The Cincinnati Bengals revelled in causing problems for those who had formed plans for a neutral site AFC Championship Game as they defeated the Buffalo Bills to secure another road game at the Kansas City Chiefs.

Victory for the Bills on Sunday, due to the cancelled regular season game between the teams when Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest, would have seen them meet the Chiefs in Atlanta.

The NFL had even set in motion ticket sales, which did great business with the game just a week away, but the alternative plan will not now be required after the Bengals won 27-10 in Buffalo.

Joe Burrow had the Bengals in control from the outset, and he had advice for those who had planned to see the Bills play the Chiefs.

"Better send those refunds," he told CBS.

Coach Zac Taylor added at a news conference with a grin: "We had our minds set to go and play in Kansas City.

"It is tough, because they have to formulate the plans for coin tosses, they have to formulate the plans for neutral site games, and we just keep screwing it up for everybody.

"I hate that for the people who have to endure all those logistical issues. We just keep screwing it up, so I'm sorry."

The Bengals won in Kansas City in last year's AFC Championship Game, and Taylor has no doubts they are capable of a repeat.

"We're built for this," he said. "It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about us.

"We don't care who's favourite and who's not; we're built for this. We're excited to go on the road to Kansas City."

The Bills had been 13-1 in home playoff games in the Super Bowl era, but that record merely provided a source of motivation for Taylor's team.

"In our whole team, you just look at the leadership in every position," he said.

"We talked about last night how they were 13-1 in the playoffs, the best home winning percentage in NFL history. I wanted to show that to the team, because I knew what that would do to them.

"It wouldn't put fear in them that 'oh my God, we're walking into an environment that people don't win in', it was completely the opposite for our guys. It was."

Burrow completed his first nine passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns, putting the Bengals 14-0 up before the Bills had a first down.

"He's the greatest," Taylor said. "He does a great job leading this team, managing situations. The bigger the moment gets, the calmer he gets, and the team feeds off that."

But Burrow was keen to deflect praise onto the offensive line, which was missing key personnel but ensured the quarterback took only a single sack.

"It was one of their best games of the year – rushing, pass blocking," Burrow said. "It might be our most complete game of the year as a team."

Burrow, like Taylor, is confident of the team's chances against the Chiefs, believing they are better now than they were when winning that game last year.

"I think we're a more complete team, I think we're a better team," he explained. "We just seem to make plays when it counts. That's all there is to say.

"I think our O-line is better, I think our run game is better, I think our defense is better, I think our special teams is better. We're just overall a much better team than we were last year."

The Cincinnati Bengals will again play the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game after going to the Buffalo Bills and winning 27-10 in the Divisional round on Sunday.

The Bengals went to their third Super Bowl last year after upsetting the Chiefs in the conference title game, and they will get the opportunity to repeat that feat next week.

Damar Hamlin, recovering after his cardiac arrest in the regular season meeting between the teams, was in the building to see the Bills, but Joe Burrow kept his cool with a clinical display in snowy conditions to cut short Buffalo's season.

The Bengals had made a bright start to that Week 17 game before it was halted and did so again in this encounter, taking control before the end of the first quarter.

Burrow completed his first nine passes across two drives for 105 yards and two touchdowns – including a 28-yard TD pass to Ja'Marr Chase – while the Bills had to wait until the second quarter for a first down.

That belated drive ended with Josh Allen running in to score, before a second Chase TD was taken off the board following a marginal review.

But a Bengals challenge after halftime resulted in a Joe Mixon TD when he was initially adjudged to have been halted at the goal line following a six-minute drive, and the lead was out to 17 points early in the fourth quarter.

Still Allen could not get the Bills offense to fire, with his last desperate effort an interception thrown to Cam Taylor-Britt to seal the Bengals' 10th straight win.

Damar Hamlin met with his Buffalo Bills team-mates ahead of their AFC Divisional playoff clash with the Cincinnati Bengals, three weeks on from his cardiac arrest.

