2022-23 NFL Playoffs: The Wild Card Round Quiz

Answer: Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles

Kansas City Chiefs went 14-3 from their 17 games, dropping only games to the Colts, Bills and Bengals with low margins of 3,4 and 3 points respectively. They clinched AFC West and the number one seed for the AFC.

Philadelphia Eagles racked up eight wins before a surprise loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 10 (32-21). They did not lose again until Rounds 16 and 17, when they lost to Dallas Cowboys (40-34) and New Orleans Saints (20-10) when QB Hurts was injured. No other team had such a high winning percentage. The Eagles won NFC East and were the number one NFC seed.

Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were in playoff contention until all the games on the final Week 18 were played out. Both came eighth in their conference and missed out on the playoffs by a whisker.

Answer: Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers

The Dolphins and 49ers both had rotten luck with injuries to their quarterbacks.

Tua Tagovailoa started the first four games for Miami but was concussed in week 4 calling Teddy Bridgewater into service. He started week 5 but injured his hand calling third-string starter Skylar Thompson to finish the match. Thompson started the next match but was injured himself and Bridgewater was called back into the fray. Tua returned for the next eight matches but got concussed again. Bridgewater started week 17 but did not finish due to injury. Thompson finished the match and was the starter for week 18 and the wild card round.

Trey Lance was the preferred QB for the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 but had a season-ending ankle injury in week 2, forcing Jimmy Garoppolo into service. Garoppolo started the next 10 games but received a foot injury against Miami in Week 13 which ruled him out for the season. Brock Purdy was a seventh-round draft pick and was the third-string QB. Purdy was called up, finished off a win against the Dolphins, and then won his next five starts to finish out the season. Cruelly called Mr Irrelevant when called up, the moniker disappeared when he went 5-0 and was named as starting QB for the Wild Card playoffs.

Answer: 25

The Seahawks scored two converted touchdowns and a field goal in the first half to the 49ers' single TD and three field goals. Rookie 49ers' QB Purdy marched them 85 yards downfield in five plays before passing to McCaffrey for a 3 yards touchdown. In the second half, he passed for two more TDs and rushed one himself.

They also scored a two-point conversion and a field goal. Seattle scored an unconverted consolation TD late in the final quarter. The final score was 41-23.

Answer: 4

Trevor Lawrence was the number one draft pick for Jacksonville in 2021. Coming into the 2022 season the Jaguars had won four games in two seasons before Lawrence steered them to 9-8 and won AFC South in 2022-23. However, in this game, he became the third quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw four interceptions in the first half of a playoff game. Only Detroit's Gary Danielson and Denver's Craig Morton had achieved the same feat before.

Answer: Jacksonville by one point

As bad as Lawrence's first half was, his second half was brilliant. He finished 28-of-47 passing for 288 yards and four touchdowns. The Jaguars also turned the ball over a fifth time when a punt kick hit Chris Claybrook's helmet, and became the first team to win a playoff game with a turnover differential of minus-five. Previously that turnover deficit had been zero wins, 19 losses in the Super Bowl era.

Down 27 points, Jacksonville's comeback goes down in postseason history behind only Buffalo's comeback in 1993 (32 points against Houston Oilers) and Indianapolis' in 2014 (28 points against Kansas City Chiefs). Lawrence marched them down the field four times connecting with Engram, Mervin Jones, Zay Jones and Kirk for four touchdowns that increasingly raised the team's belief in its ability to win. On the fourth TD Lawrence jumped for a 2-point conversion with five minutes left to play. That made it 30-28 and a field goal away from winning. The Jacksonville defence then did their part sacking Justin Herbert and forcing a punt. Lawrence then marched the Jaguars down the park once more, using up the clock, leaving enough time, three seconds, for Riley Patterson's 36-yard field goal on the final play. 31-30

Chargers' quarterback Herbert did not have a bad game. He threw for 273 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, but the Chargers were ineffective after the 62-yard TD drive that made it 24-0 to the Chargers late in the second quarter. Los Angeles (10-8) finished with 320 yards of offence and 18 first downs, but the team produced only one field goal on four second-half possessions.

