Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams sustained a dislocated left kneecap during a playoff victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Williams did the damage in the second quarter of a 24-17 Wild-Card round win and was replaced by Jackson Carman.

The 25-year-old was on Monday listed as week-to-week by the Bengals, who battle the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional round at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said it was "hard to tell" if Williams will recover in time to take on the Bills but was impressed with the way Carman stepped in.

"I thought he did a nice job, especially being thrust in there," Taylor said. "He's gotta practice both sides during the week.

"He's practised a lot of guard this year as well. I thought given the opportunity that he had, against a tough defensive line, I thought he handled it really well."

Alex Cappa missed the game against the Ravens due to an ankle injury, but Taylor was encouraged to see him in attendance wearing a protective boot.

"I saw him curling a towel in there with his toes and he looked good," Taylor said. "It seemed like that was progress when I walked in. That was exciting for the room."

Ryan Jensen has been activated off injured reserve by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the Wild Card showdown with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.

The center missed the entire regular season after suffering a knee injury at the start of training camp in July.

Jensen returned to practice on December 28 and is set to make a timely return for the Bucs' play-off clash with the Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium.

With Nick Leverett (knee and shoulder) doubtful to face Dallas and center Robert Hainsey (hamstring) questionable, Jensen's comeback will be a boost for Tom Brady and the Bucs.

The 31-year-old had not missed a game since signing with Tampa Bay in 2018 following a four-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens, and he was named to his first career Pro Bowl last season.

He re-signed with the Bucs in March on a three-year, $39million contract that included $23m in guarantees.

Lamar Jackson appeared to tell the Baltimore Ravens not to "neglect" him amid uncertainty over the quarterback's future.

There has been a frosty relationship between the player and the franchise after the Ravens opted against handing the 26-year-old a new five-year contract in 2022.

The Ravens' season came to a close on Sunday, when they were eliminated in the Wild Card round at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals, with Jackson not featuring due to a knee injury.

Negotiations over a new long-term deal for Jackson are reportedly set for the coming weeks, though it remains unclear whether he will remain in Baltimore.

Ahead of those talks, Jackson posted a thinly-veiled message on Instagram which read: "When you have something good, you don't play with it.

"You don't take chances losing it. You don't neglect it. When you have something good, you pour into it. You appreciate it.

"Because when you take care of something good, that good thing takes care of you too."

Securing a contract agreement will not be an easy task and even if the two parties agree terms, that may not end speculation over his future.

Should the Ravens apply a non-exclusive franchise tag, the door would be opened for Jackson to hold negotiations with other teams ahead of a possible trade.

Kirk Cousins acknowledged "probably the toughest loss" of his career after the Minnesota Vikings were beaten 31-24 by the New York Giants in the Wild Card round.

The quarterback completed 31 of 39 pass attempts, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for another, but it was his final play of the game that will be remembered most.

With 1:44 left in the fourth quarter and Minnesota fourth and eight on their own 48-yard line, Cousins threw to T.J. Hockenson, who was still five yards or so short of first-down sticks.

The alert Xavier McKinney ensured Hockenson only went backwards from there and closed the game out as the Vikings saw their last chance evaporate.

After the game, Cousins explained the thinking that went into the play, saying: "I tried to work Justin [Jefferson], but didn't feel good about putting it up to Justin and then when I went to progress I just felt like I was about to get sacked. I felt like I had to put the ball in play and cant go down with a sack. I felt I'd kick it out to T.J.

"I'd thrown short of the sticks on a few occasions in the game and even going back a few weeks, and felt throwing short of the sticks isn't the end of the world. It was obviously tight coverage so didn't have the chance to pull away.

"It's probably the toughest loss I've had in my career, so it hurts."

Coach Kevin O'Connell backed his quarterback, adding: "Looking back on it, maybe he could've been a little bit more, 'Hey, this is where you want the ball to go', but I want Kirk to play, I want him to be free out there to make good decisions.

"In the end, I look at that as much as anything that it's on me with that play call, even if we had eligibles with a chance down the field. Maybe that's always a play that could be better. That one will always stick with me."

Cousin's opposite number Daniel Jones also threw two touchdowns, completing 24 of 35 passes in the game, and was described as an "elite quarterback" by team-mate Saquon Barkley after the win.

Jones said the Giants just had to overcome early nerves, and they were able to hold out after Barkley's touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter gave them a precious lead.

