2018–19 NFL playoffs
The National Football League playoffs for the 2018 season began with the Wild Card Round on January 5, 2019, and concluded with Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 3, 2019, when the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13–3.
For the first time in NFL history, both conference championship games went to overtime.
The Patriots became the first team since the Buffalo Bills in 1990–1993 to reach at least three consecutive Super Bowls, and the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to win the Super Bowl after losing it the previous year.
Participants
Bracket
Schedule
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 5, 2019
AFC: Indianapolis Colts 21, Houston Texans 7
Indianapolis, who had started the year 1–5 and still managed to make the playoffs, buried the Texans with 276 yards and 21 points in the first half.On the opening drive of the game, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck completed three passes to T. Y. Hilton for 63 yards before finishing the drive with a 5-yard scoring completion to Eric Ebron. Then after a punt, Indianapolis drove 75 yards in 9 plays to go up 14–0. The key player on the drive was running back Marlon Mack, who carried the ball 6 times for 39 yards, caught a 6-yard pass and finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Houston then drove to the Colts' 45-yard line; but while trying to convert a 4th-and-4, Deshaun Watson's pass was intercepted by Kenny Moore II, who returned it from 10 yards to midfield. Indianapolis then advanced the ball to the Texans' 17-yard line, but they also failed to score when Luck's pass was deflected by J. J. Watt and then intercepted by lineman Brandon Dunn on the last play of the first quarter.
Houston had to punt after three plays and the Colts went on to drive to a 21–0 lead by moving the ball 65 yards in 7 plays, featuring two key receptions by receiver Dontrelle Inman. The first was for 21 yards and the second was an 18-yard touchdown catch. Houston responded with their most promising drive of the game, advancing the ball 69 yards to the Colts' 9-yard line. However, on a 4th-and-1 conversion attempt, Watson threw an incomplete pass with 1:24 left in the half.
Both defenses controlled the third quarter as the first six drives of it ended in punts. With just over 2 minutes left in the period, the Texans fired up a 16-play, 89-yard drive. Watson rushed for 10 yards, while also completing 9-of-11 passes for 66 yards, the last a 6-yard touchdown pass to Keke Coutee that made the score 21–7 with 11:04 remaining. Following a Colts punt, the Texans drove to a 3rd-and-10 on the Indianapolis 24-yard line. Watson's next two passes were incomplete, causing a turnover on downs with 4:17 remaining. The Colts then managed to run out the rest of the time, mainly due to plays from Mack, who picked up first downs with runs of 2, 15 and 26 yards.
Luck completed 19-of-32 passes for 222 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and rushed for 29 yards. Hilton was his top receiver with five receptions for 85 yards. Mack carried the ball 24 times for a franchise postseason record 148 yards and a touchdown, while also catching two passes for six yards. Prior to this game, the Texans had not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season. Moore had 6 tackles, a sack and an interception. Watson completed 29-of-49 passes for 235 yards, with one touchdown and one interception; he was also Houston's leading rusher with eight carries for 76 yards. Coutee caught 11 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
NFC: Dallas Cowboys 24, Seattle Seahawks 22
Dallas outgained Seattle in total yards 380–299 and limited the Seahawks, the #1 rushing offense during the regular season, to just 73 yards on the ground.Dallas scored on their opening drive, advancing the ball 54 yards in 10 plays on the way to a 39-yard field goal by Brett Maher. This would be the only score of the first quarter, as the next six drives ended in punts. In the second quarter, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson's completions to Ed Dickson and Tyler Lockett for gains of 26 and 40 yards set up Sebastian Janikowski's 27-yard field goal. Dallas responded with a drive to the Seattle 40-yard line, but it ended there as Maher missed a 58-yard field goal attempt. Seattle took over on their own 48-yard line; Wilson's 25-yard pass to Lockett on the ensuing drive set up another Janikowski field goal to give Seattle a 6–3 lead. A few plays into the Cowboys' next possession, they faced 3rd-and-1 with 1:11 left in the half. Ezekiel Elliott took a handoff, ran to the right and raced down the sideline for a 44-yard gain to the Seahawks' 22-yard line. Four plays later, Dak Prescott finished the 75-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Michael Gallup with 28 seconds left, giving Dallas a 10–6 lead. Lockett gave Seattle a chance to score by returning the ensuing kickoff 52 yards to the Cowboys' 49-yard line; Seattle could only advance to the 39-yard line from there and ended the half with Janikowski's missed field goal attempt from 60 yards. Janikowski injured his leg on the kick and had to miss the rest of the game, turning the kicking duties over to rookie punter Michael Dickson.
