Lions receive bye in NFL playoffs after prestige win

The German football star Amon-Ra St. Brown has secured a bye for the first playoff round with the Detroit Lions in the US professional league NFL. Detroit clearly defeated the Minnesota Vikings 31:9 in the top game. The Lions thus conclude the main round in top spot in the NFC. Minnesota, on the other hand, has to play in fifth place next weekend against the fourth-placed Los Angeles Rams.

This time, neither quarterback Jared Goff nor exceptional receiver St. Brown made the big difference. Instead, running back Jahmyr Gibbs perhaps had the game of his life with four touchdowns. The 22-year-old carried the ball into the end zone three times as a runner, and on the fourth time he was a pass receiver. Gibbs set the team record for touchdowns in a game.

St. Brown still showed an appealing performance and was his team’s best pass receiver with 77 yards. The 25-year-old is only the third player in NFL history to catch more than 115 passes and score more than ten touchdowns in two seasons in a row. Goff, on the other hand, didn’t play his best game and had two interceptions.

Broncos overwhelm Chiefs and are in the playoffs

The Denver Broncos reached a milestone. The team from Colorado won 38-0 against the Kansas City Chiefs and is in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Nine years ago in February, the Broncos triumphed in Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers. This time, the outstanding player on Sunday was quarterback Bo Nix: The rookie completed 26 of his 29 passes for 321 yards to his teammates, including four touchdowns.

Without the first guard around quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City lost to zero for the first time since 2012, but had already secured the top spot before the game and thus had a bye in the first round in its pocket. Denver faces the second-place Buffalo Bills next weekend.

Patriots fire coach Mayo

Meanwhile, the New England Patriots fired their coach. The former NFL series winner announced shortly after the 23:16 win against the Bills that coach Jerod Mayo would have to leave the team after just one season. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the reason for the dismissal was that the team had “not developed as desired” under Mayo’s leadership.

Before the season, the former linebacker took on the difficult legacy of successful coach Bill Belichick. However, the 38-year-old only got four wins from the 17 games, including the win against the Bills’ B team. According to media reports, Mike Vrabel, former assistant coach of the Patriots, is considered a promising candidate for the vacant position on the sidelines.