Mason Crosby"s Game Winning Field Goal (NFL Divisional Playoff 1.15.17)
By The Associated Press
The Latest on the NFL"s divisional playoffs Sunday. (all times Eastern):
Oddsmakers in Las Vegas make the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons favorites to meet in the Super Bowl.
Atlanta is a 4-point favorite to beat Green Bay at home next Sunday, while New England is a 5.5-point pick at most sports books to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Patriots opened as a 4.5-point favorite after the Steelers edged the Kansas City Chiefs. But money came in on the Patriots like it has all season in sports books, pushing the point spread up.
Both games are expected to be high scoring affairs, with the over/under for the Patriots-Steelers at 51.5 points and the total for the Packers-Falcons game a whopping 60.5 points.
- Tim Dahlberg reporting from Las Vegas
___
11:20 p.m.
There will be quite a group of quarterbacks in the NFL"s conference championship games next weekend: Tom Brady"s New England Patriots host Ben Roethlisberger"s Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC, and Matt Ryan"s Atlanta Falcons host Aaron Rodgers" Green Bay Packers in the NFC.
The Steelers got past the Kansas City Chiefs 18-16 on Sunday night in the final divisional-round game. Earlier Sunday, Rodgers completed a 36-yard pass along the sideline on third-and-20 to Jared Cook with 3 seconds remaining to set up Mason Crosby"s 51-yard winning field goal in a 34-31 thriller against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Patriots and Falcons advanced Saturday.
Brady owns four Super Bowl titles, Roethlisberger two, and Rodgers one. Ryan never has appeared in a Super Bowl, but he is the quarterback on the All-Pro team this season and the favorite to win MVP.
Rodgers and Ryan already engaged in one thrilling showdown this season, when Atlanta edged Green Bay 33-32 on Oct. 30 in Week 8.
A week earlier, Brady and the Patriots won 27-16 against a Steelers team missing an injured Roethlisberger.
___
11:20 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to get a rematch with the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
Chris Boswell set an NFL record with six field goals, Le"Veon Bell broke his own franchise playoff record by running for 170 yards as the Steelers advanced to the AFC title game for the first time since the 2010 season.
The Patriots beat the Steelers 27-16 on Oct. 23. Pittsburgh played without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was out with a knee injury.
The Steelers have won nine straight games.
Alex Smith threw for 172 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Spencer Ware ran for a 1-yard score with 2:43 remaining to get the Chiefs within two points. They converted a two-point conversion but it was called by due to a holding penalty on left tackle Eric Fisher. The ensuing pass fell incomplete and Pittsburgh ran out the clock.
Kansas City remains winless at home in the playoffs since the 1993 postseason.
___
11:06
A holding penalty may have cost the Kansas City Chiefs a chance to extend their season.
Spencer Ware scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to bring the Chiefs within 18-16 of the Pittsburgh Steelers with 2:43 left. Kansas City went for a two-point conversion to tie it and converted, but left tackle Eric Fisher was called for holding when he dragged down Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison.
The flag pushed the ball back to the 12 and Alex Smith"s pass into the end zone fell incomplete.
Kansas City is searching for its first home playoff win since the 1993 postseason.
___
10:44 p.m.
Le"Veon Bell just keeps rewriting the Pittsburgh record book. Chris Boswell is adding himself to the NFL"s postseason record book.
Bell broke Hall of Famer Franco Harris" franchise mark for yards rushing in a postseason game running for 167 yards in the Steelers" wild-card win over Miami. Harris ran for 158 yards in the 1975 Super Bowl win over Minnesota, and Bell needed only three quarters to improve that mark.
Against the Chiefs, Bell had to keep running into the fourth quarter to top himself. He picked up 2 yards on first-and-10 to reach 168 yards on his 29th carry.
Boswell did Bell one better.
The Pittsburgh kicker already had tied the NFL mark for most field goals in a game with five, a mark also held by 10 others. He capped the drive that Bell set the franchise mark for yards rushing in a game by kicking a 43-yard field goal for his sixth of the game.
That puts Boswell, who also kicked six field goals against Cincinnati during the regular season, the record all to himself at six.
His field goal put Pittsburgh up 18-10 with 9:53 left.
___
10:35 p.m.
