For many hopeful fanbases out there, like the one I am a part of, the dreams of post-season glory came to a screeching halt over the weekend. For a select few others, their teams will be playing for the right to represent their conference in the Super Bowl.
The San Francisco 49ers closed out the weekend’s slate and punched their ticket to the NFC title game for the third time in four years with a 19-12 win over the Dallas Cowboys. And for the second straight season, Dallas saw their season end at the hands of their bitter rivals.
It was a close defensive game the whole way and when Dallas scored the game’s first touchdown, it looked like they were ready to take the next step as a franchise. Dak Prescott had already thrown a bad pick at that point that put points on the board for the Niners, but they stayed poised and responded. Then Brett Maher’s extra point try got blocked and there was a weird energy in the air after he had missed four extra-point attempts in Tampa the week before. That allowed the 49ers to tie the game with another Robbie Gould field goal and then Prescott threw another bad pick that allowed San Francisco to take the lead on another before the half, without having to score a TD of their own.
Maher redeemed himself with a game-tying FG that was the only score of the 3rd quarter. Knotted up at 9-9 late in the 3rd, it was still a contentious game, but that’s where the Niners separated themselves. They punched in their firsthand only TD of the game on a 90-yard 6-minute drive to close out the 3rd and give them a 4th quarter lead.
Dallas drove the ball down to the SF 25-yard line and then on 4th & 8 they opted for a FG to go down 16-12, instead of going for it there. It felt like an odd choice at the time, because they would still need a TD and to keep the Niners off the board. Neither of those things happened. San Francisco responded with a FG to push it back to a 7-point game and then Dallas went 3 & out and that was the writing on the wall. They came out flat for their final series but I think Mike McCarthy knew some other fan bases needed a good laugh as he had Dallas line up in the dumbest formation possible that got Ezekiel Elliot pancaked and KaVontae Turpin absolutely blasted on a play that did nothing.
Speaking of disappointing ends to the season, my Buffalo Bills ran into that wall once again and this year it came in the form of the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, 27-10.
There is that football saying that gets tossed around, “You can’t lose the game in the first quarter”…well, that’s exactly what happened. The Bengals came ready to play a smash-mouth kind of AFC North football in the snowy conditions and they ran right over the Bills’ defense. They ran right around them too as guys were getting wide open early in the game and Cincinnati jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the Bills went 3 & out twice in the 1st quarter and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s game plan and philosophy got easily exposed by a good well-coached defense. I had been critical all year about Dorsey’s carelessness when it came to valuing possessions and sadly that bit them in the ass in this game. That said, Buffalo still put together a good drive and cut it to 14-7, but the Bengals added a FG before the half to stretch the lead to 10.
The Bills would get the ball to start the second half and put together their only other good drive of the game to cut the lead to 17-10 but, once again, the Bengals responded and this time with another TD and that was a huge energy vacuum. By the times Buffalo turned the ball over on downs, it was 27-10 and the 4th quarter was halfway over. After a long and tumultuous season, there was simply nothing left.
Hats off to the Bengals. They are the better team, even if Eli Apple is acting like a total ass in the aftermath. The Bills have a lot of soul-searching to do in the offseason. They have plenty of talent on both sides o the ball, but they need to find their identity again. I think not being the preseason favorites will be good for getting that reset.
It had been a little while since we had seen what the Eagles looked like at full strength, but they reminded everyone why they had the league’s best record (tied) and sat atop my Power Rankings all season as they dominated the New York Giants, 38-7.
The bye week doesn’t always do the No. 1 seed good, but it was just what the doctor ordered for the Eagles and their QB Jalen Hurts who was working his way back from an injury to his throwing shoulder. While he played in the regular season finale, also against the Giants, it wasn’t a vintage performance by any means. Whether or not he is at or near 100% is still up in the air, because the Eags won this playoff game with 268 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs. Hurts didn’t have to do a lot, but he did tack on a couple of TD passes.
There isn’t a lot to say about this one. The Giants had a nice run and showed that they have a bright future under Brian Daboll, but they were completely outmatched in this one. The Eagles will welcome the 49ers to Philly for the NFC Championship and I am very intrigued since these teams didn’t get to meet up during the regular season. It should be a good one!
The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to their 4th AFC Championship Game in a row and are on a collision course with the Bengals, in a rematch of last year’s AFC title game, after defeating the Jaguars 27-20 in Arrowhead.
Jacksonville showed a ton of improvement and kept this game competitive the whole way, but it ended almost the same way their previous encounter during the regular season ended.
The Jags had it tied up after the 1st but once the Chiefs had the next two scores and made it a two-possession game, the ball was in their court. Jacksonville once again cut the lead to 7 points, but they were behind in the possession battle as they had to give the Chiefs the ball to start the second half.
To their credit, the Jags’ defense forced a pair of punts but they couldn’t capitalize and the Chiefs were able to continually push the lead back to 10 points. After the Cheifs made it 27-17, desperation began to set in and the stakes got higher and higher in the 4th quarter and that’s where things came undone for the Jags.
Jamal Agnew experienced it all as he returned a kick 42-yards to set up the Jags with good field position in their efforts to come back. Trevor Lawrence converted a huge 3rd & 10 with his legs to set up 1st & goal at the KC 9-yard line. Then Agnew saw the other side of the coin as he fumbled on the ensuing play and more or less ended the Jags’ chances. They were able to force the punt, but Lawrence threw a poor pass downfield on their ensuing possession to really put the nail in the coffin.
Doug Pederson deserves a lot of credit for getting Jacksonville to that point in the playoffs, and they will learn a lot from that loss and grow in the offseason. We may take it for granted because it seems so easy, but Andy Reid deserves credit for what he’s been able to do with the Chiefs year in, and year out. It isn’t easy. They have a tall order in front of them though as they’ve yet to beat the Bengals with Joe Burrow. That’s going to be a great game as well.
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