The safety collapsed during the first quarter of the pair's Week 17 clash on January 2, and was hospitalised in serious condition after receiving treatment on the field.

But the 2021 draft pick has continued to show a remarkable improvement since, with coach Sean McDermott revealing earlier this week that he had been attending the team's training facility.

Now, Hamlin has gone one step further after missing last week's opening playoff win against the Miami Dolphins in making the trip to Highmark Stadium for the Bills' crunch clash.

Video footage posted on social media showed him in attendance alongside members of his family, ahead of kick-off in the Sunday encounter.

In Hamlin's absence, Buffalo won a taut opening playoff encounter with Miami last week, running out 34-31 victors at Orchard Park.

Josh Allen threw for three touchdowns in all, with the hosts holding their nerve to keep their visitors at bay in the final quarter.

The winner of the Bills-Bengals match will meet the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game next weekend.

Running back Saquon Barkley reiterated his desire to stay with the New York Giants after their Divisional Round defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants were well beaten by the Eagles, who progressed with a 38-7 victory at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.

Barkley recorded 10 touchdowns in the regular season, but made just nine carries for 61 yards against Philadelphia.

After a strong season for him and the Giants though, the 25-year-old said he wants to stay with the franchise "for life" despite his contract expiring this year.

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions. I've been vocal about how I feel and where I want to be," he said. "That's outside my control. I wanted to show the Giants, show them that the guy that they drafted is still here. I hope I did that.

"Everyone knows I would love to be a Giant for life, but I really can't give a 100 per cent answer. It's out of my control. Sometime this week, I'll get a conversation with my agent Kim [Miale] and see what's up.

"The way we played for each other this year, it was special. Obviously, it didn't end the way we would have wanted it to end. Not just because of the record or because we made it to the playoffs, this is probably one of my favourite teams of all time."

Quarterback Daniel Jones – who was sacked five times in Philadelphia – also sees his deal run out at the end of the season, and was less certain about his future intentions than Barkley.

"We will cross that bridge when we get there. I really enjoyed playing here," Jones said. "I appreciate all of those guys in the locker room. It is a special group of guys and I have really enjoyed being a part of it.

"We will figure out where that goes, but I have nothing but love and respect for this organisation and the group of guys in the locker room."

Coach Brian Daboll showed respect to the Eagles for their performance, admitting his team just second-best in every area of the contest.

"Give Philly credit. They did everything better than we did [Saturday]," Daboll said. "Tough game. We really got beat in all facets, so it wasn't one thing in particular. It was a team game, and we just didn't get it done. Congratulations to Philly. They get to move on, and unfortunately we don't."

Trevor Lawrence is certain the Jacksonville Jaguars are at the beginning of their journey rather than the end after their 27-20 Divisional Round defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Jaguars put up a fight at Arrowhead Stadium, pulling the deficit back to just three points at 20-17 in the fourth quarter before Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs added another touchdown and closed out the win.

Lawrence completed 24 of his 39 pass attempts for a total of 217 yards, with one touchdown to show for it, as well as rushing three times for 26 yards.

"We worked so hard to get here," the quarterback said following Saturday's loss. "Nobody thought we were going to be here and we had our shot and that's what hurts.

"We'll be back. I'm confident in that. This is more the beginning than it is the end of something.

"This is just getting started for us. We got a taste of it and guys are already hungry to get this opportunity again."

Jacksonville reached the playoffs for the first time since 2017, and did so by securing just the second AFC South title in franchise history.

"I think this year obviously was huge for this organisation, for our city, for just our franchise moving forward," Lawrence added. "That kind of sets the bar of who we're going to be and what we're going to do moving forward and that's the mindset and we won't settle for less than that. We got a taste of it being here but there's more left and we all feel that.

"It's going to make us better. This won't be the last you guys hear of us. We'll be back."

Head coach Doug Pederson echoed his quarterback's words, and credited the Jaguars for making Lawrence the number one pick of the 2021 NFL Draft.