Answer: Buffalo by three points

The Miami Dolphins limped into the playoffs. It lost five of its final six matches, winning against the out-of-form New York Jets 11-6 in the last match before the playoffs. Third-string Miami quarterback, rookie Skylar Thompson started this match. Things were going to plan when the Bills were 17-0 up in the second quarter but Buffalo gave up three turnovers including two interceptions for Miami to lead 24-21 very early in the third quarter.

The Bills' offence then rallied, scoring two converted touchdowns in the last five minutes of the third quarter: 34-24.

The fourth quarter was a slugfest with the Bills' defence restricting Miami to a single touchdown. Final score was Bills 34-31.

Answer: No, it was 11-1 as Giants won by 7

The Vikings scored a touchdown on their opening drive of 12 plays, 70 yards and 8 1/2 minutes. However, once the Giants got the ball they scored two touchdowns in the remaining time in the first quarter and were never overtaken again. The Vikings scrapped and fought and dragged it back to 24-24 halfway through the last quarter but the Giants responded with a 12-play 67-yard converted TD, then defended grimly to hang on 31-24. It was the first time that Minnesota had lost a match decided by seven points or less all season.

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was terrific: He went 24/35 and passed for 301 yards for two touchdowns and no picks. He ran 17 times for 78 rushing yards. Cousins also had a good game going 31/39 for 273 yards two touchdowns and no picks., with one rush that earned a TD.

Answer: A Baltimore fumble trying to rush a TD, resulting in a TD for the Bengals

These two teams do not like each other. They fought and scrapped all night to reach 17-17 in the final quarter (the score was higher than expected for what was predicted to be a defensive match). Baltimore was third and goal at the 1-yard line. QB Huntley tried to go over the top but was stood up and linebacker Wilson stripped the ball. Sam Hubbard, the defensive end caught a live ball and ran 98 yards for a tie-breaking TD which ultimately decided the match as there was no further score.

Baltimore QB, Tyler Huntley had a slightly better night than his more favoured Cincinnati counterpart, Joe Burrow. Huntley threw 17/29 for 226 yards, 2 TDs and a pick. He also ran 9 times for 54 years whereas Burrow threw 23/32 for 209 yards, a touchdown and no picks. He ran five times for 9 yards.

Answer: Dallas went into the match without a recognised kicker

Dak Prescott proved all his critics wrong by having the game of his life. He threw 25/33 for a total of 305 yards and four touchdowns with no picks. He also ran seven times for 24 yards and a touchdown. (Tom Brady threw a career-high 35/66 for 351 yards, two TDs and an interception).

Dallas beat Brady for the first time in the seven-time Super Bowl champion's career. It was also their first win in the postseason on the road for the first time in 30 years since winning the NFC championship game in San Francisco in 1993 38-21.

Dallas blew out to a 24-0 lead early in the third quarter (it would have been 28-0 but kicker Maher missed all four extra points). Dallas' second TD came from a Tom Brady-thrown interception in the Tampa Bay red zone (Brady's first as a Buccaneer). Prescott took Dallas downfield with a 15-play 80-yard drive resulting in Prescott circling around his left end for a 1-yard TD run on fourth down.

Tampa Bay scored two late touchdowns, trying futilely to stay in the match with two-point conversions each time with only the second successful. This meant that out of seven touchdowns, only one, Dallas' final touchdown, had an extra point that was good. The final score of Dallas 31 Tampa Bay 17 flattered the Buccaneers.

Answer: No, only in the AFC

The New York Giants (9-7-1) were seeded sixth in the NFC, so their win over the Minnesota Vikings (12-5) could be considered an upset. The Buccaneers won NFC South (9-8) and were seeded fourth whereas, Dallas Cowboys (12-5) came second in NFC East, and received fifth seed so their win was not surprising (but perhaps the margin was). This meant in the NFC Teams seeded 2,5 and 6 won. In the AFC, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Jacksonville all won. These teams were the second, third and fourth teams respectively.

In the AFC, the Jaguars, as the lowest remaining seed were drawn against Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills were drawn against the Cincinnati Bengals. In the NFC, the Giants were drawn against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Cowboys played traditional rivals San Francisco 49ers.