Wed, 27 Sep 2023

Having a record year

The Steelers
23 Jan 2023, 05:30 GMT+10

Mike Prisuta

History has been made on the way to the Divisional Playoffs, more is coming up.

Following is a capsule look at today's games:

Bengals (13-4) at Bills (14-3), 3 p.m.

Quarterback Joe Burrow and the offense are the headliners in Cincinnati, and justifiably so, but the NFL's No. 6 scoring defense isn't exactly along for the ride.

Linebacker Sam Hubbard's 98-yard fumble return for a touchdown, which snapped a 17-17 tie in Cincinnati's 24-17 victory over Baltimore on Super Wild Card Weekend, was the longest go-ahead touchdown in a fourth quarter in NFL postseason history. The fumble Hubbard returned was forced by linebacker Logan Wilson, who had a career-high 123 tackles in the regular season and a team-high 10 more against the Ravens. Wilson has at least eight stops in all five of his career postseason appearances.

Safeties Jesse Bates and Von Bell each had a career-high four interceptions in 2022.

Defensive end Trey Hendrickson is one of six players in the NFL to register at least eight sacks in each of the last three seasons. Hendrickson has a sack in two of his three career playoff games.

Linebacker Germain Pratt established career-highs in tackles (99) and passes defensed (10) in the regular season.

Burrow hasn't been intercepted in his last two playoff starts and accounted for two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) against Baltimore.

The Bengals are trying to become the eighth team since the 1970 NFL merger to open a season 0-2 and reach a conference championship game, and the first since the 2014 Indianapolis Colts.

The Bills are 13-1 in the postseason at home since 1970 and are gunning for their second AFC Championship Game appearance in the last three seasons.

They've gotten this far thanks in large part to possessing the NFL's No. 2 scoring offense (26.8 points per game) and No. 2 scoring defense (17.9 points per game).

Quarterback Josh Allen has accounted for 12 touchdowns (11 passing, one rushing) and posted a passer rating of 116.4 in four career playoff starts at home.

Tight end Dawson Knox caught a touchdown pass for the fifth consecutive game during Buffalo's 34-31 victory over Miami on Super Wild Card Weekend. Knox has a receiving touchdown in three of his last four postseason efforts.

Wide receiver Stefon Diggs caught seven passes for 114 yards against Miami, his fourth career 100-yard effort in a playoff game.

Wide receiver Gabe Davis had 113 yards receiving and caught a touchdown pass against the Dolphins, his third straight playoff game with a receiving touchdown and second in a row with 100 or more receiving yards.

Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds led the Bills in the regular season with 102 tackles, his fifth straight campaign with 100 or more. Edmunds had a career-high four passes defensed against the Dolphins.

The Bills have beaten the Bengals in two of the last three regular-season meetings but are 0-2 against Cincinnati in the postseason.

Cowboys (13-5) at 49ers (14-2), 6:30 p.m.

Dallas and San Francisco will tie an NFL record by meeting in the postseason for the ninth time. The Cowboys and the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, and the 49ers and Packers have also clashed in the playoffs nine times.

Quarterback Dak Prescott became the fifth player with four touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in a postseason game in the Cowboys' 31-14 victory over the Buccaneers on Super Wild Card Weekend (Aaron Rodgers, Tobin Rote, Matt Ryan and Peyton Manning). Prescott has produced a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown in four consecutive playoff games, an NFL record. He has eight touchdowns (six passing, two rushing), an interception and a 100.1 passer rating in three career starts against San Francisco (playoffs included).

Dalton Schultz became the first tight end in franchise history with two receiving touchdowns in a playoff game in Dallas' victory over Tampa Bay. Schultz caught seven passes for 89 yards in the Cowboys' 23-17 loss to the 49ers in the postseason last season.

Dallas has scored 24 or more points in 11 of its last 12 games, including the playoffs.

The Cowboys' 36 all-time postseason victories tie the Steelers and Packers for second in NFL history behind the Patriots' 37.

San Francisco's Brock Purdy became the first rookie quarterback with four touchdowns in a playoff game (three passing, one rushing) in the 49ers' 41-23 victory over the Seahawks on Super Wild Card Weekend. Purdy is 6-0 (5-0 in the regular season) as the 49ers' starter.

Running back Christian McCaffrey had 136 yards from scrimmage (119 rushing, 17 receiving) and a touchdown catch against Seattle, has accounted for at least 100 yards from scrimmage and a TD in his last two playoff games and has found the end zone in his last eight games, including playoffs. The 49ers are 11-0 in games McCaffrey has started since they acquired him from the Panthers.

Wide receiver Deebo Samuel had 165 yards from scrimmage (133 receiving, 32 rushing) and a touchdown reception against Seattle.

San Francisco led the NFL in total defense (300.6 yards per game), scoring defense (16.3 points per game), turnover margin (plus 13), tied the Steelers for first in interceptions (20) and ranked second in rushing defense (77.7 yards per game).

Defensive lineman Nick Bosa had five tackles, a tackle for a loss and a fumble recovery against the Seahawks. Bosa has eight sacks and six tackles for a loss in seven career playoff games.

The Cowboys (five) and the 49ers (five) have combined for 10 Super Bowl championships.

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