"I think there were definitely some nerves going into it," he said. "We were excited. There was a lot of anticipating going into it.

"Once we settled in and started playing, it felt the same. It was just about execution and doing our job play after play. I thought as a group we did that well."

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh refused to criticise Tyler Huntley but says he failed to execute the play design leading to Sam Hubbard's game-winning fumble return TD on Sunday.

The Ravens were eliminated from the postseason 24-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, with Hubbard's touchdown marking a 14-point swing with Baltimore pressing for a go-ahead score at the time.

The Bengals' defense held on, before Huntley tried a QB sneak on a third-and-goal, leaping into the air with both hands on the ball, but it was knocked out by Logan Wilson allowing defensive end Hubbard to recover it and race away for a 98-yard touchdown, which was the longest fumble return TD in NFL playoff history.

"We felt we had a good call," Harbaugh told reporters. "It's a push sneak play.

"It wasn’t executed. Tyler went over the top. It's a burrow play, he needs to go low on that. That's the way the play is designed. We felt like that was the best call, we just didn’t execute it right."

Huntley, starting in the absence of injured former MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, kept the Ravens in the contest with a strong performance that was praised by Harbaugh. The Ravens lost four of six games this season that Jackson did not start.

The Ravens QB threw 17-of-29 passes for 226 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, along with 54 rushing yards having had injury concerns coming into the game. Huntley's career-best 35-yard run had got the Ravens within the goal line before Hubbard's TD.

"Tyler Huntley coming in and playing the way he played coming off the shoulder and wrist injuries and fighting his way back on to the field," Harbaugh said. "Just giving it everything he had, that kind of performance.

"We didn’t win the game, we're disappointed in that, but I've got nothing but admiration for our guys."

Cincinnati's win means Zac Taylor is 4-1 in playoff games as Bengals head coach. The Bengals scored 14 points off two Ravens' turnovers, with QB Joe Burrow held to 209 yards on 23-of-32 passing.

"That's why you just never give up on a drive," Taylor said. "Even when it's down there, inside the two, that's what our defense, the whole redzone really over the last couple of years has been awesome from our defense. Today was no different.

"For Logan to knock that ball out, Sam to finish that off 98 yards, it really changed the momentum of the game. You're looking at a 14-point swing there, going down seven, going up seven.

"It was a challenge on offense. It's one of the better defenses we faced all year. We knew that going in and our defense really carried us in the fourth quarter. We needed that."

Sam Hubbard scored a record-breaking go-ahead 98-yard fumble return touchdown to earn the Cincinnati Bengals a thrilling 24-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens in their AFC Wild Card Game on Sunday.

Defensive end Hubbard raced clear for the longest go-ahead TD in NFL postseason history as the Ravens pressed for the lead on a third-and-goal on Tyler Huntley's QB sneak, as he leapt up to break the plane of the goalline, only for Logan Wilson to knock it out.

Hubbard's go-ahead touchdown, scored with 11:39 remaining in the fourth quarter, was also the longest fumble return TD in NFL playoff history.

Baltimore had been mounting the pressure with scores locked 17-17 with Huntley's 35-yard run, the longest of his career, pushing them to the goalline, but the Bengals' defense held up, before the fumble return TD ignited Paul Brown Stadium.

Huntley threw a final-second pass on fourth-and-20, which James Proche got a hand on, but could not hold. The Ravens QB, starting in the absence of injured former MVP Lamar Jackson, had kept his side in the game on 17-of-29 passing for 226 yards with two TD passes and one interception, adding 54 rushing yards.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 23-of-32 passes for 209 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown, but was sacked four times. Ja'Marr Chase had nine receptions for 84 yards.

It was a seesawing encounter with the Bengals dominating the first quarter led by Chase, before Burrow connected with the wide receiver to cap a six-minute, 10-play drive.

The Ravens hit back in the second to lead 10-9 at halftime, with Huntley finding J.K. Dobbins to score, while Burrow was sacked three times in the first half.

The two sides traded touchdowns in the third, with Burrow slithering across after Hayden Hurst thought he had scored yet fell half a yard short, before Huntley threw a 41-yard TD pass for Demarcus Robinson.

The New York Giants snapped a 10-season streak without a playoff win by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 in Sunday's Wild Card game.

New York had not won a playoff game since capping the 2011 season with the franchise's fourth Super Bowl, but they rode a pair of strong performances from their offensive centrepieces to upset the 13-4 Vikings on the road.

