Who saw this coming?
For the first time since the 2010 postseason, a No. 6 seed has upset a No. 1 seed.
Derrick Henry rushed for 195 yards and threw a touchdown pass, leading the Titans to a stunning 28-12 victory over the heavily favored Ravens. The winner of the Houston-Kansas City game Sunday will host the AFC Championship Game.
The last time a sixth seed beat the top seed was when the Jets beat the Patriots 28-21 in 2010. Tonight’s game wasn’t that close.
The fact that Saturday night’s game was a rout was not a surprise. The fact that it was the Titans dominating was.
The NFL’s leading rusher, who didn’t even make first-team All-Pro, did everything except run for a touchdown. He did throw one, however.
Henry lined up in the wildcat on third down from the 3-yard line. He faked a run up the middle and then did a Tim Tebow jump pass to Corey Davis, who beat Earl Thomas for the touchdown.
He became the first running back with a passing touchdown in a playoff game since Minnesota’s Allen Rice did so in the 1987 wild-card round against the Saints.
But it was the Titans’ running game that beat the Ravens.
Tennessee rushed for 217 yards. The Titans had only 83 net passing yards, becoming the first with back-to-back playoff wins with fewer than 100 yards passing since the Bengals in 1988.
The 1972 Dolphins, 1973 Dolphins and 1974 Steelers all used the ground-and-pound approach in the postseason, too, with each of those teams having two postseason games with fewer than 100 passing yards.
Henry’s 195 rushing yards ranks 10th in NFL postseason history for a single game.
A week after running for 182 yards against the Patriots, Henry had 30 carries for 195 yards. It’s the most rushing yards in back-to-back postseason games ever.
Henry’s 561 rushing yards in four career playoff games is more than any other player in the first four games of a postseason career during the modern era.
Ryan Tannehill completed 7 of 14 passes for only 88 yards but threw two touchdowns and ran for one to help the Titans to the AFC title game for the first time since the 2002 season.
Lamar Jackson will win the MVP award, but like Patrick Mahomes last year, he won’t win the Lombardi Trophy. Jackson ran for 143 yards and threw for 365 yards, but other numbers stood out more.
Jackson threw two interceptions, lost a fumble and was 0-for-2 on quarterback sneaks on fourth-and-one plays.