Brady makes playoff history, and other Divisional Round takeaways

The NFL's conference championship weekend could not have been scripted more perfectly.

MVP frontrunner Aaron Rodgers is set to play in his fourth NFC Championship Game, and the first of his career at Lambeau Field. To reach his second Super Bowl, he must take down 43-year-old Tom Brady, who will compete in his 14th conference championship. No other quarterback has started more than half as many conference title games.

On the other side of the playoff bracket, the Buffalo Bills are in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since 1993. The last time the franchise played for a spot in the Super Bowl, it defeated Kansas City, the team it will meet on Sunday.

While there are plenty of storylines to dissect, ahead of a pair of thrilling conference championship clashes, let’s stop to reflect on last weekend’s dramatic Divisional Round and look at the key takeaways.

Packers offense outdueled the league’s best defense

The NFL’s No. 1 defense was no match for Rodgers and his No. 1 scoring offense Saturday.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald was significantly hampered, as he played through torn rib cartilage, but the Packers still picked apart an otherwise dominant Rams unit and made it look easy.

Green Bay receiver Davante Adams (nine catches for 66 yards and a touchdown) got the best of shutdown corner Jalen Ramsey, and the Rams didn't record a sack, despite an average of 3.4 sacks per game leading up to Saturday’s matchup.

The Packers offensive line should get plenty of credit for Green Bay’s offensive dominance. The men in the trenches allowed just one quarterback hit and did an excellent job to open up lanes for Packers running backs Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and AJ Dillon.

Jones led the way, with 99 yards and a score on 14 carries, while Williams and Dillon combined for a touchdown and another 92 yards on the ground.

The three-headed rushing attack dismantled the league’s No. 3 run-stop unit. Next up for Green Bay is the NFL's No. 1 rushing defense.

Brady’s defense packed a punch against Brees

After two abysmal performances against the Saints during the regular season, Brady enjoyed a good — not great — outing in Sunday’s Divisional road game.

He found Leonard Fournette and Mike Evans for two short touchdown passes and took the ball into the end zone himself on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

He also played turnover-free, after he threw a combined five interceptions in his previous two meetings with New Orleans.

Brady’s poise and leadership certainly helped the Bucs on Sunday, but the bulk of the praise should go to Tampa Bay’s defense.

The group intercepted Drew Brees three times, while rookie safety Antonio Winfield Jr. punched the ball out of tight end Jared Cook’s hands to force a fumble that set up a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter.

It was the perfect confidence boost for this unit, before it squares up with Rodgers in a cold-weather showdown at Lambeau.

The last time the Bucs and Packers met, in Week 6, Tampa Bay pressured Rodgers on nearly 30% of dropbacks and sacked him four times. Rodgers also tossed two interceptions and failed to score in a 38-10 loss, the worst Green Bay suffered this season.

Without Mahomes, the Chiefs are down but not out

Just a day after Lamar Jackson left the third quarter of the Ravens-Bills game to enter concussion protocol, Patrick Mahomes endured a similar fate in the Browns-Chiefs thriller.

Midway through the third, Mahomes, who was already hobbled by a foot issue, took a hit from Cleveland linebacker Mack Wilson. The reigning Super Bowl MVP left the game and was further evaluated for a concussion, which thrust backup Chad Henne into the spotlight of a Divisional Round slugfest.

The 35-year-old didn’t look so good on a misguided end zone interception early in the fourth quarter, when Cleveland trailed by only five points. Luckily for Henne, the Kansas City defense stepped up and forced the Browns to punt. Then the journeyman QB displayed his own heroics when he nearly ran for a first down on third and 14 and converted a pass to Tyreek Hill on fourth and inches to seal the win.

Kansas City opened as a three-point favorite for Sunday’s contest with Buffalo, but Mahomes isn’t officially cleared to play in his third straight AFC Championship Game.

Should Henne get the start, he’ll face a much tougher challenge against a Buffalo defense that held the dynamic Ravens offense to just a field goal Saturday.

Refs need to re-evaluate rulebook

If it weren’t for a missed targeting call, the Browns might have been celebrating Sunday.

Just before halftime, Cleveland was inches away from a touchdown, but as Rashard Higgins stretched for the pylon, he took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen and fumbled into the end zone, which resulted in a touchback.

The turnover granted Kansas City the ball on its 20-yard line and sent Cleveland to the locker room down 19-3 at the half.

While plenty of fans bemoaned the controversial touchback rule, the more concerning issue is the inability to review targeting.

After we witnessed two star quarterbacks exit games to enter concussion protocol, one would think the NFL would do more to properly penalize helmet-to-helmet contact and promote player safety.