The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 31-15 in the National Football Conference (NFC) wild-card game at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, making the solid first step toward defending their Super Bowl title.

This Bucs were so dominant that the Eagles didn't score anything in the first three quarters, establishing a 27-0 lead. Tom Brady threw at 29-37 for 271 yards and two touchdowns (TDs) for the Buccaneers. Ke'Shawn Vaughn and Giovani Bernard combined 97 rushing yards and two TDs as well.

"It only gets tougher from here," 44-year-old Brady said. "We did some good things. I think we're just going to have to keep doing what we did today. Everyone's got to touch it, make some explosive plays. Did a good job possessing it, the defense played great, so it was a great team win. Special teams played awesome – one of the best days we had on special teams all year."

The last time a team won back-to-back Super Bowl titles happened in 2003 and 2004. Brady led the New England Patriots to do it. He's now on the way for the eighth top honor of his career.

This was the second season of quarterback (QB) Jalen Hurts at the Eagles. Having started in all 15 games he has played, the 23-year-old led his team to the playoffs. Hurts' postseason debut was not pleasant as 20 of his 43 passing attempts failed to reach the target and two of them were intercepted. When he finally connected with Kenneth Gainwell for a TD in the last quarter, the game was long gone.

"We didn't play good enough today, I didn't play good enough today." Hurts said. "This game does not define us, does not define who we are. We know all the different things that we've overcome. I know as a football team we'll be back."

Hurts should be proud of himself as the youngest starting QB in franchise history of the Eagles in a playoff game. His priority should be recovering from left foot injury.

Cowboys lost on their confusing offensive plays in the end

The San Francisco 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys 23-17 in the American Football Conference (AFC) wild-card game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, earning the chance to challenge the Green Bay Packers in the next round.

This was not the best-performing game by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as he passed at 16-25 for 172 yards, no TDs but with one interception. His team's 23 points came from two rushing TDs by Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel as well as three field goals made by Travis Benjamin.

The above performances were good enough for the 49ers to lead 23-7 in the first three quarters. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott wasn't much better than Garoppolo in passing as he went 23-43 for 254 yards and one TD with one interception. He was sacked five times which cost his team 40 yards.

Prescott did better than Garoppolo on the ground as he ran for a TD in the fourth quarter, turning the score to 23-17 for the Cowboys. All they needed was another TD to tie the game and one extra point to win it.

Perhaps that gave Prescott and the Cowboys offensive coordinator the wrong signal. They had the ball at 2nd & 1, 41 yards in the 49ers' half with 14 seconds left. Prescott decided to rush instead of passing. He ran for about 17 yards, leaving eight seconds. However, umpire Ramon George rushed in and tried to set the spot. Before he could finish his work, the game was over and the Cowboys lost.

"The communication that I was given on the sideline was they were reviewing it," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said. "They were going to put time back on the clock. And the next thing I know, they’re running off the field."

It didn't take referee Alex Kemp to announce that the game was over. McCarthy believed that George collided with Prescott, but Kemp said George was "simply spotting the ball properly." It's hard to say who's right, but the Cowboys' decision of having Prescott run with the ball in their last possession, especially with very limited time, was not the most reasonable option.

"It was like the whole day, it really was," Garoppolo said. "It was a dogfight, hell of an atmosphere out here. I mean, the fans were nuts. It was everything we thought it was going to be. It was fun."

Mahomes paid respect to 'Big Ben' with complete dominance

The Kansas City Chiefs walked over the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-21 in the AFC wild-card game at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, reaching the divisional round.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes passed at 30-39 for 404 yards and five TDs with one interception. After the Steelers scored first by surprise in the second quarter, the Chiefs turned on full power on offense and rallied a 35-0 in two quarters. They even made Travis Kelce play QB in the last quarter and Kelce connected with Byron Pringle for another TD.

"When you've been to the Super Bowl the last two years and you walk off that field with a loss last year, you want to go back and get that revenge, get that win," Mahomes said. "We have the Bills coming here this next week and we're going to have to play our best football."

Sunday's loss was the last game of Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger. The 39-year-old threw at 29-44 for 215 yards and two TDs. Having played 18 seasons for the team with 64,088 passing yards, 418 passing TDs, six Super Bowl trips and two Super Bowl titles, Roethlisberger wrote his name on the history of the Steelers.

"I mean, we lost. It stinks. But when you get to the tournament, only one team is going to end the season the way you want," Roethlisberger said. "I will say, I'm proud of the way our guys fought tonight."