Bengals celebrate, Bills struggle
The NFL marvels at Hubbard’s sensational sprint
01/16/2023 06:24 am
Two weeks ago, the football world was shocked after Damar Hamlin’s heart attack, which canceled the Buffalo Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This duel is coming up again in the NFL playoffs. The New York Giants are still there.
The Cincinnati Bengals won an exciting duel with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL playoffs and will face the Buffalo Bills in the next round. Last season’s Super Bowl participant won 24:17 and can continue to dream of the first title in his history. The season is over for the Ravens, who are once again without their injured regular quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The preliminary decision brought a spectacular action by the Bengals: while defending the end zone, Sam Hubbard grabbed the football that had become free and ran 98 yards into the Ravens’ end zone. “I was in the right place at the right time. I was just hoping to make it to the end zone, I got really tired.” What was particularly bitter for the Ravens was that their team lost the ball on a supposedly safe quarterback sneak, in which Tyler Huntley tried to get the ball over the line himself from close range. Instead of taking the lead themselves, the team never recovered from the setback. Meanwhile, Hubbard’s sensational sprint was wildly celebrated on social media.
Bills lose the thread – and hit back
The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, are having more trouble than expected. Led by quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 34-31 (20-17). After a sovereign start (14:0), Allen threw an interception in the second quarter, then briefly lost his nerve and engaged in a physical altercation with an opponent. Suddenly the Dolphins were in the game and within striking distance at the break. Already in the regular season they had inflicted one of only three defeats on Buffalo.
The visitors from Florida even took the lead after the half-time break, but the Bills hit back before the end of the period. Buffalo are two wins short of Super Bowl LVII on the night of February 13 at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium. From 1991 to 1994, the Bills were in the finals four times in a row, but they have never won the title. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles were seeded for the quarterfinals as the best teams in the two conferences. The quarter-finals will take place from January 21-23, with the semi-finals a week later.
Daniel Jones leads the Giants to victory
The New York Giants, meanwhile, defeated the Minnesota Vikings and are next up against the Eagles. In Minneapolis, the team, which is represented in the knockout round for the first time since 2016, won on Sunday with 31:24. There had not been a success in the playoffs since 2012, when the Giants won the Superbowl with quarterback Eli Manning. For his successor Daniel Jones it was the first playoff game of his career, he convinced with two touchdown passes and did not throw to the opponent. Saquon Barkley also had a good evening with two touchdown runs.
The Vikings around their playmaker Kirk Cousins took a 7-0 lead and later equalized again to make it 24:24, but were unable to get into a good position in the final phase. The result also makes it clear that the winner of the last game of the wildcard round, which will be played on Tuesday night between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers around NFL superstar Tom Brady and the Dallas Cowboys, will go to the San Francisco 49ers next weekend will meet.