NFL Playoffs: Best Weekend of Games Ever

It’s not hyperbole. I’m 48 years old, and I’ve been watching the NFL for about 40 of those years. This weekend of games was the best grouping of games in NFL playoff history setting up some good Championship Match Ups.

Divisional Round Recap

• Bengals Keep Winning – No one picked CIN to win the AFC North. No one had CIN in the AFC Championship game, but guess what, CIN’s QB Joe Burrow believed. The beaten up defense believed. The Titans were lackluster on Offense, and squandered one of the all time great Defensive performances with 9 sacks of Joe Burrow. One of my guys, RB Derrick Henry (20 carries, 62 yards) was ineffective, and I actually thought they should have stuck with D’Onta Foreman (4 Carries for 66 yards). Still, after a slow game and bad performance, TEN’s WR AJ Brown (5 catches, 142 yards, 1 TD) started to take over and make plays. TEN with the ball with 2 minutes to go tied 16-16 had a chance to erase all that. However, the Bengals played tight man coverage, and TEN’s QB Ryan Tannehill (15-24, 220 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) forced a throw in a tight window to someone other than Brown or Julio Jones only to be tipped and picked off. Burrow (348 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT) hit WR Jamarr Chase (5 catches, 109 yards) on the first play to get within FG range, and CIN’s K Evan McPherson just nailed the 52 yarder to win, 19-16 and get CIN to the AFC Title Game for the first time in 31 years.
• Packers Are Not Special – A lot of people kept telling me that the Packers were the team this year, especially in the wide open NFC, but I look at metrics, and I didn’t buy it. What I didn’t know was the Packers were 32nd on Special Teams. After a first drive TD, GB couldn’t find the end zone, but the Packers’ D (only 212 total yards allowed) was dominant keeping SF out of the end zone all game long. Yet, the 49ers hung around holding GB to under 200 yards after the first GB drive, and when they blocked a FG at the end of the 1st Half, they had some life. In the 2nd half, it was a classic watch with snow on the field at Lambeau Field, but SF could not break the seal. It took a SF blocked punt inside the GB 5 yard line, and the 49ers ran it in to tie the game with 4:41 to play. The “Great’ Aaron Rodgers (20 for 29, 225 yards, 0 TD, 0 INTs) couldn’t get it done only targeting WR Davante Adams (9 catches, 90 yards) in tight coverage only to give SF’s QB Jimmy G (11 for 19 for 131 yards and 1 INT) a chance to get into FG range with the help of key runs by WR Deebo Samuel (10 carries for 39 yards, 3 catches for 44 yards). Then, the former Bear, K Robbie Gould, had the last laugh against the Packers with a game winning 45 yard FG as time expired, 13-10. To quote, Robbie, “Fuck the Packers!”
• Rams Almost Blow It – TB had plenty of injuries coming in, and it showed. The Rams big boyed the Bucs on both sides of the ball. LA’s QB Matthew Stafford (28 for 38 for 366 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) was excellent hitting WRs Kupp, Jefferson and Beckham at will. With the lead 20-3 and after a Brady pick had a chance to score a TD, but Rams’ RB Cam Akers fumbles (chance one to end this game). Then, after Stafford runs in a QB sneak with 7:07 in the 3rd up 27-3, this one should have been done. Well, TB12 did what he does getting Tampa in the end zone at the end of the 3rd thanks to a Kupp fumble. Then, after a punt, Brady (329 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) fumbles on a sack opening the door for another death blow (2nd chance to seal it), only to snap the ball past Stafford to mid-field, but the Rams D held despite a questionable Rams’ penalty on S Eric Weddle. The Rams get into FG range only to miss a 46 yarder, short? (3rd chance to seal it). The Bucs come up empty again, but the Rams couldn’t get a first down. Brady hits WR Mike Evan (8 catches, 119 yards, 1 TD) on a bomb to get the lead to 27-20, then the Rams fumble again – Cam Akers, ugh. Bucs’ RB Leonard Fournette runs in a TD on 4th and 1 to tie the game. Yet, somehow, TB DC Todd Bowles puts a Safety on WR Cooper Kupp (9 catches, 183 yards, 1 TD) and gives up a 44 yard reception with 28 seconds (after letting him catch an easy 20 yarder the play before) setting up a Matt Gay 30 yard FG to win, 30-27.
• Game for a Generation – The Bills-Chiefs couldn’t possibly live up to the hype after 3 walk off winners by the road team underdogs. However, it did. The first half was fun, as the teams felt each other out and KC’s QB Patrick Mahomes was running as much as BUF’s QB Josh Allen. In the second half, the Chiefs seemed in control when they went up 23-14 with 2:06 to play in the 3rd. No, Allen simply hit WR Gabriel Davis for a 75 yard bomb on the first play to get to 23-21. After a couple of punts by both teams, a KC FG 8:58 gave the Chiefs a 26-21 advantage set up by a WR Tyreek Hill punt return. Then, the real game started. Josh Allen leads a 17 play, 75 yard drive which BUF had to convert two 4th downs, including a TD pass to Davis on 4th and 13 on the KC 27 yard line to take the lead 29-26 after a 2 point conversion. Well, Mahomes only needed 5 plays to hit the fastest player alive, Tyreek Hill (11 catches, 150 yards, 1 TD – plus a 45 yard punt return) across the middle and he scampered for 64 yards to grab the lead again with 1:02 remaining in the game. Allen did it again – 6 plays and 75 yards when Allen found Davis for the 4th time in the game for a TD with 17 seconds. After the Extra Point, KC had 13 seconds down 36-33 with 2 timeouts to tie the game. Yes, a Mortar Kick would have been advisable by BUF, but 13 seconds to go 40 yards? Well, one completion to Hill and another to TE Travis Kelce (8 catches, 96 yards, 1 TD) for 44 yards total setting up a Harrison Butker 49 yard FG to tie the game and force OT. Insane. To quote a buddy of mine, the only thing Allen did wrong all day was calling Tails instead of Heads on the OT Coin Flip. KC and Mahomes went right down the field gaining 75 yards in 8 plays ending in a Kelce TD to win, 42-36. This game will be replayed on NFL Network for the rest of our lives. Look at these stats: Mahomes had 188 yards passing AFTER the 2 minute warning. 31 Points were scored after the 2 minute warning. Patrick Mahomes leads all Rushers (69 yards) and Passers in Yards (378 Yards) on the weekend. Josh Allen throws for 329 yards, 4 TDs, rushes for 68 yards – doesn’t turn the ball over, and loses. WR Gabriel Davis finishes this game with 8 catches, 201 yards and 4 TDs – his season was 35 catches, 549 yards and 6 TDs….The Chiefs host the AFC Championship game for the 4th year straight.

