It's not how you start, it's how you finish. The old adage rang true for the victorious defenses on Conference Championship weekend.
A stunning upset pulled off by the Cincinnati Bengals appeared extremely unlikely when they fell 21-3 behind to the Kansas City Chiefs.
But the Chiefs scored just three points across the second half and overtime, with Patrick Mahomes intercepted twice as the Bengals fought back to claim an improbable 27-24 win.
Similarly, the Los Angeles Rams looked to be on the ropes at 17-7 down to the San Francisco 49ers when Jimmy Garoppolo hit George Kittle for a 16-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Yet the Rams outscored the Niners 13-0 in the fourth, Garoppolo and the San Francisco attack collapsing when the pressure was at its highest.
So how did both the Bengals and the Rams stymie their opponents when it mattered most and punch their tickets to Super Bowl LVI?
The name's Hubbard, Sam Hubbard
Arguably as important to stopping Mahomes through the air was the move the Bengals made to prevent him from doing damage with his legs.
The Bengals deployed defensive end Sam Hubbard as a de-facto spy of Mahomes, protecting against him rolling out and making throws on the move, as he did twice for touchdowns in the first half, or picking up yardage on the ground.
That meant relying on their coverage to hold up while sending only three-man rushes up front. The Bengals rushed three on 23.9 per cent of their defensive snaps, and the results speak for themselves.
Mahomes attempted just six passes on the move and had five scrambles for an average of just one yard per carry. In other words, when there was not a clear option for Mahomes when operating from the pocket, the possibility to escape and extend the play was taken away.
Travis Kelce had 10 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown while Tyreek Hill registered seven catches for 78 yards and a score. However, Hill did not have a catch after the first half and Kelce only had one across that second half and overtime that went for double-digit yardage, the Bengals' ploy of sporadically bracketing both working perfectly.
The combination of Hubbard's deployment in an unfamiliar role and the attention paid to both Kelce and Hill led to the sight of a quarterback who was unstoppable in the Divisional Round running backwards as the pocket collapsed in a vain effort to produce explosive plays that were not there.
Mahomes had done an excellent job down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs of being patient and taking what the defense gave him. In the second half against Cincinnati, the Bengals afforded him no options, and that patience ran out.
Rams give no room to run
The Rams did not need to lure Garoppolo into the bad decision, as Los Angeles knew that, with enough pressure on the much-maligned 49ers quarterback, a mistake is always on the horizon.
Los Angeles only pressured Garoppolo 12 times, but the pass rush came at the ideal time in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter as Aaron Donald and Co. took advantage of a banged-up offensive line when it mattered most.
The level of joy the Rams enjoyed late on was in part a result of their success in defending the run.
With the scoreboard turning rapidly in Los Angeles' favour, San Francisco became one-dimensional having been consistently stymied by the Rams' run defense.
The often dominant 49ers running game was held to 2.5 yards per carry, putting the emphasis on Garoppolo and his O-Line to deliver.
Niners tight end Kittle explained San Francisco's struggles running the ball were down to the Rams employing a new wrinkle in blitzing the A and B gaps when the 49ers went in motion, leading to stacked boxes.
As Kittle put it: "It's hard to run the ball when there are nine guys in the box."
After erasing the Niners' 10-point lead, the Rams' defense could go in attack mode with the ground game shut down and no reason to fear the opposing quarterback.
Given the struggles of the Bengals' offensive line, a similar approach could well be used in the Super Bowl.
Vikings beat Jets in London to improve to 5-0
The Minnesota Vikings moved to 5-0 for the first time in eight years with a 23-17 victory over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.
Minnesota built a 17-0 lead over New York (2-3) in the second quarter but needed an interception of Aaron Rodgers at the Vikings’ 26-yard line with 49 seconds left in the game to remain perfect on the season.
Andrew Van Ginkel put Minnesota up 10-0 late in the first quarter with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown and Will Reichard kicked three field goals to lead the Vikings.
Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, who was selected No. 3 overall by the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft, went 14 of 31 for 179 yards with an interception.
Rodgers completed 29 of 54 passes for 244 yards while throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions. He became the ninth player in NFL history to pass for 60,000 career yards.
Minnesota and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are the last two unbeaten teams in the league. Kansas City (4-0) hosts the New Orleans Saints (2-2) to close out Week 5 on Monday.
Rookie QB Daniels leads Commanders to fourth straight win
Jayden Daniels passed for 238 yards and a touchdown and added 82 yards on the ground as the Washington Commanders routed the Cleveland Browns for their fourth straight win.