The Kansas City Chiefs are being dominated statistically, but they"re still within striking distance of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh took a 15-10 lead into the fourth quarter behind five field goals by Chris Boswell. That ties an NFL record for most field goals in a playoff game.
The Steelers have 333 yards of total offense compared to just 150 for the Chiefs, but Kansas City drew within five on a 48-yard field goal by Cairo Santos late in the third quarter.
The Steelers are 9-0 when leading after three quarters this season.
___
9:55 p.m.
Might want to start calling them the 4 Bs. Or maybe even the 5 Bs.
Pittsburgh"s three Bs of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le"Veon Bell have some company in kicker Chris Boswell and linebacker Bud Dupree.
Boswell drilled four field goals during the first half as the Steelers built a 12-7 lead. While Dupree did a little bit of everything as Pittsburgh kept the Chiefs in check after giving up a touchdown on the opening drive.
Roethlisberger is 14 of 23 for 170 yards but also threw an interception in the end zone after he apparently checked out of a running play to a pass.
Bell is at 101 yards rushing through the first half while Antonio Brown already has five receptions for 101 yards.
The Steelers are 9-1 when leading at the half this season.
___
9:24 p.m.
A tornado warning has anyone still left at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, taking shelter.
The area around the stadium was under a tornado warning about 80 minutes after Green Bay beat the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys 34-31 in an NFC divisional playoff game.
Lightning could be seen through windows at the stadium. Any fans still inside the stadium along with reporters and other workers were warned to stay inside and away from exterior windows. Some fans sat in seats even as the big video board warned "Severe Weather. Please Take Shelter."
___
9:03 p.m.
Everyone was so worried about ice hitting Kansas City for the divisional round of the playoffs, nobody gave much thought to fog rolling into town.
With temperatures warming than expected for the Steelers-Chiefs game, which was moved to Sunday night because of the forecast, a misty fog descended on Arrowhead Stadium. It obscured the lights in the upper corners of the stadium and kept drifting across the field throughout the first half.
It hardly helped matters when smoke from the fireworks mixed with the mist.
Not that the weather seemed to be putting a damper on the fans. They packed the stadium for the Chiefs" first home playoff game since January 2011 well before kickoff.
- Dave Skretta in Kansas City
__
8:50 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are moving the ball but settling for field goals.
Chris Boswell booted his second field goal of the first quarter to pull the Steelers within 7-6 of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Steelers piled up 121 yards on their first two drives only to have them bog down in Chiefs territory.
Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown for a 50-yard gain but also overthrew Brown on third down.
Brown has a reception of at least 50 yards in each of his last three games.
___
8 p.m.
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are headed to the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2014 season after a thrilling finish in Dallas.
Mason Crosby kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired, and the Packers edged the NFC"s top-seeded Cowboys 34-31 on Sunday. The kick was set up by a Jared Cook 35-yard reception as he was sliding out of bounds.
Rodgers threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers (12-6) won their eighth straight.
The Cowboys (13-4) rallied twice, first from 18 points down and again after the Packers went up 31-28 with 1:33 left on a 56-yard field goal by Crosby.
But Rodgers had the ball last to set up Crosby for the winning field goal.
The Packers will visit Atlanta in Rodgers" third NFC title game.
___
7:50 p.m.
Just like that, the NFC divisional playoff game is tied up again.
Dan Bailey kicked a 52-yard field goal for the Cowboys with 35 seconds left to tie the game at 31.
After Mason Crosby"s 56-yard field goal with 1:33 left put the Packers up, the Cowboys went 42 yards in six plays for Bailey"s game-tying kick.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have two timeouts left.
___
7:45 p.m.
Mason Crosby"s kick wasn"t pretty, but it went through the uprights. His 56-yard field goal with 1:33 left has put the Green Bay Packers up 31-28.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, the first rookie in the Super Bowl era with three TD passes in a playoff game, will get another possession.
___
7:25 p.m.
The Dallas Cowboys have tied their NFC divisional playoff game against Green Bay at 28-all with 4:08 left in regulation.
Dak Prescott converted a 2-point conversion with a hard-nosed run right after throwing a 7-yard TD to Dez Bryant. It was Bryant"s second touchdown of the game.
Dallas trailed by 15 points going into the fourth quarter.
