NFL Playoffs: Conference Championship Recap
In a year where the NFL has been full of surprises, last minute comebacks, and questionable coaching, the AFC and NFC Championships were no different for NFL fans. Both games this weekend were nail biters, and gave the causal NFL fan exactly what they wanted in a semi-final matchup: great football.
Starting in the AFC, we had a blockbuster Quarterback matchup with Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. On paper it was everything that we as NFL fans wanted and more. The Ravens had been the most consistent team all season long, and had looked dominant during the months of December and January, with a 5-0 record, 4 of those coming against playoff teams. Lamar looked like the MVP, and the defense shut down whoever they lined up against. The Chiefs looked anything but dominant, going 3-3 between December and January, losing games against the only 2 playoff teams they played during that stretch. Mahomes looked mediocre at best, throwing 6 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, and everyone questioned if the Chiefs would be able to do much this season. With wins over the Dolphins at home, and the Bills on the road, Kansas City had secured their 6th consecutive AFC title game appearance, with their eyes set on back to back Super Bowl wins.
After trading blows in the first quarter for a 7-7 deadlock, the Chiefs separated themselves in the 2nd quarter on the shoulders of a Pacheco touchdown run, and a Butker field goal just before half. In what many saw as an explosive, high scoring affair with 2 of the top 10 offenses this season, saw 346 total yards (236 between 3 drives), and 24 total points in the first half.
The second half was even more of a stalemate than the first half was, with the Ravens putting up the only second half points: a Justin Tucker field goal with just over 2:30 remaining in the game. The Ravens looked like a shell of the 13-4 team that touted the best record in the league. The biggest turning point in the game came at the start of the 4th quarter. Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers on a shallow crosser inside the KC 10 yard line. Flowers went for the end zone, but fumbled the ball into the end zone where it was recovered by the Chiefs. Up to that point, it felt as if the Ravens had nothing going their way, and when they finally did, they couldn’t punch it across the line. After this moment, the Ravens were in desperation mode. The defense did their job time and again forcing the Chiefs to punt, but the Ravens offense floundered. A Lamar Jackson interception on the following drive made it all but certain that Mahomes, Kelce, Reid and the Chiefs would be on their way back to the big dance.
What makes this loss even more frustrating for the Ravens, is that while the game was close, and the defense did what they’ve done all year long, the offense was as far from their norm as possible. The Ravens offense had been built around and predicated around the run this season, with a “running back by committee” approach. In games where the Ravens running backs ran the ball more than 20 times as a unit, they were 11-1 in the regular and post season before the AFC Championship. The lowest that unit ran the ball all season was 15 times in an overtime win against the Rams. The Ravens running backs ran the ball for a total of 6 times on Sunday. 6 TIMES!!! Yes, Lamar Jackson ran the ball well on Sunday, but he was the only running threat for the Ravens, which made them extremely one dimensional. For a team built around the run, and a committee approach at that, Sunday was the antithesis of what we know as the Baltimore Ravens.
On the other side of the field, the Chiefs have a lot to be excited about moving forward into a second consecutive Super Bowl. That may seem obvious and should go without saying, but the Chiefs are not as strong and formidable as they have been in years past. Mahomes has looked human at points, and the offense of the Chiefs doesn’t have the firepower it has had before. Now, the defense has looked much better than years past, and Pacheco is the best running back the Chiefs have had since Jamaal Charles, but people still looked at the Chiefs as a team that wasn’t going to make it a back to back.
Mahomes has looked better in the post season. Still not super human as we have come to expect, but he has yet to throw an interception, and has thrown 4 touchdowns across 3 games. The name of the game in the post season is possession of the ball, and holding onto the ball. Mahomes and the Chiefs have done just that. On top of Mahomes not turning the ball over, Travis Kelce has had a resurgence this post season, posting games of 71, 75, and 116, with 3 touchdowns in 3 games. He has looked like the guy that had been the top option in the Kansas City passing tree for the last handful of years. When it was all said and done, the Ravens had lost at home, bringing Lamar’s record in the post season to 2-4, and the Chiefs were on their way to another Super Bowl. Predicted: Ravens 28-17. Actual: Chiefs 17-10.
Switching to the NFC side, it was a very different story. Is Brock Purdy actually good, or is he just a system QB? Are the 49ers going to finally win a Super Bowl for the first time in 28 seasons? Will health derail them again this season like it did last season? Move onto the other sideline with the Lions. The first NFCCG appearance since 1992 for Detroit, are the lights too bright for them? 2 seasons ago, Dan Campbell and company won just 3 games. Is this team ready to be one of the best? No one expected the Lions to be this good this soon, especially with how many key contributors were 1st or 2nd year guys.
Detroit raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and looked like the well oiled machine that we have come to expect from them in recent months. All facets of the offense were clicking, and it was almost a stunned silence in Santa Clara in the first half. The Lions outscored San Francisco 10-7 in the second quarter, to the tune of a 24-7 lead at halftime. Dan Campbell looked like the man to finally break Detroit into the Super Bowl. Every Lions fan in the country was beginning to look at ticket prices and flights to Las Vegas in 2 weeks. Only one thing stood in the way: Another 30 minutes of football.
If the first half was any indication of what was going to happen in the second half, it should have been lights out on San Francisco. That could not have been farther from the truth. An opening drive field goal trimmed the Lion lead to 14. Goff and the Lions began to drive just as they had all game, until a 4th down with 7:03 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Dan Campbell and the Lions have been aggressive all season on 4th downs and close to the end zone. It had helped them more often than not, and he was going to maintain that mentality here. The 49ers stopped the Lions on 4th and 2, and the momentum shifted. The next two drives for San Francisco resulted in touchdowns, while the Lions fumbled the ball, and punted on their next two drives. By the 3:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, a 24-7 game was 24-24. All momentum had left Detroit, and they were hanging on for their lives. The 49ers continued to assert their dominance the second half, and did not let off of the gas until the game was in hand. The Lions added a late touchdown with less than a minute left as the clung to their playoff hopes, but a failed onside kick put the nail in their coffin.
In one of the more recent playoff collapses in recent memory, the Detroit Lions still have never been to a Super Bowl, and the 49ers will have another shot to end their Super Bowl victory drought in 2 weeks. People are going to question Dan Campbell for his decisions to be aggressive in this game. While there is reason and validity to question, it shouldn’t be seen as negative on him. Campbell has had the aggressive mentality all season, regardless of success or failure in the process. He has stood his ground on his decisions even when it cost him. You cannot point to this game, and the 2 plays where he was aggressive, as the reason they lost the game. It is a culmination of plays, of moments in a game, of all of the things that go into a win or a loss. A game does not come down to one singular play. The Lions did not lose this game on the Campbell decisions to go for it on fourth down. This is just one of those times that Campbell talked about in his press conference when he was originally hired for the job. “We’re gonna get knocked down, and we’re gonna bite off a kneecap on the way up. And then we’ll get knocked down again, and we’ll bite the other kneecap off. Eventually we will be the last ones standing”. The Lions got knocked down on Sunday. For the sake of the NFL, they better get up next season. Predicted: 49ers 31-27. Actual: 49ers 34-31.
