Cowboys 31 Aaron Rodgers just loves it in Dallas. On the 50th anniversary of Green Bay’s Super Bowl I victory and in the building where he won his own, A-Rod had the throw of the postseason to set up Mason’s Crosby’s 51-yard game-winning field goal (the longest game winner in playoff history) to send the Packers to their second NFC Championship Game in three years. Considering three of the last five Cowboys-Packers playoff meetings produced a Super Bowl team, the last game in the Georgia Dome may not be remembered fondly by the Falcons. Much to Ed Werder’s chagrin, the NFC title game will be without his favorite team and favorite player even though Dak Prescott rebounded from a slow start to become the first rookie starting QB in the Super Bowl era to throw three TD passes in a playoff game. He and Zeke are the future, but it’s hard not to think this latest one-and-done postseason will have Jerry Jones start considering alternatives to Jason Garrett. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Chiefs 16 Here’s the stat of the game: Chris Boswell’s NFL postseason-record six field goals totaled 227 yards — the exact same amount of yards the Kansas City offense generated. And that’s why it’s the Steelers making an NFL-record 16th conference championship game appearance and the Chiefs have gone 23 years without a home playoff win. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
AP Photo/Orlin Wagner
Patriots 34 This is why New England is headed to their Super Bowl-era record 6th straight conference championship game and 11th appearance in 16 years: On a day when Tom Brady completes fewer than half his passes and ties Brett Favre’s dubious postseason interception record, a journeyman like Dion Lewis becomes the first player to score a receiving, rushing, and kickoff return TD in a playoff game. No wonder Bill Belichick can sleep anywhere. And we’ll all continue to sleep on Houston so long as they insist on keeping Brock Osweiler under center. The Texans defense is one of the league’s best and they got everything they could reasonably expect from Lamar Miller — but this team is nothing more than the best team in a bad division until they get a real QB. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
Falcons 36 Matt Ryan shrugged off his postseason demons by becoming just the third QB to have a 300-yard, 3 TD, 120+ passer rating performance in a playoff game. If he can actually get his first postseason win against someone other than Seattle, he should be the unanimous choice for MVP. In Seattle, injuries obviously derailed their season but their attitude certainly didn’t help. From Richard Sherman’s media boycott to some weird Russian contact to Michael Bennett’s tantrum, karma may have had just as much to do with their playoff fortunes. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
AP Photo/David Goldman