In the Super Bowl era, only the 1972 Cowboys and the 2002 San Francisco 49ers have won a postseason game after going into the fourth quarter down by 15 points.
- Stephen Hawkins reported from Arlington, Texas
___
7 p.m.
The NFC divisional playoff game is a one-score game after Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers traded interceptions late in the third quarter.
Dallas was on the move when Prescott tried to throw a short pass to Cole Beasley. Micah Hyde stepped in front of the pass for an interception.
On the Packers ensuing drive, Rodgers badly overthrew a receiver and the ball was picked off by Jeff Heath. The safety made a diving catch, then got up and returned it 27 yards.
The Cowboys still had the ball after Heath"s interception when the third quarter ended with them trailing 28-13. They scored to cut the lead to 28-20 early in the fourth.
- Stephen Hawkins reported from Arlington, Texas
___
6:35 p.m.
Packers safety Morgan Burnett won"t play in the second half against the Cowboys because of quad injury.
Burnett apparently got hurt on the opening drive of the game when he collided with teammate LaDarius Gunter when they were both trying to defend a pass thrown toward Dez Bryant .
Both were slow to get up after that play. Gunter was tended by trainers on the field while Burnett went to the sideline.
When the Cowboys offense took the field for their second possession, Gunter was back in the game.
The Packers said after halftime that Burnett, who hadn"t played since the opening series, was out for the rest of the game
- Stephen Hawkins reported from Arlington, Texas
___
6:20 p.m.
The Green Bay Packers lead the Cowboys 21-13 at halftime.
Dallas was facing its largest deficit of the season halfway through the second quarter before scoring 10 points on its last two drives.
Green Bay will get the ball to start the second half.
Aaron Rodgers is 15 of 24 passing for 191 yards with a touchdown. Ty Montgomery has only four carries for 26 yards, but also has his first two rushing touchdowns ever in the postseason .
Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott is 10-of-18 for 147 yards with a 40-yard TD to Dez Bryant.
Ezekiel Elliott, the other standout rookie in the Dallas backfield, has 10 carries for 44 yards.
- Stephen Hawkins reported from Arlington, Texas
___
4:55 p.m.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got a free play when the Dallas Cowboys jumped offside, and he made it count.
With flags on the field, Rodgers threw deep - and a 34-yard touchdown pass to tight end Richard Rodgers . That ended the Packers opening drive, putting them up 7-3 and quieting momentarily the raucous sellout crowd attending the first NFC Divisional playoff game at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas had the ball first and went ahead 3-0 on Dan Bailey"s 50-yard field goal.
- Stephen Hawkins reported from Arlington, Texas
___
4:20 p.m.
The severe ice storm projected for the Kansas City area turned out relatively tame.
By the time the NFC game kicked off in Dallas, about when the AFC matchup of the Steelers at the Chiefs would have been ending, it was 33 degrees at Arrowhead Stadium. The rain was coming down, though not by any means torrentially, and ice was not an issue.
The game was moved from 1:05 p.m. Eastern to 7:20 p.m. so fans could avoid the worst of the expected ice.
Indeed, the parking lots were rapidly filling up and tailgating was in full swing.
A gray tarp covered the field inside the stadium, with hot air being pumped under the tarp to keep the turf warm. The Chiefs resodded the field earlier this week.
- Barry Wilner reported from Kansas City
___
3:25 p.m.
Old playoff foes are set to meet again with the Green Bay Packers visiting the top-seeded Dallas Cowboys in an NFC divisional game.
It"s the eighth meeting - tied for the most against any opponent for both franchises. The Cowboys faced the Los Angeles Rams eight times in a span of 13 seasons from 1973-85. Green Bay just had its eighth playoff game against the New York Giants, a 38-13 win last weekend.
The Packers won the most recent meeting, 26-21 in the divisional round two years ago in a game made famous by Dallas receiver Dez Bryant"s catch that wasn"t .
Dallas coach Jason Garrett was quarterback Troy Aikman"s backup when the Cowboys beat the Packers three straight years in the playoffs while winning two Super Bowls from 1993-95.
The Cowboys have a 4-3 series lead in the playoffs. The overall series is tied at 17-all.
- Schuyler Dixon reported from Arlington, Texas
___
For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.cbs8.com/story/34264987/the-latest-steelers-patriots-packers-falcons-next-weekend