With 8:04 left in the third quarter, Seahawks defensive back Neiko Thorpe managed to knock Michael Dickson's 45-yard punt away from the end zone, where it was downed by Seattle on the Cowboys' 2-yard line. Dallas failed to gain any yards over their next three plays and Chris Jones' 42-yard punt gave the ball back to Seattle on the Dallas 44-yard line. Faced with 4th down and 4 after three plays, Seattle decided to go for the first down, a gamble that paid off as Wilson threw a pass to Doug Baldwin, who barely managed to keep his feet in bounds while hauling in the ball at the left sideline for a 22-yard gain. Then when faced with 3rd-and-5, Wilson managed to pick up the first down himself on a 7-yard run. Finally with just over 2 minutes left in the quarter, Wilson finished the 9-play, 44-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run; Mike Davis ran for a successful two-point conversion, giving the Seahawks a 14–10 lead. Michael Dickson drop-kicked the ensuing kickoff, which went to running back Rod Smith at the 20-yard line, where he returned it 15 yards. Four plays later, Prescott completed a 34-yard pass to Amari Cooper at the Seattle 16-yard line, setting up Elliott's 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Dallas a 17–14 lead with just over 12 minutes left. After three plays, Tavon Austin returned Michael Dickson's 60-yard punt 51 yards to the Seattle 38-yard line. Dallas was now in prime position to take a late-game two-score lead, but after driving to the 16-yard line, Prescott threw a pass to Noah Brown that bounced off his shoulder and was intercepted in the end zone by K. J. Wright as he fell to the ground. Still, Dallas' defense rose to the occasion and forced a punt, which Cole Beasley returned 7 yards to the Dallas 37-yard line. The Cowboys went on to drive 54 yards in 11 plays, aided by three Seattle penalties, including two pass interference calls on third down plays. Elliott also made a big impact with a 17-yard run, while Prescott converted a 3rd-and-14 with a 16-yard run before taking the ball into the end zone himself on a 1-yard score. This gave Dallas a 24–14 lead with 2:14 left.
On the second play after the kickoff, Wilson's 53-yard completion to Lockett gave Seattle a first down on the Dallas 13-yard line. Wilson followed this up with two completions to backup running back J. D. McKissic, the first for 6 yards and the second a 7-yard touchdown pass. Chris Carson then scored on a two-point conversion run, cutting the score to 24–22 with 1:16 left. However, Michael Dickson's ensuing drop kick went right into the hands of Beasley, enabling Dallas to run out the rest of the game and secure their first playoff win since the 2014 playoffs. For Seattle, this was their first one-and-done postseason since 2004. This was the second playoff meeting between Seattle and Dallas; Seattle won the previous meeting in the 2006 Wild Card round when Dallas quarterback Tony Romo botched the snap on a field-goal attempt.
Prescott finished the game 22-of-33 for 226 yards and a touchdown, with one interception. He also rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown. His top receiver was Cooper, who caught seven passes for 106 yards. Elliott had 26 carries for 137 yards and a touchdown, while also catching four passes for 32 yards. For Seattle, Wilson completed 18-of-27 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 14 yards and a score. Lockett caught four passes for 120 yards, returned a kickoff for 52 yards and gained 22 yards on three punt returns. Michael Dickson averaged 51.4 yards per punt on his seven punts and put one of them in the 20.
