The Super Bowl picture is set as the Eagles and the Chiefs will represent their respective conferences after picking up wins in the AFC and NFC Conference Championship games.
The Eagles got things started on Sunday with a 31-7 win over the 49ers, but it would have likely been a much more competitive game had Niners’ rookie QB Brock Purdy not gone down with an elbow injury on their first drive of the game. It was an unfortunate dark cloud on what could have been a fantastic game but the game started with a bit of a weird omen as well.
Philly got away with a non-catch, on a 4th & 3 no less, that set up their opening-drive touchdown to start the game but give credit where credit is due. More often than not, when I see a receiver begging his coach to challenge the ruling on the field, that receiver ends up being wrong. In this case, DeVonta Smith made a hell of an effort to haul in a pass from Jalen Hurts and it was ruled a catch on the field but, more importantly, Smith knew the value of the situation and rushed his guys to the line to get the next play off before San Francisco could get a clear angle on the previous play. Had the challenge flag come out, the catch would have likely been overturned and the game could have gone very differently from that point.
Even after the Purdy elbow injury, which was very similar to what happened to Josh Allen earlier in the year, the Niners fought hard to give themselves a chance and they did. Their vaunted defense forced three straight punts, got some good starting field position, and with Josh Johnson in at QB, San Francisco went down and tied the game at 7-7 on a Christian McCaffrey TD run that was one hell of a play. Despite the most disastrous start imaginable in that situation, the 49ers showed their mettle. Unfortunately, they were just left completely out-gunned.
I don’t want to sell what the Eags did short either though. They responded to that Niners’ TD with a 14-play 75-yard scoring drive of their own that was capped off by Miles Sanders’ second TD run of the day. Then disaster struck the 49ers once again as Josh Johnson fumbled a shotgun snap and the Eagles recovered deep in SF territory. Taking full advantage, with about a minute left in the first half, Boston Scott got face masked and then scored on a 10-yard scamper to put the Eags up 21-7, and it was basically a wrap from that point forward.
San Francisco still fought valiantly. They stay physical and were desperately fighting to stay in the game, even bringing Purdy back into the game just to handle the handoffs and give the defense some looks but they were relegated to a completely one-dimensional approach and simply outmatched. Philly tacked on 10 more points as they bled the clock on a couple of lengthy scoring drives down the stretch to seal the deal.
I feel for the 49ers and friends of mine who are fans. They are in a similar position to the Bills where they have been in the conversation for the last 4-years and they just ran out of luck here. However, I am not going to discount the Eagles for what they’ve done this season.
The narrative on social media, in the immediate aftermath of the game, was attacking PHI for having such an easy schedule and/or the easiest path to the Super Bowl and how they are going to get smoked by the AFC winner. The Eagles won the toughest division in football, had the best record in the league all season, only finished tied at the top because Hurts missed two games (both losses), and just put up 31 on the best defense in the league. What more do you want? They can’t control who they play, but the #1 seed is valuable for that very reason. They earned their way to the Super Bowl and don’t let people try to tell you otherwise.
Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the Kansas Chiefs are heading back to the Super Bowl for the third time in six years and they finally conquered Joe Burrow and the Bengals, 23-20, to do it.
Mahomes put in a very gutsy performance on a bad leg and gave everything he had on a 3rd & 4th with 17 seconds left in regulation, scrambling to pick up the first down. The subsequent unnecessary roughness flag that followed is not what you want to see impact the end of a tie game of this magnitude, but it was the right call on Cincinnati’s Joseph Ossai. It wasn’t malicious, but Mahomes was clearly established out of bounds when it happened and the bonus 15 yards on the penalty made things a lot easier on Harrison Butker’s game-winner.
I can understand the Bengals’ fans being frustrated, especially when they didn’t get the same call earlier in the game on a hit out of bounds. They would go on to score on that drive, so the missed call didn’t have an impact on the game but it wasn’t the only weird one. There was another 3rd & 9 (I think) where the Bengals forced a punt only to be told that the play didn’t count because the refs had “shut it down” for some reason. Then a defensive hold was called on the next play to give KC an automatic first down (IIRC). The referees certainly had their fingerprints on this one more than I would like, but that isn’t the reason why Cincy lost.
The Bengals had the ball, tied 20-20, twice inside the last 10 minutes of the game and couldn’t get it done. The first time, Burrow went deep into double coverage for Tee Higgins on a 3rd & 3 and the ball was tipped by Bryan Cook and intercepted by Joshua Williams. Pressure speeds up decision-making and the Chiefs’ pass rush was a problem all night and they got Joey B to throw into a bad spot there.
They still got the ball back without incident and had two-and-a-half minutes to go down the field and win the game. Once again, the pass rush was the name of the game. Chris Jones established his presence and sacked Burrow on a 3rd & 8 that forced them to punt with about 40 seconds left in the game. This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen the Chiefs execute with a short clock, and the rest is in the books.
It is going to be a better Super Bowl matchup than some people are willing to acknowledge and we are getting a lot of interesting storylines heading in. This is the first time in NFL history that two Black QBs will square off against one another in the Super Bowl. It is also the first time two brothers have faced off against each other in the SB as Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce will be on opposite sidelines. Last but not least, Andy Reid gets to play against an Eagles franchise that led to six NFC East crowns, nine playoff appearances, and one SB appearance. I am more into it than I thought I would be.
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