Washington moved to 4-1 for the first time since 2008 behind three rushing touchdowns, including two by Brian Robinson Jr., while Cleveland fell to 1-4 with its third consecutive defeat.
Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has completed 77.1 percent of his passes this season for 1,135 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and four TDs.
Terry McLaurin had four receptions for a season-high 112 yards, and Washington’s defence limited the Browns to 212 total yards.
Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson again failed to reach 200 yards passing in a game this season, throwing for 125 with a touchdown, and is near the bottom of the NFL with a 60.2 completion percentage. Despite his struggles, coach Kevin Stefanski said the team is "not changing quarterbacks."
The Browns have yet to record over 300 total yards in 2024 after doing so 13 times in 17 games last season while going 11-6 and reaching the playoffs.
Texans beat Bills on Fairbairn's 59-yard field goal as time expires
Ka′imi Fairbairn booted a 59-yard field goal as the clock struck zero to lift the Houston Texans to a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.
C.J. Stroud completed 28 of 38 passes for 331 yards with a touchdown and the Texans held on to improve to 4-1 after blowing a 20-3 lead in the third quarter.
They also overcame an injury to Nico Collins, who entered Week 5 with an NFL-leading 489 receiving yards.
Collins exited early in the second quarter with a hamstring injury shortly after he scored a 67-yard touchdown, but Stefon Diggs stepped up in his first game against his former team, leading the Texans with six receptions for 82 yards.
Houston's defence frustrated Josh Allen nearly the entire game, and the Bills lost their second in a row after starting the season 3-0.
Allen threw three straight incomplete passes on Buffalo's final drive to give Houston a chance to win it, and he finished the game just 9 of 30 for 131 yards with a TD.
Prescott's late TD pass lifts Cowboys over Steelers
Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert just across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down with 20 seconds remaining to give the Dallas Cowboys a 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Prescott threw a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and drove the Cowboys 70 yards on the winning drive after the Steelers (3-2) went ahead on a six-yard TD pass from Justin Fields to Pat Freiermuth with 4:56 remaining.
The Cowboys (3-2) outgained the Steelers 448-227 in total yards with Prescott throwing for 352 yards and running back Rico Dowdle rushing for 90 yards and catching two passes for 27 yards with a TD.
Dowdle almost had a costly turnover, however. Two plays before the winning touchdown, he was stripped of the ball by Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts at the goal line but Prescott was able to jump on it and recover the fumble.
Tolbert, who got hurt the play before the winning score, led Dallas with seven receptions for 87 yards.
The game started nearly 90 minutes later than its scheduled start time because of a heavy thunderstorm producing lightning in the area. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.
Ravens pull out wild 41-38 overtime win over Bengals
Justin Tucker's 24-yard field goal in the final minute of overtime sent the Baltimore Ravens to a 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
After both teams scored touchdowns early behind Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, the game came down to the kickers.
Tucker sent the game to overtime with a 56-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation, and Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 53-yarder after a fumbled snap on Cincinnati's first possession of overtime.
On the very next play, Derrick Henry rushed 51 yards down to the Cincinnati six-yard line to set up Tucker's winning kick as Baltimore won its third straight game after opening 0-2.
Henry finished with 92 yards running and scored his 100th career rushing touchdown, while Jackson passed for 348 yards and four TDs without an interception.
Burrow threw five touchdown passes, while racking up 392 passing yards, but the Bengals dropped to 1-4.
Love-Kraft connection help Packers rally past Rams
Jordan Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the third quarter to help the Green Bay Packers to a 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
The Packers opened the scoring on Josh Jacobs' first touchdown with Green Bay, but then fell behind 13-7 just before the two-minute warning in the first half on Jaylen McCollough's four-yard interception return for a touchdown - the first pick-6 of Love's career.
Love responded by leading scoring drives on Green Bay's next three possessions - including touchdown passes of 66 and seven yards to Kraft.
Love threw for 224 yards in his second start after missing two games due to a knee injury, as the Packers (3-2) won for the first time in a game he started this season.
Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney intercepted Matthew Stafford in the third quarter to become the first player since the 1970 merger to have an interception in his first five games with a team.
Stafford also threw a touchdown and finished with 260 yards, while Kyren Williams rushed for 102 yards and scored for the eighth straight game for the Rams (1-4).
Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers
Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.
Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.
Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.
Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.
Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.
The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.
Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.
The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.
Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.
His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.
It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.
No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.
The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.
Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
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