Quarterback Daniel Jones became the first player to ever tally 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 70 rushing yards in a playoff game, while star running back Saquon Barkley had 109 yards from scrimmage and scored two rushing touchdowns.

Incredibly, neither team committed a turnover, with Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins also delivering an impressive 273 yards and two touchdowns, but he was unable to produce in the fourth quarter.

It was the Vikings who scored first through a Cousins quarterback sneak from the opening drive of the game, but their lead did not even last until quarter time as Barkley and receiver Isaiah Hodges found the endzone in response.

After trading scores in the second and third periods, the Vikings pulled things level at 24-24 early in the fourth with a field goal, but Jones answered with a defining 12-play, 75-yard drive, setting up Barkley for the game-winning touchdown.

The Vikings had two drives and seven minutes to try and tie things up, but the Giants' defense rose to the occasion and closed it out.

New York will try to continue their march to the Super Bowl next week in the Divisional round against the league-leading Philadelphia Eagles (14-3).

Josh Allen thanked the Buffalo Bills defense for crucial turnovers against the Miami Dolphins that proved decisive in Sunday's 34-31 Wild Card victory.

The Bills quarterback threw two interceptions and saw a fumble recovered for a touchdown in a nervy encounter, having entered the game with just one playoff interception in 228 passing attempts.

Those turnovers allowed the Dolphins to build up steam, fighting back from a 17-point first-half deficit and then taking an early second half lead, with Allen acknowledging his mistakes after the game.

"At half time, we were just talking to ourselves, just settling down, trying to refocus," he told reporters. "The turnovers hurt us, we really let them back in the game.

"We were up 17-0 with chances and I gave them the ball two times, gave them a touchdown, they're things you can't do and you can't expect to win like that, so there's some stuff to clean up."

The Bills defense did their part though, intercepting rookie quarterback Skylar Thompson twice and making big stops to halt the Dolphins' recovery, and Allen vowed to be better for them in future games.

"Turnover margin, especially in the playoffs, is so big. It really helps us out and bails us out," he added.

"I can't praise our defense enough for playing the way they did. I put them in some tough situations today, so I've got to be better for them."

It was not just the defense who played their part in frustrating the Dolphins offense, however, with the atmosphere in Buffalo leading to errors – including a delay of game penalty that pushed Thompson's offense back to six yards instead of one in fourth down of their final drive.

Allen reserved praise for the home fans, encouraging them to be similarly effective in next week's Divisional round clash against either the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Cincinnati Bengals.

"We're going to need the Bills mafia in the building being load and disruptive, I thought they did a good job tonight causing a couple false starts and delay of games, that is such a huge momentum shift for us," he said.

"When it's fourth and one, you cause a delay, then it's fourth and six, which changes the complexity of that call, so shout out to our fans."

The Buffalo Bills booked their spot in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs after twice seeing off comebacks from the Miami Dolphins.

Buffalo raced to a 17-point lead in the second quarter before the Dolphins responded with 17 unanswered points of their own, though the Bills would then hit 14 points to put them back in the drivers' seat.

Miami were not done though, fighting back to within a field goal, but an inexperienced offense could not capitalise, struggling to get plays off before the play clock ran down, as the Bills held on for a 34-31 victory.

First quarter touchdowns for Dawson Knox and James Cook came either side of an interception from Skylar Thompson, with Miami having just 19 yards and a solitary first down in a slow start to the game.

The Bills extended their lead with a field goal before Miami sprung into life with two field goals of their own and two interceptions on Josh Allen in the second quarter – who had just one in 228 playoff passing attempts in the playoffs before the game – as Mike Gesicki then tied the game with a seven-yard reception.

While the hosts retook the lead with a field goal before the break, the Dolphins moved ahead 24-20 early in the third quarter when an Allen fumble was recovered by Zach Sieler for a five-yard TD, putting the momentum back in the hands of the visitors.

The Dolphins could not capitalise though as Thompson, leading the offense in the absence of Tua Tagovailoa, threw five consecutive incomplete passes before being intercepted by Kaiir Elam. The Bills turned that into a Cole Beasley TD, then extended the lead with Gabe Davis' 21-yard score.

Miami pulled within a field goal through Jeff Wilson's reception and then had a huge stop on the Buffalo offense, but could not find their rhythm, receiving a delay of game penalty on a crucial fourth and one that leaves them still without a playoff victory since 2000.