"I think it's everything," Pederson said about having a franchise QB. "I've said this before that the success of your football team lies with your quarterback and you've got to get that piece and that player right and I feel that Jacksonville got that person right. And he's just going to get better.

"We're all hurting because of the loss, but we're all hurting too because this is the final game of this year and that's the hard thing. But, like I told the guys, these are the games we're going to learn from and we're going to be better because of.

"I told them, 'Just plan on every year of us being in these meaningful games at the end of the season.' We want to be one of the four, five, six teams in the AFC every year."

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has compared quarterback Jalen Hurts to Michael Jordan after his stirring performance in their 38-7 romp of the New York Giants on Saturday.

The Eagles crushed the Giants to qualify for their seventh NFC Championship Game since 2000, which is the most in the NFC during that period.

Hurts threw two first-quarter touchdowns before a second-quarter rushing TD, with the contest all but settled 28-0 at half-time.

That came in the Eagles' QB's second game back since missing two with a shoulder injury on his throwing arm sustained on December 18, which Sirianni said gave the team an emotional lift similar to Chicago Bulls great Jordan.

"I know this is high praise, but to have him out there is like having – I shouldn't even go there – it's like having Michael Jordan out there," Sirianni told reporters.

"He's your leader. He's your guy. Hopefully, that's the biggest respect I can pay to him, comparing his ability to being on the field to a Michael Jordan-type. This guy leads.

"He brings this calmness to the entire team. He plays great football. He's as tough as they come. To me, nobody has played any better football than him this year."

Hurts completed 16 of 24 passes for 154 yards and two passing touchdowns, along with rushing nine times for 34 yards with one TD.

When asked how the shoulder felt after the game, Hurts told ESPN: "I never really was in a situation to test it. Fortunate to come out clean. I'm in a good place."

The Eagles progressed to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since their Super Bowl-winning season in 2017. That comes after an outstanding regular season for the top seed, who finished 14-3.

"We had a lot of hunger built up in us," Hurts said. "I think we were just starving and eager for our opportunity to come out here and play.

"This is a division opponent, they're a really good team. They had a lot of momentum going. We just wanted to come out and play our best ball.

"I think we chose the right time to do that. We were very efficient on both sides of the ball. We scored early and often. We just want to keep it going. We want to be consistent."

The Eagles will take on the winner of Sunday's Dallas Cowboys-San Francisco 49ers Divisional Round clash in the NFC Championship Game.

Jalen Hurts answered any questions about his health with a perfect two-touchdown first quarter as the Philadelphia Eagles outclassed the New York Giants 38-7 in Saturday's NFC Divisional Round game.

The NFC top seeded Eagles opened up a 28-0 halftime lead and never looked threatened by the Giants, who they beat twice during the regular season, at Lincoln Financial Field.

The win means the Eagles progress to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 2017 when they won Super Bowl LII.

Eagles QB Hurts, who missed two late regular-season games with a shoulder injury on his throwing arm, threw touchdowns for Dallas Goedert and DeVonta Smith in the first quarter.

Hurts went seven-of-seven for 89 yards in a stunning opening period, where Haason Reddick had sacks on back-to-back plays, forcing a turnover on downs, while ex-Giants cornerback James Bradberry intercepted Daniel Jones' pass.

Midway through the second, running back Boston Scott maintained his remarkable record against the Giants, scoring his 11th of 19 career touchdowns against them.

Hurts, who made 760 yards from 165 rushes during the regular season, got in on the act with a running TD before halftime.

Giants running back Matt Breida ran in a third-quarter TD, before Kenneth Gainwell brought up 100 rushing yards in style in the fourth quarter, with the Eagles' fifth touchdown. Gainwell had 112 yards on 12 carries, while Miles Sanders added 90 yards on 17 carries, with the Eagles totaling 268 rushing yards for the game.

Hurts completed 16 of 24 passes for 154 yards while rushing nine times for 34 yards, while opposition counterpart Jones threw 15 of 27 attempts for 135 yards with no TDs and one interception. Saquon Barkley was restricted to only 61 yards on nine carries.

