The Football Gods Love Us: Listen Up

Beyond the insights that SportsGrid’s Donnie Seymour provides on his show Listen Up on the Early Line, he is first and foremost a sports fan. Like all of us, who sat transfixed in front of our screens watching the NFL Playoffs, Seymour was ecstatic with what he witnessed.

Fiction writers could not have come up with anything better – all four games settled in walk-off fashion. It all began Saturday in Nashville, as Cincinnati Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson lifted his team to a 19-16 upset victory over the AFC best Titans. Later that evening, battling the elements of the frozen tundra in Lambeau, it was the San Francisco 49ers once again getting the better of Aaron Rodgers and the Pack, 13-10 on a Robbie Gould game-ending field goal.

The drama continued on Sunday, with the Rams nearly blowing a 27-3 lead to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a game that brought back memories of Super Bowl LI – but it wasn’t to be. On the final drive of regulation, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford connected on a deep ball with favorite target Cooper Kupp – setting up Matt Gay for the game-winning kick. And if you thought that contest couldn’t be topped – you were mistaken.

It all culminated in a Bills-Chiefs shootout that featured two of the league’s outstanding young quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes) showcasing their other-worldly talent. Both teams combined for an astonishing 25 points in the final 1:54 of regulation before Mahomes iced things in overtime on a dime to Travis Kelce in the back of the end zone.

It was a truly remarkable weekend, one that will live forever in NFL lore, and summarized best by Seymour when he proclaimed, “the football gods love us.” All of us certainly share that sentiment.

You can hear more of Donnie every weekday morning on Listen Up on the Early Line, only on SportsGrid.

Head over to FanDuel Sportsbook for the latest NFL odds as we get for Championship weekend.