Sunday, January 6, 2019
AFC: Los Angeles Chargers 23, Baltimore Ravens 17
The Chargers recorded six sacks, jumped out to a 23–3 lead and halted a late Ravens rally, forcing Lamar Jackson to fumble on the final drive to earn a trip to New England.On the Ravens' second possession of the game, Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram forced a fumble from Kenneth Dixon that was recovered by safety Adrian Phillips, giving Los Angeles the ball on the Baltimore 14-yard line. Three plays later, Michael Badgley kicked a 21-yard field goal to give Los Angeles a 3–0 lead. Then the Chargers' defense forced a punt, which Desmond King returned 42 yards to the Ravens' 42-yard line, setting up a 53-yard Badgley field goal that increased their lead to 6–0. Early in the second quarter, Phillips intercepted a pass from Jackson to give the Chargers a first down on the Ravens' 44-yard line. From there, they drove 27 yards to go up 9–0 on Badgley's third field goal. Following another Ravens punt, Los Angeles drove 53 yards in 12 plays to score on Badgley's fourth field goal on the last play of the half, giving them a 12–0 lead.
King returned the second half kickoff 72 yards to the Ravens' 35-yard line, but this time the Chargers failed to score when Badgley's field goal attempt was blocked by Za'Darius Smith. After a Ravens punt, linebacker Patrick Onwuasor forced a fumble from Chargers tight end Virgil Green that was recovered by linebacker C. J. Mosley on the Los Angeles 21-yard line. This set up Justin Tucker's 33-yard field goal, cutting the score to 12–3 with 8:34 left in the third quarter. At the end of Los Angeles' next possession, the Ravens got another scoring opportunity when Javorius Allen blocked Donnie Jones's punt, resulting in Baltimore taking over on the Chargers' 40-yard line; they only managed to gain 4 yards with their next three plays and Tucker's 50-yard field goal attempt was wide right. Los Angeles then drove 60 yards in 10 plays, featuring a 28-yard completion from Philip Rivers to Mike Williams on the Ravens' 15-yard line. On the next play, Melvin Gordon ran the ball 14 yards to the 1-yard line. The Ravens managed to keep Los Angeles out of the end zone for the next three plays, but Gordon scored with a 4th down 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the 4th quarter; Rivers completed a pass to Williams for a two-point conversion, giving the Chargers a 20–3 lead.
A sack by Ingram on the Ravens' ensuing drive forced them to punt from their 14-yard line and Sam Koch's 31-yard kick gave the Chargers good field position on the Ravens' 45-yard line. Los Angeles then drove 16 yards, including a 9-yard scramble by Rivers on 3rd-and-8, to score on Badgley's 5th field goal, from 47 yards, that gave them a 23–3 lead. Taking the ball back with 9:02 left, Baltimore drove 75 yards in eight plays, including Jackson's 29-yard completion to Willie Snead on 4th-and-11. On the next play, Jackson threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to receiver Michael Crabtree, making the score 23–10. The Chargers recovered Baltimore's ensuing onside kick attempt, but still had to punt after three plays. Baltimore went on to drive 85 yards in 12 plays, the longest a 39-yard completion from Jackson to Dixon. On the last play, Jackson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Crabtree, narrowing their gap to 23–17 with 2:06 left. Baltimore then forced a punt with 45 seconds to go, giving them one last chance to drive for a winning touchdown, but Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu forced a fumble while sacking Jackson and Ingram recovered it to give Los Angeles the victory.
Rivers completed 22-of-32 passes for 160 yards and rushed for 15 yards. Ingram finished the game with seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Phillips had five tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. King returned a kickoff for 72 yards and had four punt returns for 46 yards. Jackson completed 14-of-29 passes for 194 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception; he was also Baltimore's leading rusher with 9 carries for 54 yards. Onwausor had seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.