Patrick Mahomes vowed he will fit to play in the Kansas City Chiefs' AFC Championship Game despite picking up an ankle injury in Saturday's 27-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mahomes sat out the second quarter when he headed down into the locker room and was listed as questionable due to an injury suffered at the end of the first, but returned heavily strapped up as the Chiefs claimed a place in the AFC Championship Game for the fifth straight season.

The MVP candidate revealed after the game that he had undergone X-rays in the locker room in the second quarter that cleared him to return, offering him confidence he will be available next weekend too.

"The X-rays were negative," Mahomes told NBC. "They haven’t diagnosed anything yet. But I'll be good to go [for the AFC Championship Game]."

"I did not want to go [to the locker room]. They gave me the ultimatum that I wasn’t going back in, unless I went in there. They were trying to take care of me, we've got a lot of great people over here. But it will take a lot to keep me out of the football game."

The Chiefs will face either the Buffalo Bills or the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game, with those two sides to do battle on Sunday. If the Bills win, the game will be played in neutral Atlanta, while a Bengals victory will make the host Kansas City.

Mahomes soldiered on in the second half against the Jags, improving his Divisional Round record to 5-0, finishing the game with 22-of-30 passing for 195 yards with two touchdowns.

The quarterback threw a jump TD pass for Marquez Valdes-Scantling to open up a 10-point fourth-quarter lead after the Jags had rallied back to 20-17.

"It's a credit to the guys around me," Mahomes said. "The offensive line kept me clean in the pocket knowing I couldn’t move. The guys made plays around me.

"That's what a great team does, when somebody gets a little banged up, everybody else steps up."

Chiefs wide receiver Travis Kelce, who had 14 catches for 98 yards with two touchdowns, said he feared the worst when Mahomes went down.

"You don’t want to go down the train of thinking the worst but you automatically do," he said. "He's our fearless leader, we goes, he goes. Even when he had to step out, he was still on that sideline making sure we're still good."

Mahomes and Andy Reid are now joint second for most consecutive Conference Championship Game appearances by a quarterback-head coach duo with five, alongside Ken Stabler and John Madden. New England's Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have the most with eight from 2011 to 2018.

Patrick Mahomes battled through an ankle injury to help the Kansas City Chiefs overcome the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round.

Mahomes sat out the second quarter due to an injury suffered at the end of the first, but returned heavily strapped up as the Chiefs claimed a place in the AFC Championship Game with a 27-20 victory at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.

The MVP favourite was ultimately crucial – his pass through to Marquez Valdes-Scantling restoring Kansas City's 10-point lead after Travis Etienne Jr had hauled the Jaguars to within touching distance in the final quarter.

Mahomes' speed and agility was too good for the Jacksonville defense early on, allowing Travis Kelce to go through.

Trevor Lawrence had his say with a 10-yard pass for Christian Kirk to level the scores at 7-7, when Mahomes suffered an apparent twist to his right ankle.

After attempting to return only to throw the ball to the ground for a field goal that was converted by Harrison Butker, Mahomes begrudgingly headed to the locker room and was listed as questionable.

He returned to the sideline to watch backup Chad Henne, a former Jaguars QB, send the brilliant Kelce over for his second touchdown.

Andy Reid gambled on Mahomes' fitness for the second half, and even though he was not moving freely, the 27-year-old soon scrambled for a first down.

A simple Mahomes pass to the open Kelce paved the way for Butker to drill over his second 50-yard field goal and nose the Chiefs further ahead, though Eitenne Jr's four-yard rush teed up a grandstand finale.

This was Mahomes' day, though, and he became the 11th player in NFL history with 30 or more passing TDs in the playoffs when he picked out Valdes-Scantling, with some superb defense, including a stunning interception from Jaylen Watson, getting the Super Bowl LIV champions into a fifth successive Conference Championship game, where they will meet the Cincinnati Bengals or the Buffalo Bills.

Riley Patterson's late punt made little difference as Chiefs coach Andy Reid reached 20 career postseason wins, moving level with Tom Landry. Only Bill Belichick has more (31).

