A late Christian McCaffrey touchdown gave the San Francisco 49ers a 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers and moved them one win from the Super Bowl.
The 49ers, the number one seeds in the NFC, had trailed 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
Jake Moody cut the gap with a 52-yard field goal before McCaffrey crashed his way over from six yards with 67 seconds on the clock.
Brock Purdy’s 32-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle had given the 49ers a 7-6 interval lead, the Packers responding after the break as Jordan Love threw touchdown passes to Bo Melton and Tucker Kraft either side of McCaffrey’s first score of the night.
The 49ers had not come from behind to win throughout the regular season, but Purdy drove them into position for the decisive score after rookie Anders Carlson had missed a field goal from 41 yards for Green Bay.
In the AFC, the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens saw off the Houston Texans 34-10.
Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdown passes, running for two more as the Ravens pulled away in the second half.
The two teams swapped field goals in the first quarter, Jackson finding Nelson Agholor from three yards in the second quarter before Steven Sims’ 67-yard punt return tied things up at 10-10.
Jackson eased the Ravens in front in the third quarter as he ran in on a score from 15 yards.
The Ravens pulled away in the final quarter, Jackson finding Isaiah Likely from 15 yards and going in himself from eight yards. Nick Tucker capped off the victory with a field goal from 43 yards late on.
The Ravens will host the Buffalo Bills or defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, who meet on Monday, in the AFC Championship game.
The 49ers will entertain the Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the NFC champions.
Lamb has support of Cowboys team-mates as contract holdout continues
CeeDee Lamb has the sympathy of some Dallas Cowboys team-mates as he continues his training camp holdout in a bid to earn a blockbuster new contract.
Fifth-year receiver Lamb is set to make just under $18million in 2024 but is seeking a deal that would put him among the NFL's highest-paid WRs, with an annual salary of around $32m.
With no progress made in negotiations, he is yet to report to the team's preseason training camp, which began on Wednesday.
Guard Zack Martin and running back Ezekiel Elliott have both staged holdouts of their own in the past, the former missing three weeks of training last year before getting an adjustment to his contract and the latter missing the entirety of preseason in 2019.
That stand-off ultimately ended with Elliott landing a six-year, $90m contract that included $50m in guaranteed money, and he sympathises with Lamb's position.
"It's really tough because you go through your first three or four years and you guys are on the same side, and this is the first time that now you're going against each other," Elliott said on the dynamics of holding out.
"So, you've got to have a little thick skin. There's some little extra stuff that comes with it, but at the end of the day, we all have the same goal.
"The team understands that CeeDee needs to handle his business and CeeDee understands that he has the support of the team behind him.
"Just stay in shape, which it looks like he's doing, and be ready to go once the deal gets done."
Martin agrees Lamb will have no problems with getting up to speed when he does return, saying: "He's just got to know that everyone in that locker room has got his back.
"We know hopefully he'll be out here sooner rather than later."
Lamb had 135 receptions from 181 targets through the 2023 season, which ended with the Cowboys suffering a stunning wild-card defeat to the Green Bay Packers.
Both of those figures were league highs, while only the Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill (1,799 yards, 13 TDs) bettered his 1,749 regular-season receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
Packers, QB Love agree to four-year, $220m contract
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have agreed to a four-year extension worth $220million, tying him as the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, according to multiple sources.
Love, who has only had one full season as an NFL starter, will earn $55m annually with $155m guaranteed and a $75m signing bonus, also the largest in league history.
His yearly salary ties him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for highest in NFL history.
After finally trading Aaron Rodgers in April 2023, Love, 25, became the Packers’ undisputed starter. He struggled through the first seven games last season and Green Bay were 2-5 but he took off and the Packers finished 9-8 and earned a wild-card spot.
In the Packers’ final eight games of the regular season, Love had 16 touchdowns and one interception. In a 48-32 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, he had a near-perfect 157.2 passer rating with 16 of 21 completions for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
Love completed 372 of 579 passes (64.2%) for 4,159 yards last season with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
His 32 TD passes ranked second in the NFL behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott (36).
All that production came while Love was throwing to the most productive, young group of receivers since at least 1970. The Packers’ 302 receptions, 3,642 receiving yards and 31 receiving touchdowns are the most by a team’s group of first-or second-year pass catchers since the AFL/NFL merger.
Green Bay also became the youngest team in that same span to win a playoff game with an average age of 25 years and 214 days.
Packers, QB Love agree to 4-year, $220 million contract
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have agreed to a four-year extension worth $220 million, tying him as the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, according to multiple sources.
Love, who has only had one full season as an NFL starter, will earn $55 million annually with $155 million guaranteed and a $75 million signing bonus, also the largest in league history.
His yearly salary ties him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for highest in NFL history.
After finally trading Aaron Rodgers in April 2023, Love, 25, became the Packers’ undisputed starter. He struggled through the first seven games last season and Green Bay was 2-5 but he took off and the Packers finished 9-8 and earned a wild card spot.
In the Packers’ final eight games of the regular season, Love had 16 touchdowns and one interception. In a 48-32 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, he had a near-perfect 157.2 passer rating with 16 of 21 completions for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
Love completed 372 of 579 passes (64.2 percent) for 4,159 yards last season with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
His 32 TD passes ranked second in the NFL behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott (36).
All that production came while Love was throwing to the most productive, young group of receivers since at least 1970. The Packers’ 302 receptions, 3,642 receiving yards and 31 receiving touchdowns are the most by a team’s group of first-or second-year pass catchers since the AFL/NFL merger.
Green Bay also became the youngest team in that same span to win a playoff game with an average age of 25 years and 214 days.
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