NFL playoffs: 10 plays that decided the divisional round - ESPN

There's a lot to break down from NFL divisional round weekend. On one hand, wins by the Bills and Chiefs gave us the AFC Championship Game most people were expecting to see heading into the regular season. On the other hand, if you predicted Commanders-Eagles as the matchup deciding the NFC heading into Week 1, you're either located somewhere near I-95 in the mid-Atlantic region or a time traveler.

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To figure out how we got here, let's take a closer look at 10 plays that helped decide this weekend's games. These weren't necessarily the 10 most important plays, but they were moments that stood out as I watched all four games.

I'll go chronologically and start in Kansas City, where the defending champs were every bit as frustrating — and successful — as they've been for most of the regular season. On Saturday, a widely panned call helped keep the Chiefs' offense going:

Jump to a matchup:
Chiefs 23, Texans 14 | Commanders 45, Lions 31
Eagles 28, Rams 22 | Bills 27, Ravens 25

The situation: First-and-10 from the Kansas City 35-yard line, Chiefs up 13-12 with 1:52 to go in the third quarter

In my columns and on social media, I've written about how the conspiracy theories surrounding calls going the way of Mahomes and the Chiefs are mostly bunk. There are reasonable explanations for why he draws conspicuous penalties — extending plays, simply throwing more and playing more often in prime time than anybody else — and the tortured logic used to create a conspiracy doesn't hold up against any semblance of logic. The Chiefs drawing a pass interference penalty on fourth-and-16 to extend the game and eventually beat the Bengals in Week 2 sure seems fishy… until you remember the same refs called an