Patrick Mahomes suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of the Divisional Round clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

MVP-favourite Mahomes suffered what appeared to be an ankle injury during the first quarter of Saturday's game, in a potentially huge blow to Kansas City.

The quarterback returned to the field with heavy strapping around his ankle, though it was clear he was struggling as he hobbled forward before throwing the ball to the ground, paving the way for Harrison Butker to kick a 50-yard field goal to edge the Chiefs into a three-point lead.

Mahomes seemed to be debating whether he could continue with head coach Andy Reid, before he eventually headed down to the locker room.

The 27-year-old did not look happy with the decision, as veteran back-up Chad Henne, a former Jaguars QB, came on in his place.

Henne's first task was to get the ball out of the Chiefs' own end zone, though he managed to do so as Mahomes returned to watch on from the sideline with his status uncertain.

Mahomes was able to watch his team extend their lead after Isiah Pacheco's brilliant drive set the stage for Henne to find Travis Kelce, who went over for his second touchdown of the game.

The Kansas City Chiefs can know one thing heading into this weekend's Divisional round: the Jacksonville Jaguars will not give up.

Last week's comeback win against the Los Angeles Chargers was the second-biggest turnaround in NFL history, having trailed 27-0 at one stage and 27-7 at halftime before winning 31-30, but that sort of rally is becoming commonplace for the Jaguars.

They head to Arrowhead Stadium on a six-game winning run but have been down at halftime in three of those games.

The Jaguars have been down by double-digits at halftime in six games this season, yet they have recovered to win three times. No other team have three comebacks from 10-point halftime deficits this year, with that tying a league-wide single-season high since Jacksonville entered the NFL in 1995.

There was understandable focus following the Chargers game on quarterback Trevor Lawrence's recovery as he followed four interceptions without a touchdown with four TD passes without a pick.

However, the relentlessness of this never-say-die Jaguars team might be best epitomised by its defense.

That unit gave up just three points after halftime against the Chargers, setting the stage for Lawrence to lead the offense back into the contest. Across their past four games – all wins – opponents have scored a combined nine second-half points.

Regardless of any lead, the Chiefs – and particularly the Chiefs' offensive line – will be made to work right up until the final snap on Saturday.

The Jaguars have registered 319 QB pressures in 2022, behind only the Miami Dolphins in that regard (325), while their pressure rate of 43.9 per cent leads the league.

That pressure rate was up at 46.8 per cent against the Chargers – albeit the Chargers have allowed comfortably more QB pressures than any other team this season (357).

But Justin Herbert, clearly a man used to passing under pressure, was restricted significantly by the Jaguars' pass rush.

He entered the Wild Card matchup with a completion rate of 64.9 per cent when throwing under pressure – the second-best mark of QBs with 100 or more such attempts – yet completed only seven of his 15 attempts against the Jaguars (46.7 per cent) despite having an open target on 12 of those passes.

As the tide really turned in the second half and this harrying took its toll, Herbert was 10-for-19 on all attempts and was sacked twice.

The Chiefs will consider themselves a very different prospect – with some justification.

They have this year allowed a pressure rate of 37.0 per cent, which is below the league average of 38.5 per cent, and Mahomes has actually already faced this Jacksonville defense at Arrowhead once this year.

Although Mahomes' completion rate of 57.1 per cent under pressure is below the league average of 58.3 per cent for the year, he completed eight of 12 attempts against the Jaguars (66.7 per cent).

That was one of the six games in which the Jaguars were down by 10 or more at halftime, and without effectively getting to Mahomes, who threw for 331 yards and four TDs, a second-half effort fell short.

Indeed, each of the Jaguars' three 10-point second-half comebacks this year have come at home. They are 3-0 in Jacksonville in such scenarios but 0-3 on the road. Going into Kansas City will make a repeat extremely tough.

Yet the last time the Chiefs blew a double-digit halftime lead was in their last playoff game.

The Cincinnati Bengals went to Arrowhead for last year's AFC Championship Game, trailed by 11 points through two quarters and won in overtime.