Former NFL Draft number one pick Trevor Lawrence says "you couldn’t write a crazier script" after overcoming four first-half interceptions to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to the third biggest comeback in NFL playoffs history.

The Jags trailed the Los Angeles Chargers 27-0 late in the first half with Lawrence having thrown four picks, three to Asante Samuel Jr alone.

But the 23-year-old quarterback produced a champion's response, throwing touchdown passes on four consecutive drives to drag the Jags back to 30-28, before Riley Patterson's field goal clinched victory as time expired.

Lawrence finished the game with 28-of-47 passing for 288 yards, joining Ben Roethlisberger as the second player to have four touchdowns and four interceptions in a playoff game.

"You couldn't write a crazier script," Lawrence told NBC. "We said in the locker room, it's kind of how our season's gone. We're never out of the fight."

Jacksonville had trailed by nine points or more in five games this season before rallying for victory.

The 27-point rally was also the third largest in NFL postseason history, the largest being the Buffalo Bills' 32-point comeback against the Houston Oilers in 1992.

"I am kind of speechless, honestly, just to see what belief can do - to see when a team believes in each other what you can accomplish," Lawrence said.

"Playoff game, down 27-0 and we come back and win. We are always counted out of these games, and we don't care. We love it."

Wide receiver Zay Jones, who scored one of the Jags' four TDs, hailed the 2021 NFL Draft top overall pick for staying composed after his four first-half picks.

"I think from playing football, watching football, I know a lot of quarterbacks would’ve folded in that situation that he went through," Jones told reporters.

"For him just to be as poised and composed as he was, it showed another side of who we have on this team. I mean, that guy right there, standing right there, that's a special man."

The defeat ended the Chargers' season with head coach Brandon Staley lamenting their second-half fade where they only scored one field goal after leading 27-7 at halftime.

"Anytime you're up 27-7 at halftime and you've got four takeaways, and you end up winning the takeaway margin (5-0), you know, it's gonna be a killer," Staley said.

"I'm hurting for everybody in that locker room… We just didn't finish the game."

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel did not sense any nerves from rookie Brock Purdy in his playoff debut before throwing three touchdowns with a rushing score in Saturday's 41-23 Wild Card win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Purdy, dubbed Mr Irrelevant after being the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, stole the show at Levi's Stadium, becoming the first rookie QB to win a playoff game since Russell Wilson in 2012.

The 23-year-old quarterback finished 18-of-30 for 332 yards, becoming the youngest player in NFL history with 300-plus passing yards and three-plus touchdown passes in a postseason game, surpassing Dan Marino.

However, the game did not start so well for Purdy, whose first pass was almost intercepted in wet conditions, before starring in the second half after trailing 17-16 at halftime.

"I don't think there were any nerves at all," Samuel, who caught one of Purdy's three touchdown passes for a 74-yard score, told reporters.

"We kind of started off slow. We missed a couple here and there, but as the game slowed down and settled down for him, he knows the guys that he has around him to build him up.

"It started to slow down for him too in the second half and he went out there and played good ball."

Purdy, who had only been afforded his opportunity as the 49ers' starting QB due to injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, is now 6-0 as a starter.

"There was some emotion going into the game," Purdy said. "You could just feel it in the environment with the fans and our teammates like, this is win or go home.

"But once the game started, it was all, hey, it's 11-on-11, I've got to do my job. I've got to get it to the guys when they're in space and go from there. But we didn't make it more than what it was.

"You could feel it in the first half in terms of Seattle's playing really good football, it's playoff football, everyone plays their best football.

"I feel like that was just something that we had in the back of our minds too. But overall, it wasn't 'oh my gosh, we're in the playoffs, we got to get all tense or anything like that.' So we've just got to play our game and let everything else fall into place."

Purdy's 332 yards is the second most ever by a rookie in a postseason game, behind Wilson's 385 with the Seahawks against the Atlanta Falcons in 2013.

Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan added: "We just had to win the game and he's done a hell of a job. He's done it every time since. I have a lot of confidence in him."

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll remarked that Purdy's ability to keep plays alive made a major difference, finding Elijah Mitchell for a TD pass on a broken play in the fourth quarter.

"I don't know why we couldn't sack the guy," Carroll said. "We chased him all over the place. He's not noted for being the greatest scrambler, but he looked like Fran Tarkenton out there today."

Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James also took to Twitter to hail Purdy, writing: "Purdy got game!!!!!!!".

