NFL Divisional Takeaways: Kittle comes up clutch; Bengals smother Payments

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It regarded extra like a one-man recreation of sizzling potato than a soccer play, however George Kittle supplied a spark for the San Francisco 49ers with a frenzied effort that few may replicate.

Brock Purdy rifled the ball from deep in San Francisco territory, connecting with the appropriate mitt of Kittle. The ball then bounced off his facemask, and the fingertips of his left hand, earlier than he lastly corralled it to security.

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Sunday’s matchup between the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys was a great ol’ long-established rock combat, and Kittle proved he’s acquired some severe stones.

A handful of performs after Kittle’s circus catch, he drew a defensive holding name within the pink zone to erase a sack. Three performs after that, San Fran scored the decisive landing.

It’s truthful to view Kittle as No. 3 within the 49ers’ playmaking pecking order — behind Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel — however this recreation belonged to the long-haired, wild-eyed tight finish. Whereas McCaffrey and Samuel mixed for fewer than 5 yards per contact, Kittle romped his solution to 5 catches for 95 yards.

Perhaps the lesson right here is the 49ers can discover a solution to beat you even when Plans A and B aren’t understanding.

With the NFL’s divisional spherical now concluded, listed below are the remainder of our takeaways from Sunday.

Dak disappoints in San Fran … once more

In the event you’re a quarterback and also you’re drawing comparisons to Aaron Rodgers, that’s normally a great factor. However Rodgers is famously 0-4 within the playoffs in opposition to the 49ers — and now Dak Prescott is midway to the identical destiny.

Prescott threw for simply 206 yards on 37 makes an attempt, tossing a pair of interceptions and one landing in Dallas’ second playoff loss to San Francisco in as many seasons. His cumulative passer ranking in these matchups is 66.7.

In a recreation that featured simply two touchdowns, each turnover is amplified. Interceptions have been a significant drawback for Prescott this season, too, as he tied for the league lead (15) regardless of solely taking part in in 12 video games.

How shortly all of us neglect about Prescott’s near-perfect displaying in opposition to the Buccaneers final week. When Tony Pollard exited Sunday with a excessive ankle sprain, the sport rested firmly in Prescott’s palms. He actually and figuratively threw it away.

Satirically, consecutive Cowboys seasons have ended with the identical confounding visible: Prescott making an attempt an ill-fated comeback in opposition to the 49ers as time expires.

Final 12 months, the quarterback ran into an official and didn’t clock the ball within the dying seconds. This 12 months, he took a snap from Ezekiel Elliott (not a typo) and threw an in-route that fell a mere 68 yards wanting the tip zone.

A win was all however unimaginable by then, however that’s the purpose. And the issue.

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Joe and regular wins the race

Snowy Buffalo is a world away from swampy Baton Rouge, however Joe Burrow regarded like a man reliving his school glory days Sunday. Burrow led a hyper-efficient Cincinnati Bengals offence all recreation lengthy, squeezing the life out of the Buffalo Payments one prolonged drive at a time.

Fittingly, ex-LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase was Burrow’s goal when the Bengals drew first blood.

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On eight drives (excluding their kneel-down possession on the finish), the Bengals didn’t have a single three-and-out. They pushed the ball previous their very own 40-yard line each time and averaged 6.0 yards per play.

Cincinnati additionally logged a staggering 30 first downs. Throughout 272 common season video games this 12 months, that solely occurred 10 occasions.

Two of these cases got here courtesy of this Bengals group, which isn’t stunning when you think about the weapons.

The first playmakers are Burrow and Chase, who’re on their solution to the Professional Bowl — except they make it to the Tremendous Bowl, in fact. Then there’s Tee Higgins (over 1,000 receiving yards) and Joe Mixon (over 1,200 scrimmage yards).

With snow falling, Cincinnati’s offence didn’t decelerate. As an alternative, the Bengals proved they’ve sufficient offensive firepower to maintain up within the AFC’s arms race.

And after toppling the league’s No. 2 offence in Buffalo, the Bengals will meet the No. 1 offence in Kansas Metropolis for subsequent week’s AFC Championship. Giddy up.

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Allen beneath stress

Judging offensive line efficiency is commonly a difficult enterprise, however the stress on Josh Allen was palpable.

Allen was solely sacked as soon as, which is a credit score to his shiftiness and, frankly, his dimension. However there’s extra to the story than that. The 6-foot-5 quarterback was usually working for his life, feeling the warmth from an lively Cincinnati entrance.

In keeping with Subsequent Gen Stats, Allen was pressured virtually twice as usually as Burrow. Allen’s 68.1 passer ranking (with zero touchdowns and one interception) signifies that he didn’t deal with it properly.

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So as to add additional context to Allen’s 39.5 per cent stress fee, think about that the Titans allowed an NFL-high 27.5 per cent stress fee this season.

Some credit score belongs to Sam Hubbard, Trey Hendrickson and co. on Cincy’s line of defense, however maybe this efficiency will encourage Buffalo to take a position additional in its offensive line.

The Payments allotted $35.3 million to their o-line this 12 months, which ranked twenty first within the NFL, in line with Spotrac.

In 5 drafts throughout Allen’s tenure, they’ve solely chosen one offensive lineman within the high two rounds. That participant, Cody Ford, was flipped for a fifth-round decide in August.

Extra from Sportsnet

49ers beat Cowboys in hard-nosed defensive battle to achieve NFC Championship Recreation

Bengals overpower Payments, will meet Chiefs in AFC Championship Recreation

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