Football season really does go by in a flash. We start in the dying days of summer in that early September heat. We continue on into October and November as the leaves fall and the air gets a little crisper. We get to December when the temperatures drop, and into January as snowflakes land on the passes before they’re caught.
The 32 teams who started the season are down to just four. There are just three games left to be played and then someone will raise the Vince Lombardi trophy. Let’s take a look at two of those games, as the final four teams will battle for a trip to New Orleans and Super Bowl LIX.
NFC Championship Game
(NFC 6) Washington Commanders at (NFC 2) Philadelphia Eagles
Before we get to the game itself, let’s bid a half-hearted fond farewell to the Detroit Lions.
The Lions won 15 games in the regular season, which meant absolutely nothing once the postseason started. For the record, the NFC North sent three double-digit win teams to the playoffs, two of which won 14 or more. None of them won a single postseason game. But hey, tell us more about how important the regular season is, right?
This could not have been more of a disaster for Detroit, and really a prime example why fans who buy divisional championship gear have their priorities off. For Lions fans who bought those hats and t-shirts, will they ever wear them again? They’re a forever reminder of the embarrassment of how this season crashed and burned. Now, coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are likely to take head coaching jobs elsewhere. It’s fair to expect the Packers and Bears to be better next year, and the Vikings are anyone’s guess. In any event, this was Detroit’s best chance to win something, and they failed miserably. That’s as on-brand as can be for that team.
Enough about losers.
It’s not really a surprise that the Eagles are in this game. As critical as we are of the play of Jalen Hurts, and there’s plenty to be critical about, we can’t deny how talented the roster is, excluding the quarterback. Their offensive line is stellar, and very well coached. Their defense was abysmal a year ago, but added some pieces in the draft and in free agency, along with an upgrade in coordinators, and are back among the league’s best. The Eagles have a roster of 52 that’s talented enough to drag the very expensive 53rd guy along the way. It’s not exactly the formula most teams use, but the Eagles also won a Super Bowl with a backup quarterback. Maybe it’s just in their DNA.
On the other hand, the Commanders being in this game is certainly a surprise to many.
Consider This felt that Washington had a great opportunity to win the East this season, given the combined off-season of the removal of the dark cloud of previous ownership, the addition of key free agents on both sides of the ball, a new coaching staff, and the second overall pick in the draft under center. This column has praised the play of rookie Jayden Daniels multiple times this season, and he’s earned every single bit. He’s only going to get better, and that should scare the rest of the NFC.
This game is very interesting on a personal level, because as much as we say that championships are all that matter, and that one team wins and everyone else loses, it’s hard to say that Washington isn’t playing entirely with house money. If they lose this game, the Commanders fan base isn’t going to be overly upset with the result. They would not have won anything, but regardless of what happens in this game, the franchise is in as strong a position as they’ve been in three decades.
Because of that, the Commanders walk into Lincoln Financial Field with not a care in the world. All the pressure in this game is squarely on the backs of the home team. Philadelphia is in the NFC Championship Game for the eighth time since 2000. That’s about one-third of the time since the turn of the millennium. For all those runs, they have exactly one championship to show for it. This area will always remember how the McNabb-era Eagles lost three consecutive NFC Championship Games from 2001 through 2003. We’ve seen this movie before.
Jalen Hurts has been very bad in the two playoff wins. It hasn’t mattered because the Eagles lines, on both sides of the ball, are fantastic. At some point, a team needs their quarterback to be a reason they win. He has not come close to that so far in this postseason. His health is now in question after a rough tackle in the win over the Rams, which may limit his mobility. That’s not a recipe for success for this Eagles team.
The Commanders have some 2003 Carolina Panthers vibes. Those Panthers came into Philadelphia and upset the Eagles in this same game. History might repeat itself. A win on Sunday would make Daniels the first rookie quarterback to make it to the Super Bowl. That would be a fitting added chapter to the story being written in Washington.
PICK: COMMANDERS
AFC Championship Game
(AFC 2) Buffalo Bills at (AFC 1) Kansas City Chiefs
It always felt that it would come down to this. It felt all year that it was a countdown to this game, these two teams, and these two quarterbacks. The dichotomy between these two teams is so interesting and such a cinematic story. .
On one side, you have the modern-day dynasty. The team that has reached the final four in a mind-boggling seven consecutive seasons. They are two wins away from a third consecutive Super Bowl championship, a feat that has never been accomplished in the 59-year history of the Super Bowl. The tight end is dating a billionaire entertainer that the networks love to show every three minutes. They are Goliath. They are the Empire. They are every villain wrapped up into one dominant force.
On the other side, you have the lovable losers. The team that just cannot finally find a way to win the big one. These players are not just trying to break the streak of their own inability to win, but bear the weight of their early 1990’s predecessors, who lost four consecutive Super Bowls. Their fans are quite the passionate bunch. A folding table is never safe around them. They are David. They are the Resistance. They are the protagonist, led by their quarterback to the battlefield like Leonidas led the Spartans.
Hollywood can’t write stories this well.
Kansas City lost two games this year. One of them was the last week of the season when they started Carson Wentz and their C-team in a game that didn’t matter. The other was to these Bills.
The Chiefs have not been all that impressive this season, but the results are the results. The offense did not make the headlines the way it has in the past, but it hasn’t mattered. The machine just goes on and on, win after win. They are as well coached as any team in the league, and while Andy Reid gets a lot of the credit, we should really recognize defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo for how ferocious that defense is. The Chiefs allowed the second fewest yards per game in the league this season.
For Buffalo, it really feels like time is running out. Over the last five years, Buffalo has won at least 11 games every year. They have been among the league’s best. But, for the most part, the Bills have been nothing more than a speed bump on the Chiefs’ road. That has to change.
At what point is Bills coach Sean McDermott shown the door? How many consecutive years of regular season wins and postseason defeats can one coach endure before being fired?
In many ways, the Ravens beat themselves in the Divisional Round. The Chiefs don’t beat themselves. Buffalo will have to earn every ounce of it, and as good as Allen is, he has a tendency to make the mistake when it counts the most. That’s the difference between the two quarterbacks. Mahomes finds a way to win. Allen finds a way to lose.
Mahomes and Allen are firmly entrenched among the league’s best. No one will deny that. But, there’s a reason Mahomes is regarded as the top guy. The rings help, without question, but Mahomes has that innate ability to make something out of nothing look very easy. It’s something that can’t be taught. Coaches can go through X’s and O’s for hours, and Mahomes will just find a way to make the play and crush the opponent’s soul.
These two quarterbacks have met in the post season three times. Mahomes has won all three. He’ll look to make it four, and we think he will.
The league office will happily be contacting Taylor’s people late Sunday night to make arrangements for her suite at the Superdome in New Orleans, complete with many cameras to catch all angles of her smiles. Swifties rejoice!
Pick: CHIEFS
Brian Attard is a lifelong resident of Hammonton, avid sports fan and host on The Sports Box Network (@SportsBoxSports on all social media platforms).