When told about the tweet, Purdy replied: "LeBron said that. Oh, that's sweet. That's awesome, that's so cool."

Trevor Lawrence threw four interceptions in the first half of his playoff debut before spearheading the third biggest comeback in NFL postseason history as the Jacksonville Jaguars triumphed 31-30 over the Los Angeles Chargers in Saturday's AFC Wild Card Game.

The Jags, competing in the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season, were left stunned in the first half with the TIAA Bank Field crowd silenced, trailing 27-0 after a Chargers' defensive and offensive masterclass.

Lawrence responded to his disastrous start with four touchdown passes, including two in a rousing third-quarter rally, before Riley Patterson's last-second 36-yard field goal to clinch the win.

The Jags QB became the second player in NFL history to have four TD passes and four interceptions in a playoff game, behind Pittsburgh Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger in 2020 against the Cleveland Browns.

Regular season leading touchdown scorer Austin Ekeler ran in two TDs, while Justin Herbert connected with Gerald Everett on a TD pass before the home side had even hit the scoreboard.

Asante Samuel Jr, who had two interceptions all season, claimed three in the first half, while the Jags gave up another first-half turnover when Chris Claybrooks muffed a catch from J.K. Scott's punt. Jacksonville became the first team with five turnovers in the first half of postseason game since 1999.

But Lawrence, who completed only 10-of-24 passes for 77 yards in the first half, linked up with Evan Engram (93 yards on seven receptions), Marvin Jones Jr (29 yards on three receptions), Zay Jones (74 yards on eight receptions) and Christian Kirk (78 yards on eight receptions) for TDs, finishing the game on 28-of-47 passing for 288 yards. Lawrence also completed a reach-over two-point play to make it 30-28.

The Jags still trailed 30-28 at the two-minute warning with possession, before Travis Etienne Jr's 25-yard on fourth-and-1 set up Patterson's chip shot with three seconds remaining.

The San Francisco 49ers advanced to the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs with an 11th straight victory on Saturday, recovering from a rocky first half against the Seattle Seahawks in some style.

The 49ers, led by rookie quarterback Brock Purdy and backed up by a league-leading defense, had twice beaten NFC West rivals the Seahawks this season and clearly had momentum on their side heading into their Wild Card matchup.

But a 41-23 win at Levi's Stadium was not initially as straightforward as many would have imagined – or as the final scoreline suggests, as Seattle scored 17 second-quarter points.

Purdy trailed at halftime for the first time despite San Francisco making the stronger start. Kenneth Walker ran in for the Seahawks after Christian McCaffrey had caught the opening touchdown pass, then Geno Smith – another playoff debutant but nine years older than Purdy – connected with D.K. Metcalf for a 50-yard score.

The 49ers got back on track with a TD drive to start the second half, though, and their defense belatedly came to the party when Charles Omenihu forced a fumble that was recovered by Nick Bosa.

After zero turnovers and zero penalties in the first half, the Seahawks soon unravelled, unable to respond either when Purdy superbly sought out Elijah Mitchell in the endzone or when a pass to Deebo Samuel gave him space to race away for a 74-yard TD.

Smith swiftly threw an interception as Seattle waited until after the two-minute warning for their first score of the second half, while Purdy showed no signs of slowing his remarkable rise as he finished with 332 yards and three TDs through the air in his sixth straight win to start his career.

The 2022 NFL Draft's 'Mr Irrelevant' has extended the 49ers' winning streak to 11 – tying their third-longest of all time – and continues to look capable of carrying one of the league's most talented rosters all the way in this postseason.

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is adamant the franchise is not ready to move on from Aaron Rodgers.

Having ended the season 8-9, missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 2018, Rodgers will take time to decide whether to return in 2023 – or whether he will remain in Green Bay.

That leaves the Packers with uncertainty ahead of the new season, but they will not rush Rodgers on his decision, while Gutekunst feels he could look the veteran quarterback in the eye and tell him if they planned to move on.

That is not the case this time around, however, with the Packers keen to retain Rodgers for another season.

"You've got to be honest with him, you know what I mean? I think he deserves that if we get to that point. We're not at that point," he told reporters.

"We made a really big commitment to him last offseason, so I think as we did that it wasn't certainly for just this year.

"He's going to take his time, and the communication will be pretty constant as we move forward."

