular season with a league-best 13-4 record and enter the game off a Wild Card round bye.