That win saw Joe Burrow – the first overall pick a year before Lawrence – really announce himself on the biggest stage. However, the Jaguars' hopes of claiming their own underdog victory may rely more on their success in stopping the elite QB on the other side of the field.

Newly hired Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon will take some time to assess whether veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill will remain the starter going forwards.

Carthon was hired on Tuesday after six years in the San Francisco 49ers' front office, earning his first general manager role at 41 years old.

He takes over as decision-maker for a Titans franchise that missed the playoffs this season for the first time since 2018, and his first order of business will be assessing the quarterback situation.

Tannehill has guided the Titans to their past three postseason berths, but after going 7-3, 11-5 and 12-5 as a starter in those seasons, he battled injuries and struggled to 6-6 in his 12 games this campaign.

After missing out on the playoffs two weeks ago, Vrabel told reporters he still has faith in Tannehill.

"He is our starting quarterback," he said. "If he is healthy, he is our starting quarterback."

It may not be that simple, however, as Carthon said during his introductory press conference on Friday that he needs more time before deciding on the franchise's future at the sport's most important position.

"We're still evaluating the roster," he said. "Ryan has been great here. He's won a lot of football games. 

"I look forward to us winning football games, but I still need more time to evaluate and make those decisions."

He added: "This is a quarterback-driven league – people are hired and fired every day over that position. 

"I want to spend more time evaluating that position so I will have my own opinion. Then, Mike and I will confer and we'll figure it out."

Behind Tannehill, the Titans also have Malik Willis coming into his second season. The third-round draft pick made three starts in his rookie year, but did not reach 100 passing yards in any of his appearances.

An emotionally charged encounter is on the cards when the Buffalo Bills host the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional round given the events when the two sides met just over two weeks ago.

In the Week 17 contest in Cincinnati, Damar Hamlin's collapse and cardiac arrest brought the NFL to a standstill.

Now, the Bills will continue to be spurred on by news of Hamlin's improving health throughout the playoffs – not that they have needed much help of late.

A 34-31 Wild Card victory against the Miami Dolphins was the third playoff game in a row in which they have scored at least 34 points. Prior to this run, the Bills had tallied 34 or more points in just five of their first 34 playoff games.

Buffalo are 11-2 in the postseason when scoring at least 28 points, compared to a 7-17 record when scoring 27 or fewer.

The Bills will have confidence in Josh Allen to lead them to another big score after his latest impressive playoff showing. His 352 passing yards against the Dolphins last week represented the third-best such performance by a Bills quarterback in the playoffs, behind only Jim Kelly (405 in the 1989 Divisional round) and Doug Flutie (360 in the 1998 Wild Card round).

It was Allen's fourth playoff game with at least 300 passing yards and multiple touchdown passes, making him one of only 10 players in NFL history to have at least four such games. He has only played seven playoff games in total.

The Bengals might represent a step up, however, with this the first game at the Divisional round or earlier in NFL history to have both teams entering on winning streaks of at least eight games.

Both previous playoff encounters between the sides have gone in the Bengals' favour, although their last postseason meeting was in the 1988 season.

The Bengals reached this stage with a 24-17 victory against the Baltimore Ravens, which made this the first time they have had wins in back-to-back postseasons.

Even so, they have a knack for close playoff games, with their last six all decided by seven or fewer points.

To come out on top in another tight matchup, the Bengals will need to do a better job of protecting Joe Burrow, who was sacked four times against the Ravens and has been sacked 23 times in his five career playoff games, tied with Wade Wilson from 1987 to 1989 for the most through a QB's first five playoff starts since at least 1970.

An NFC East rivalry clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants in the Divisional Round might seem set to be one-sided.

The Eagles won both of their games against the Giants in the regular season.

A series sweep for the first time in three seasons boosted a dominant record for the Eagles against the Giants in recent history, having won 20 of 26 meetings since 2010.

However, they have never beaten a team three times in the same season.