When Rodgers left November's loss at the Philadelphia Eagles due to a rib injury, Jordan Love came in to lead a pair of scoring drives late on, but Gutekunst made it clear who his preferred option to lead the offense was.

Asked whether it was Rodgers or Love who gives the Packers a better chance next season, he replied: "Well, I mean, you're talking about a four-time MVP, right?

"We are very excited about Jordan and where he's at, there's no doubt about that. But Jordan's never played a 16-, 17-game season and gone through all that stuff. So, it's no different than when we moved from Brett [Favre] to Aaron, right?

"That's a hard thing to say, but at the same time, where Aaron's at, the level he's at, there's not many teams he wouldn't give the best chance to win."

The Dallas Cowboys headed into Week 18 still in contention for the number one seed in the NFC, but a desperate display from quarterback Dak Prescott saw them instead end the regular season on a bum note.

Although wins for the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers elsewhere meant the Cowboys would have finished as the fifth seed regardless, any optimism and momentum built up over the second half of the season was sapped by a stunning loss to the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders, already eliminated from the playoff race, crushed the Cowboys 26-6, helped by the worst performance of Prescott's career.

His completion percentage of 37.8 (14 of 37) was a career low, as was a yards-per-attempt average of 3.46. Only twice had the QB previously dipped below his Week 18 passer rating of 45.8.

"There's a lot we can learn from and get better and use this tape," said Prescott afterwards, and past experience at least suggests that is likely.

On the previous four occasions Prescott has completed under half of his passes in a game, he has guided Dallas to a win in his next outing. Across those four subsequent games, Prescott has completed 80.7 per cent of his passes for six touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Cowboys have won by 22.3 points on average.

A repeat against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round would represent a significant turnaround from the start of this season, however.

Prior to the Commanders game, Week 1 against the Buccaneers – a 19-3 loss – saw the most recent example of Prescott's pass completion dipping alarmingly, completing 14 of 29 attempts for 48.3 per cent.

On that occasion, a thumb injury ruled him out of the end of the game and then a chunk of the season before he was able to respond on his return.

The Cowboys went 8-2 over Prescott's next 10 starts, with both defeats coming in overtime. Dallas scored 351 points across that period, the highest-scoring 10-game span in team history.

Between Weeks 7 and 17, Prescott's 71.0 per cent pass completion led all QBs with 100 or more attempts. As only Patrick Mahomes (23) topped his 22 TD passes, the two-time Pro Bowler led the way for TD percentage (6.7).

But the Cowboys remained reluctant to rely too heavily on Prescott, running passing plays only 53.5 per cent of the time over this stretch – the sixth-lowest rate in the NFL.

This reluctance was understandable, too, given the clear warning signs ahead of that Washington game. Even without the ball regularly in his hands, Prescott threatened to derail his team.

His 13 interceptions were also a league high over those 11 weeks, meaning a pick six against the Commanders saw him end the year tied for the lead for picks (15) and pick sixes (three). Prescott played only 12 games to co-leader Davis Mills' 15.

Now, heading into the playoffs, Prescott is on a run of seven straight games with at least one interception. It is the longest such streak of 2022, while only five players have endured worse runs since he entered the league in 2016.

Prescott's careless aggression was already prompting murmurs from Jerry Jones before a Week 18 in which he averaged 10.9 air yards per attempt, up on his season mark of 8.2 air yards per attempt to that point.

He at least retains Jones' support heading into the playoffs, but the Cowboys owner will now want to see some return on a contract that pays Prescott $40million a year – in line with the deal signed by last season's Super Bowl-winning QB Matthew Stafford.

To this point, Prescott's playoff experience is made up of only four games and a single win.

In that regard, he stands at odds with his opponent this week. Tom Brady may have been unconvincing this year, too, with his 25 pickable passes third in the NFL, but he is the master when it comes to the playoffs.

Brady's 13,049 postseason passing yards dwarf not only Prescott's total (1,048) but that of every other playoff QB combined. The 13 other projected starters have a total of 9,184 playoff career passing yards.

The Buccaneers have looked likely to be accommodating postseason opponents for much of this year; they limped to the NFC South title at 8-9 and rank 17th by Stats Perform's efficiency versus expected model, with the 12-5 Cowboys seventh in EVE. There should be a clear favourite in this matchup.

But Brady has spent his entire career delivering in big moments, whereas Prescott crumbled last week.

The Cowboys may only ask their QB not to single-handedly cost them this game, yet Prescott still must prove even that is not beyond him.