Kansas City Chiefs- Reputation means A LOT: A lot has been said about the Bills failure to squib the ball after taking a 3 point lead with 13 seconds left. Yes, it could have taken a few valuable seconds off the clock, and yes, it could have played a role in possibly keeping the Chiefs out of FG range by only giving them one play (which I assume gets them to about midfield) and then forcing a Hail Mary to the endzone. But what stood out to me was how scared the Bills came out on those two key defensive plays. It was like they were playing NOT TO LOSE rather than putting it all on the line for the W. The charmin ultra soft defensive approach was what allowed the Chiefs to quickly rattle off two short-intermediate passes and get into FG range in 10 seconds. After that sequence, I thought to myself that only Pat Mahomes would strike so much fear into a defense that they would just play that joke of a coverage and pray he wouldn’t hit Tyreek or Hardman over the top. Think about your favorite NFL team’s QB. Unless you are a fan of the Packers, I don’t think any other QB has such a transcendent reputation that an opposing team would play scared and blow it in that situation. This is not to take anything away from Mahomes; As usual, he executed when he needed to. But sheesh, that loss will stay with the Buffalo faithful for a long time.. It will be interesting to see how the Bengals defense will try to combat this Mahomes effect. Don’t be fooled by the great performance the Bengals D had last week against the Titans. A lot of that "great performance" was really just a lack of execution from the Titans offense. The Chiefs will put up points this week; the Bengals D will need to maintain composure and confidence when those points start piling up and not let their fear (a warranted fear, no doubt) of Mahomes take over.
Cincinnati Bengals- Joe Burrow is not afraid to take his check downs, and it serves him well: Watching the sloppy Titans-Bengals game, I was really impressed by Joe Burrow. He delivered some great throws on the boundary throughout the game, but most importantly, I can’t remember a single time where he forced a throw into heavy coverage. This is because Burrow is already shaping up into a master of going through his progressions and taking an open check down if he doesn’t see anything he likes. He goes through his progressions at a wonderfully rapid pace, quickly scanning and reading the coverage, and doesn’t mess up timing wise when he needs to dump it to the flat. He trusts his guys to be able to pick up YAC, and up to this point, they are delivering. Limiting turnovers will be absolutely crucial in the matchup against a team in the Chiefs who can put points up seemingly at will. Being able to take the open checkdown is something that sounds easy, but a lot of NFL QBs (especially young ones) oftentimes try to do too much. Burrow is not one of those guys.
San Francisco 49ers- Ok, maybe the magic pixie dust thing will keep working…
This team shouldn’t be here. But here we are. Thanks to a spectacular defensive performance and the Packers special teams forgetting they were playing in a football game, the Jimmy G led 49ers (or is it everyone BUT Jimmy G led? hmm…) have arrived to the NFC championship game. There is something to be said about teams that have such a winning culture developed that they are able to end up on top even in the sloppiest of games. I should know, being a Baltimore Ravens fan. The 49ers also fit this bill, so it would be foolish to count them out. I don’t think the 49ers offense and Jimmy G have shown me enough this postseason for me to think they are magically going to start sustaining drives and putting a lot of points on the board, especially against a Rams unit that can pressure the heck out of a quarterback. They are going to need another game breaking performance from their defensive unit and some turnovers to bounce their way to have a chance. That strategy has paid dividends so far in this playoff run, so why stop now? Los Angeles Rams- Most complete team remaining in the playoffs IF they do not shoot themselves in the foot
The first half of Rams-Bucs last weekend confirmed a belief I had: the Rams are the most complete team in the NFL this season. To be honest, they better be, considering the all-in strategy the front office has implemented the past year. What a beautiful first half that was for LA. The offense was moving the ball at will, and the defense was for the most part an immovable object. Then came the second half. Oh boy. Were the Rams trying to lose that game, or was this just yet another example of a Tom Brady team having some deep intrinsic belief that they were unbeatable with God himself as their quarterback? I’ll chalk the Rams second half near collapse up to the latter. Again, maybe a reputation thing once the lead started to dwindle from 28-3 (!!! RIP the Falcons). I know Tom Brady was pondering retirement after that game- looks like the G.O.A.T ending up retiring :( - but the Rams didn’t have to gift him a thousand chances to continue on his journey to win another ring. I don’t expect the Rams to continue to cough the ball up like they did in the second half of the Bucs game, but if they do, we know darn well those pesky 49ers will take advantage.
Bonus Championship Game Predictions as we are now a couple hours away from kickoff:
Chiefs 41, Bengals 31
Rams 23, 49ers 19
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