Playoff encounters between the Eagles and the Giants are split down the middle with two wins each. The last such encounter came in the 2008 Divisional Round, which saw Philadelphia become the first sixth seed in the NFC to defeat the top seed.

When coming off a bye in the Divisional Round against a team who played in the Wild Card round, the Eagles stand 3-0 and are 5-0 at home in this stage of the playoffs all-time – the best record for any side in NFL history.

In a bid to continue that run, Jalen Hurts will look wide to inflict damage upon the Giants, with 65.4 per cent (200) of the quarterback's 306 completions this season being to wide receivers – of QBs with at least 250 completions this season, only the Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa had a higher percentage (72.2).

The Eagles also possess a giant killer on the ground. Running back Boston Scott has scored a touchdown in all eight of his career appearances against the Giants (10 total), tied for the third-longest such streak against New York in the league.

While all of that will be a concern to the Giants, they enter the encounter with an impressive run of results away from home in the playoffs.

Victory in Minnesota against the Vikings in the Wild Card round secured the Giants' sixth triumph in seven road playoff games dating back to the 2007 season, with only the Baltimore Ravens (eight) having more postseason road wins in that time.

Daniel Jones enters the game on the back of a stellar performance, throwing for 301 yards and rushing for 75 against the Vikings to become the third player all-time to have at least 300 yards in the air and 75 on the ground in a playoff game, joining Lamar Jackson and Steve Young.

Jones' aerial tally against the Vikings was his third-highest this season, behind 341 yards in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions and 334 yards against Minnesota in Week 16.

However, it was the only game of the three where the Giants emerged victorious.

While hitting such numbers against the Eagles could well be too much to ask, Jones will certainly need to improve upon his total of 169 from Week 14 against Philadelphia – his third-lowest tally on the season.

The San Francisco 49ers Divisional Round clash against the Dallas Cowboys is a game where the number 11 tells a different story for both sides.

For the 49ers, their run of 11 straight wins, each of which has come without multiple turnovers, puts them in good stead to advance to the penultimate round of the playoffs under the stewardship of rookie quarterback Brock Purdy.

No side in NFL history has ever recorded 11 consecutive wins in a single season without conceding multiple turnovers in any of those games, with the last such occasion for the 49ers being a trio of turnovers against Kansas City in Week 7 – the second game in a row that saw three turnovers for San Francisco.

The 49ers' winning run has come with Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, excelling in a remarkable run that could result in accolades should San Francisco go all the way.

Purdy has become one of 12 QBs in NFL history to enjoy a six-start undefeated stint with 120.0 or better passer rating and had his team score over 200 points, with all the previous 11 either winning the Super Bowl or an MVP award in their careers.

Despite throwing three touchdown passes and accumulating 332 passing yards against the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, Purdy was not at his best, finishing the game with 60 per cent passing accuracy, completing 18 of 30 attempts.

While Purdy boasted the third-most passing yards of the Wild Card round, behind only Josh Allen (352) and Tom Brady (351), only Tyler Huntley threw fewer completions (17) in last week's contests.

Averaging 11.07 yards per completion, incomplete passes did not hinder the 49ers against Seattle but better efficiency against the Cowboys may be required.

In contrast to the 49ers' fine winning streak this season, Dallas are looking to bring an end to a disappointing franchise record, having failed to reach the Championship Game in their last 11 playoff appearances.

Dallas' last Championship Game appearance came 27 years ago, on their way to victory at Super Bowl XXX, with their streak being the longest across the NFL in that regard.

Victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week was only their fifth playoff win since Super Bowl XXX, and the Cowboys' hopes rest on Dak Prescott.

Prescott enters the game on the back of a stellar performance against the Buccaneers, where he became the first QB in NFL history to complete 75 per cent of his passes (when counting players with at least 30 attempts), throw four TD passes without an interception and rush for 20 yards and a TD in a single game.

A similar performance will likely be required to cause an upset against the in-form 49ers, though last season's defeat in the Wild Card game at home to San Francisco may serve as encouragement.

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