Enlarge image
San Francisco 49ers' Arik Armstead sacks Green Bay's star quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Photo: Aaron Gash / dpa
A field goal as the clock elapsed saw the San Francisco 49ers win their playoff duel with favorites Green Bay Packers and are just one more win away from making the Super Bowl.
The goal to 13:10 made the only lead for the guests on Saturday evening (local time) perfect and ended the Packers' season with quarterback star Aaron Rodgers, whose future is open after 17 years in Wisconsin.
The duel of the German-American Equanimeous St. Brown against the Frank Mark Nzeocha went to the latter, Nzeocha can hope for his second Super Bowl participation with the 49ers after the one in February 2020.
The next opponents next weekend are either the Los Angeles Rams or the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"It was a great team effort, it was great," said 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
“When a team overheats, it's dangerous.
We've got to keep this going now."
With double-digit minus temperatures and snowfall almost continuously in the second half, both teams struggled to gain space in attack.
The Packers scored the first touchdown at the first attempt, but otherwise only brought further points to their side in the last quarter - among other things because the 49ers blocked a field goal attempt.
The turning point was a blocked attempt by the Packers to punt, which the 49ers refined into a touchdown and tied the game at 10:10.
Bengals victory is also decided seconds before the end
The Cincinnati Bengals celebrated a success that is unprecedented in the history of the franchise: the team from Ohio won an away game in the NFL playoffs for the first time.
In the surprise win against the Tennessee Titans, a field goal a few seconds before the end brought the decision to 19:16.
Quarterback Joe Burrow's team will once again face either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills in the AFC finals next weekend.
The last time the Bengals were in a conference final was in 1988.
“Crazy, crazy victory.
Incredible team.
We finally found a way.
We're excited and we're going to celebrate tonight.
Then we'll watch the game tomorrow and see who we're playing against," Quarterback Burrow told CBS.
He said about kicker Evan McPherson.
'Ice in his veins.
This guy is amazing.«
Henry comeback alone is not enough
In the tight and balanced game it was 16:16 for almost the whole of the last quarter.
The Bengals went into the break with three field goals and a narrow three-point lead, extending it to 16-9 before the Titans equalized in the third quarter.
The team was also helped by the comeback of running back Derrick Henry, who was back on the pitch for the first time since breaking his foot on October 31.
The Titans seemed to be in the better position before a pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill was intercepted with 20 seconds left and gave the Bengals the winning field goal.
cev/dpa