National Football Conference: Seattle 31 Carolina 17
SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS Seattle moved a step closer to a return to the NFL’s title game on Saturday with a 31-17 playoff win over the Carolina Panthers.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes and defender Kam Chancellor returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Seahawks pulled away.
With the victory, the Seahawks advance to the National Football Conference title game.
They’re the first reigning Super Bowl champions to win a playoff game the next season since the 2005 New England Patriots.
They will host the winner of Sunday’s NFC second-round clash between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers.
Wilson completed 15 of 22 passing attempts for 268 yards and added 22 yards on the ground.
Jermaine Kearse caught three passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and Luke Willson had four receptions for 68 yards and a TD for the Seahawks, who have won eight straight post-season games in front of their frenzied fans in Seattle.
Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 14 times for 59 yards.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton completed 23 of 36 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Chancellor was the star of another dominant defensive display by the Seahawks.
His determination was evident in the first half when he twice leapt over his own defensive line in what ultimately proved a futile bid to thwart a Carolina field goal.
But he was a game-changer in the final period.
With the Panthers trying to whittle down a 21-10 deficit, Chancellor stepped in front of a Newton pass intended for tight end Ed Dickson and rumbled 90 yards for a Seahawks touchdown.
Newton had first looked for receiver Brenton Bersin, and by the time he opted to throw to Dickson, Chancellor had read the play and made his move.
“It felt awesome,” Chancellor said. “It felt like preparation, it felt like everything I worked all week for.
“That was my first return for my career, and it felt good,” added Chancellor, who also had 10 tackles.
“I don’t know if a strong safety can have a stronger game than Kam Chancellor did tonight,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
Newton’s 15-yard touchdown throw to Kelvin Benjamin with just over two minutes left in the game was notable only as the first fourth-quarter points allowed by the Seahawks in their last seven games.
Benjamin hauled in seven passes for 75 yards and two scores, while Greg Olsen caught four balls for 58 yards in defeat.
“We made some mistakes, we missed some opportunities,” said Carolina coach Ron Rivera, whose team won their final four games of the regular season to win the NFC South division and book an unlikely playoff berth.
American Football Conference: New England 35 Baltimore 31
(New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady holds up the game ball after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens)
A milestone performance from quarterback Tom Brady lifted the New England Patriots to a 35-31 come-from-behind victory over Baltimore Saturday in the National Football League playoffs.
Brady threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns, the last a go-ahead 23-yard strike to Brandon LaFell with five minutes remaining, sealing the victory in the American Football Conference second-round game.
The throw gave the Patriots their first lead of the game, and with it Brady passed Joe Montana for the most post-season touchdown passes. It was his 46th.
“It’s pretty special,” said Brady, who was a fan of Montana and the San Francisco 49ers growing up.
Brady had tied Montana’s mark with a five-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski in the third quarter.
Brady’s yardage total and 33 completions in 50 passing attempts both broke his own club records for a playoff game.
The three-time Super Bowl winner also ran for a touchdown, a four-yard dash in the opening quarter.
The top-seeded Patriots advanced to their fourth straight AFC Championship game, where they’ll face the winner of Sunday’s Indianapolis-Denver clash for a berth in the Super Bowl.
The fourth post-season meeting in six years between New England and Baltimore was a game of massive momentum shifts that saw the Patriots become the first team in NFL playoff history to twice rally from 14 points down and win.
The Ravens, seeded sixth, took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter only for New England to respond, then led 28-14 in the third.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 28 of 45 passes for 292 yards and a career playoff-best four touchdowns.
However, Flacco’s second interception of the game virtually ended Baltimore’s hopes with 1:39 remaining.
“I don’t think we played as well as we would’ve liked,” said Brady, who completed eight of nine passes for 72 yards on the game-winning drive. “We showed a lot of toughness coming back from those two deficits.”
Danny Amendola finished with a pair of touchdown grabs for the Patriots, including a 51-yard catch from wide receiver Julian Edelman on a trick play in the third quarter.
With the ball at the New England 49-yard line, Brady tossed a lateral to Edelman, who lofted a pass to a wide-open Amendola to tie the score at 28.
“We’ve had (the trick play) in for 10 weeks, and the coaches finally got to call it,” Edelman said. “I had to loosen up the arm a little bit.”
Baltimore edged back ahead with a field goal by Justin Tucker, but their inability to get a touchdown left Brady an opening.
“We had two separate 14-point leads,” Flacco said.
“Those guys did a good job getting it back to seven (points) as quickly as they could. They don’t panic.”