All 4 games were walk off wins. The only road team not to win was BUF who played a near perfect game (on Offense). What will next week be like?

Championship Weekend Preview

• Bengals at Chiefs (-7, 54.5 Total) – Sunday, 1/30 at 2 PM Central – This game is a rematch of an epic battle in Week 17 when the Bengals came from behind to beat the Chiefs in CIN. The young Bengals don’t care if no one believes I them. CIN’s Joe Burrow has all the confidence in the world, and his top target, WR Jamarr Chase is unguardable. Yet, the Chiefs when pushed usually raise their level of play – see above. The Bengals’ D will need to play even better than they did on Saturday at TEN, which I do not see that with TE Travis Kelce, WR Tyreek Hill and QB Patrick Mahomes. I think the Bengals will need to win a shootout like Week 17 and not fall behind by 21 this time in Arrowhead. The Chiefs were my pre-season (and postseason) Super Bowl pick, and I think they win here, and as much as I like the Bengals run I think it ends here. So, I’ll take the Chiefs to win easily and cover the -7 (likely will go up closer to game time), and this game goes Over 54.
• 49ers at Rams (-3.5, 46 Total) – Sunday, 1/30, 5:30 PM Central – Another rematch, in fact it’s their 3rd time playing, since they are both in the NFC West. The Rams led 17-0 in Week 18, a game that SF if they lost would have been eliminated from the playoffs. SF came back and won in OT with the mostly friendly crowd in LA. Well, they are going to do it again here. The Rams seem to have gotten out of their funk in the playoffs. Rams’ QB Matthew Stafford has been very good and no INTs, which was his problem late in the season. Meanwhile, SF enters the game playing their 7th straight road game with injuries to WR Deebo Samuel, TE George Kittle, and QB Jimmy G. The 49ers have owned the Rams head to head winning 6 straight games both Straight Up and Against the Spread. So, something has to be different from the Rams for them to win. RB Cam Akers was good against AZ, but terrible with 2 fumbles at TB. I think he is the key for the Rams. You have to slow down the pass rush by running the football. I believe in this 49ers team, and I’m going to stick with them. Yeah, the Rams are healthier and more talented on Offense, but can they win in the trenches? I don’t think so. SF wins outright, Covers +3.5 and Under 46.5 in this one.

Whew, I need a couple days off after that weekend. Should be another fun one.

Wegs