49ers upset champions Eagles in play-offs to progress with Bills & Patriots

The San Francisco 49ers came from behind twice in the final quarter to knock out defending champions Philadelphia as a thrilling NFL play-off series continued on Sunday.

The Eagles were the NFC’s third seed so had home-field advantage for Wildcard Weekend but fell at the first hurdle as the sixth seed 49ers produced a 23-19 upset.

The AFC’s sixth seed also won on the road, with the Buffalo Bills claiming a late 27-24 win at third seed Jacksonville.

That kept alive Josh Allen’s hopes of reaching his first Super Bowl, with the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player having put the Bills back in front with one minute four seconds remaining.

The New England Patriots then beat the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 to claim their first play-off victory since the team’s sixth Super Bowl win in 2019.

That ended a nail-biting start to this season’s play-offs, with the first four games having all featured game-winning touchdowns inside the final three minutes – with the winning margin no more than four points.

They also featured 12 lead changes in the final quarter – a record for a single post-season – and there are still seven games to come before Super Bowl 60 on 8 February.

San Francisco’s trip to Pennsylvania meant a repeat of the NFC Championship game in 2023, when the Eagles denied 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy a Super Bowl appearance in his rookie season.

The 49ers set up the chance to avenge that defeat by reaching this season’s play-offs despite a host of injuries, but they lost star tight end George Kittle to a torn Achilles tendon during the game as Purdy and his offence again struggled for most of the contest.

The Eagles also found the windy conditions challenging but two touchdowns by tight end Dallas Goedert helped them lead 16-10 heading into the final quarter.

San Francisco’s head coach Kyle Shanahan then dialled up a trick play in a bid to get his offence going and receiver Jauan Jennings made a 29-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey.

Jennings’ only other career pass came in the 2024 Super Bowl and also led to a McCaffrey touchdown as the 49ers were beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Purdy’s second interception gave Philly the chance to edge in front with a field goal with eight minutes left but the 26-year-old bounced back to lead a game-winning drive, culminating with his second touchdown pass as McCaffrey claimed his second score with 2:54 left.

Although Philly did not concede any turnovers and had possession for 11 minutes more than San Francisco, the 49ers held on to earn a trip to divisional rivals Seattle in next week’s Divisional Round.

With the Los Angeles Rams having won on Saturday and top seed Seattle receiving a bye, there will be three NFC West teams playing in week two of the play-offs.

New England ended Buffalo’s recent dominance of the AFC East to win the division for the first time since Tom Brady left the team in 2020.

Current Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is one of the favourites to be this season’s MVP and after New England led the Chargers 9-3 going into the final quarter, he found tight end Hunter Henry for the game’s only touchdown.

Buffalo were the pre-season Super Bowl favourites but New England’s division title meant the Bills had to hit the road in the play-offs, while Jacksonville won the AFC South after ending the regular season on an eight-game winning streak.

They played out a tight affair in Florida, with Buffalo leading 10-7 at half-time, then 13-10 heading into the fourth quarter.

The game then turned into a quarterback shooutout, with the Jaguars’ former number one draft pick Trevor Lawrence making touchdown passes to Parker Washington and Travis Etienne, either side of a Josh Allen strike to Dalton Kincaid.

Allen then barged over for his second rushing touchdown, which proved decisive as on the first play of what could have been a game-winning drive for Jacksonville, a Lawrence pass was tipped into the arms of Buffalo safety Cole Bishop.

That clinched victory for the Bills, who are aiming to reach their first Super Bowl since 1994, and this could be the best chance yet for 29-year-old Allen to reach the NFL’s championship game.

Kansas City knocked Buffalo out of the post-season in four of the past five years but the Chiefs have failed to reach this season’s play-offs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Houston Texans on Monday (01:00 GMT, Tuesday) to complete the Divisional Round line-up.

Conference seed in brackets

Saturday, 17 January

San Francisco 49ers (6) @ Seattle Seahawks (1)

Buffalo Bills (6) @ Denver Broncos (1)

Sunday, 18 January

Los Angeles Rams (5) @ Chicago Bears (2)

Pittsburgh Steelers (4) or Houston Texans (5) @ New England Patriots (2)