Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.
In the fourth quarter, Texans cornerback D'Angelo Ross blocked an extra point attempt and returned it for a defensive two-point conversion, the first such score to occur in a postseason game since the play was added in 2015.
[16] This game received significant online coverage as, during the Nickelodeon broadcast, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was "swallowed" by the SpongeBob SquarePants character "Dirty Bubble".
The Bills responded with a field goal by Tyler Bass to cap a 12-play drive on their opening possession and then forced a quick three-and-out to get the ball back.
The Eagles fan was banned for life from attending Lincoln Financial Field,[23] and his place of employment fired him after being notified of his actions and conducting investigations.
Mayfield committed a costly turnover, a botched handoff to rookie Jalen McMillan on a jet sweep, resulted in a fumble recovered by Bobby Wagner at the Tampa Bay 13.
Four plays later, facing yet another fourth-down conversion, a 4th-and-2 at the Tampa Bay 5-yard line, Daniels pass to Terry McLaurin gave the Commanders a 20–17 lead.
In what immediately became known as the 'Divisional Doink' game due to NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico call, Gonzalez's kick sailed toward the right upright, hit the post, but fell through, giving the Commanders the 23–20 victory as time expired.
On January 9, the NFL announced that the game would be moved to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, due to the series of wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
[32][31] The Rams got off to a quick start, scoring a touchdown on a seven-play drive, capped off by a short pass over the middle from Matthew Stafford to Kyren Williams.
On their next possession, the Vikings drove down the field to get in Rams territory; however, Darnold was sacked by Ahkello Witherspoon and simultaneously fumbled the ball, which was picked and scored up by Jared Verse for a 57-yard touchdown.
The Texans opened the third quarter with the ball and scored on a Joe Mixon 13-yard run to cap a 10-minute drive; however, Fairbairn missed the extra-point, leaving Houston one point behind, 13–12.
Additionally, on the drive, off of a pitch from Jared Goff, David Montgomery shoveled a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 20-yard catch and run to covert a pivotal first down.
The Eagles scored on a 44-yard run from quarterback Jalen Hurts, while the Rams finished their drive off with a pass from Matthew Stafford to tight end Tyler Higbee.
With 26 seconds left in the third quarter, Hurts was sacked for a safety by Rams defensive tackle Neville Gallimore to reduce the deficit to a single point.
The Eagles marched the ball to the Los Angeles 1-yard line, but a false start penalty from veteran lineman Lane Johnson on fourth down led to Philadelphia electing to kick the field goal, which was successful.
Before the game, at a press-conference on January 13, Ravens head-coach John Harbaugh, alongside the rest of the press-conference, laughed when a reporter called Buffalo a "city of losers" in reference to a clip he made on his radio show[e][44] As the Ravens took the field, the Bills played the clip from the radio show over the stadium loud-speakers resulting in a chorus of boos from fans.
On the subsequent drive, Jackson threw an interception to Buffalo safety Taylor Rapp; the Bills failed to score and punted after four plays.
The Bills responded by also marching the ball down the field (going 70 yards in 3:27) with Allen again scoring a rushing touchdown on a 4-yard play action draw that saw Buffalo go up 21–10 with 0:16 in the first half.
The Ravens went 80 yards in seven plays, scoring off a Derrick Henry 5-yard run; however, the two-point conversion attempt to try and tie the game was batted down by Bills linebacker Matt Milano for an incompletion.
Starting at their own 30, the Bills went 37 yards to setup a 51-yard field goal attempt by Tyler Bass to make the score 24–19 with 12:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Ravens drove down the field quickly, going 88 yards in eight plays that saw Jackson throw a 24-yard pass to Isaiah Likely in the end zone to cut the deficit to two.
The Commanders promptly responded, as a few moments later, Terry McLaurin found the endzone after a 36-yard catch-and-run from Jayden Daniels with 7:05 left in the second quarter; they however failed on a two-point conversion that would have tied the score at 14.
Color commentary Tom Brady pointed out that the play should have been a penalty due to Barkley holding a Commanders' defender just before Hurts released the pass.
Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett kneeled the ball on the Eagles' next possession to secure the team's fifth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
The most recent playoff meeting came in the 2023 AFC Divisional Game, which the Chiefs won 27–24 in Buffalo en route to winning Super Bowl LVIII after Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a potential game-tying field goal wide right in the final two minutes of regulation.
The Bills tried to cut the lead to three points by attempting a two-point conversion, but receiver Curtis Samuel was stopped short of the goal line.
The Bills got the ball back, and needed to either kick a field goal to tie the game or score a touchdown to take the lead in order to avoid a fourth consecutive playoff loss to the Chiefs.
On the play, Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo chose to heavily blitz Allen, causing him to heave the ball to Dalton Kincaid.
Buffalo then used a timeout after each play the Chiefs ran in an effort to get the ball back, but Kansas City was able to get a first down and kneel out the clock to secure their berth in Super Bowl LIX.