Christian McCaffrey says rookie quarterback Brock Purdy no longer surprises him after another standout display in the San Francisco 49ers' 19-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Sunday's NFC Divisional Round game.
The 49ers advanced to their second-straight NFC Championship Game, and third in the past four seasons, with the victory.
Purdy, who only got his chance as starting QB following injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, completed 19 of 29 passes for 214 yards, with the 49ers focusing on their run game to combat the Cowboys' strong defense.
Last week Purdy became the first rookie to throw for 200 yards with no interceptions in a postseason game and he backed that up again.
The 23-year-old quarterback is now 7-0 in starts this season, with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions, and has a legitimate claim to being the 49ers' starting quarterback next season.
"You see it every day in the day he prepares, you see it in practice, and in games, he has just been an impressive guy to be around in the huddle," McCaffrey told reporters about Purdy.
"I'm not shocked anymore – it's just who he is now."
McCaffrey scored the game-winning touchdown to cap a drive in which Purdy linked up with George Kittle, who hauled in a superb catch for a 30-yard gain.
"That was unbelievable," McCaffrey said. "That was one of the best catches I've ever seen.
"That's a special player doing special things. And plays like that definitely boost momentum."
Kittle said he was not the primary for the play where he juggled Purdy's threaded pass, with the QB intending to hit receiver Brandon Aiyuk on a crossing route, with Deebo Samuel and Kyle Jaszczyk his other options. Instead, with none of those options open, Purdy improvised.
"I'm not in the read at all," Kittle said. "Brock is a good quarterback who keeps his eyes up when the play is falling apart and his No. 1 and his No. 2 wasn't open so for him to look back inside to see a white glove hand fly up and give me a shot at the ball, that's just really good quarterback play."
Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan did not get carried away with Purdy's game, in a contest that he expected to be tight against the Cowboys.
"He made a number of plays today," Shanahan said. "By no means was anything perfect, for the whole offense and the whole team, but it seemed like playoff football in that game.
"We were going against a team we've been watching all week, and we had a feeling it would be this type of game. That's why we were stressing the run game on both sides.
"We were stressing to protect the ball and try to get turnovers – we accomplished both of those things – but you do that stuff and you still have to make a number of plays."
San Francisco will face the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday for a place at Super Bowl LVII.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
Mahomes to use Chiefs' first loss of 2024 as 'spark'
Patrick Mahomes said the Kansas City Chiefs will use their first loss since Christmas Day 2023 as fuel after the Buffalo Bills halted their unbeaten start to the season.
Josh Allen scrambled for a stunning 26-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play as the Bills improved to 9-2 with a 30-21 win over the reigning Super Bowl champions.
The result ended the Chiefs' 15-game winning streak, a run that began after they lost to the Los Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day last year and included their dramatic triumph over the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII.
The Chiefs had started this season 9-0 to take control of the race for the AFC's top seed, but they could have few complaints about Sunday's result.
The Bills outgained the Chiefs by 366 yards to 259, also recording 24 first downs to Kansas City's 19 and enjoying almost nine more minutes in possession.
Mahomes, however, was relaxed about the end of his team's winning streak, saying: "The undefeated thing was cool, but that's not our ultimate goal.
"It's a good football team, so there's nothing to hang your head about. We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end."
The Chiefs rank just 16th in the NFL for yards per game (337.9) and 11th for points per game (24) in 2024, with many of their victories – including against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 – coming via last-gasp defensive or special teams plays.
Mahomes actually feels the team could benefit from a reality check, adding: "I'm hoping that [losing] is a benefit.
"I'm not going to say I or we are relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we were just coming away with these wins at the end of the games.
"I think it's going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. It's something you can't do in big games like this."
No quarterback has thrown more interceptions than Mahomes' 11 (level with Geno Smith and Jordan Love) this season, while a passer rating of 90.3 ranks him a lowly 20th among all players at the position.
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