Staying true to the exciting nature of these playoffs, both games yesterday came down to the wire, and were decided right at the end of the game. The AFC Championship went into overtime, while the NFC Championship was decided by a turnover within the two minute warning.
Both teams overcame double-digit leads to come back and win yesterday’s games, and punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. And the two fourth seeds in each conference wind up being the ones who survive, improbably, to reach the Super Bowl. Now, they will meet each other, and obviously only one team can win. But later for that. I will make my Super Bowl prediction, but that will come later. Today, the focus will be on the two memorable Championship Games played yesterday.
For Cincinnati, the win came on the road at Arrowhead Stadium, against the very experienced, and heavily favored, Kansas City Chiefs. They were somewhere between 150-1 odds to 75-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. And while they have not yet won it, they have stunned many people to reach the big game for the first time in over 33 years as a franchise. This will also be the third time that the Bengals have ever qualified for the Super Bowl. Already, they are being hailed as the most surprising team to ever reach the Super Bowl. And to think that they were down 21-3 at one point, playing on the road. They kept cool, and came back to knock off the heavily favored Chiefs. Unbelievable.
As for the Rams, they were down by 10 in the second half, and against a team that they had lost to six straight times, dating back to the 2019 season. It looked at that point like maybe the Niners till had their number, and were going to deny them once again. To their credit, the Rams kept their composure, and began to fight back. In the end, they pulled off the comeback win, and will now head to their second Super Bowl in four seasons.
Let’s take a closer look at the two Championship games from yesterday:
Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati Bengals
at
Kansas City Chiefs
Cincinnati 27, Kansas City 24 (OT)
The Bengals were celebrating at the very end of this game. But you would not have guessed as much early on, when KC jumped all over them, taking a 21-3 lead by late in the second quarter. But Cincy kept their heads together, and began putting some well placed punches of their own, while making the Chiefs pay for their mistakes the rest of the way.
Cincy held onto the ball for just under 36 minutes, including the overtime session. They amassed 359 yards and 21 first downs on offense, compared to 375 yards and 24 first downs for the Chiefs. However, the Bengals committed one turnover, while the Chiefs suffered two, with both coming off INT’s by Patrick Mahomes.
Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow was impressive, staying cool, calm, and collected even after his team seemed to fall almost hopelessly behind. On the day, he completed 23 of 38 passes for 250 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Tee Higgins proved to be his favorite target, with six catches for 103 yards. Joe Mixon was a force on the ground for the Bengals, grinding out 88 yards in 21 carries.
As for KC, it was almost like a tale of two different games, and that was particularly true for star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Early on, he looked in great form, when the Chiefs seemed destined for their third straight Super Bowl. Later, he cooled off significantly, particularly from late in the second quarter, and throughout the second half and overtime. He even admitted to making bad decisions, such as when he threw to Tyreek Hill looking for a touchdown late in the first half, instead of trying for the easy points with a field goal that could have made it 24-10 by halftime. On the day, Mahomes completed 26 of 39 passes for 275 yards, with thee touchdowns and two INT’s. Travis Kelce helped him out quite a bit, reeling in 10 catches for 95 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, Jerick McKinnon added 65 yards on 12 carries.
In the end, the Chiefs will surely be haunted by the missed opportunities in this one. Yes, they cooled off considerably after taking that 21-3 lead. But there were also a lot of mistakes and, frankly, bad decisions. As Mahomes suggested, they probably got too greedy, and tempted fate. It likely would have been wiser to go for the easy points late in the first half.
However, the Bengals deserve to get a tremendous amount of credit. They surprised many people all season, but probably never quite as much as they did against the Chiefs yesterday. And remember, they have now beaten KC twice, as they also defeated them earlier this month, in the game that clinched the AFC North title for the Bengals, and a loss that prevented Kansas City from earning the top seed.
Very few people could have seen all of this coming. ESPN pointed out just how improbable this Super Bowl run was for Cincy. They had finished with a 4-11-1 record last season, and had a winning percentage of just .203 over the course of the two seasons just prior to reaching the Super Bowl this season. That is lower than the 2001-02 Carolina Panthers and the 1979-80 San Francisco 49ers, who also both surprised many by reaching the Super Bowl after very losing seasons, and with seemingly little indication that they would be able to turn things around so quickly.
The Bengals now reach the third Super Bowl in franchise history. They lost the first two to the 49ers, both in the eighties. Cincy will aim to try and win the first ever Lombardi Trophy in franchise history if they earn the win. They have been established as 3.5 point underdogs in the opening lines, although that may change in the coming days.
My pick: Inaccurate
San Francisco 49ers
at
Los Angeles Rams
LA Rams 20, San Francisco 17
The Los Angeles Rams tool a chance, paying a high price to acquire former Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford. Stafford had been a consistently impressive QB for the Lions, and even led them to the layoffs on occasion. Yet, he remained one of the quarterbacks who had played the longest without a single postseason victory. All of that changed this season, and the gamble by the Rams paid off. They won the NFC West division title with a 12-5 record, earning the fourth overall seed in the NFC playoffs. They then dominated their division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, in the Wildcard Game, before stunning the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend. No longer was Stafford the QB who never won in the playoffs. But perhaps the biggest test came this past weekend, against the 49ers, who had taken the last six straight against the Rams. But Stafford was impressive yet again, completing 31 of 45 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns, with one INT. He did not do it alone, of course, and particularly received solid help from Cooper Kupp, who brought in 11 catches for 142 yards and both of the touchdowns that the Rams scored on this day. Cam Akers added 48 yards on 13 carries.
In a losing effort for the 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo completed 16 of 30 for 232 yards, with two touchdowns and one very costly interception very late in the game, which effectively sealed the fate of the 49ers on this day. However, Deebo Samuel proved to be an all around threat for the San Fran offense, as he grabbed four catches for 72 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, it was Samuel who led all 49ers runners, as he picked up 26 yards on seven carries, although some of those carries were more impactful than those numbers might suggest.
Los Angeles dominated the time of possession, hanging onto the ball for the better part of 36 minutes. They amassed 396 yards and 25 first downs on offense, compared to 282 yards and 16 first downs for SF. Both teams committed one turnover each, although the one by the 49ers, that aforementioned interception by Garoppolo, proved not only to be far costlier, but pretty much decided the game.
Still, the Niners looked to be well on their way to a win, and thus, the Super Bowl. They scored a touchdown late in the third quarter, and owned a comfortable 17-7 lead entering the final quarter. But they could not put the Rams away. Indeed, Los Angeles fought for this thing, earning the comeback win. They scored a touchdown first, making it a close game again. They then got a field goal to tie it, and another one very late in the fourth quarter to take the lead.
Finally, at the end of the fourth quarter, they applied a lot of pressure on Garappolo on third down, and the 49ers quarterback made a bad decision by trying to force things and throw an ill-advised pass. Travin Howard nabbed the huge INT very deep in Rams territory. Ball game. That put the Rams in position to run out the clock on San Francisco and clinch their own trip to the Super Bowl.
So the Rams will join last year’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, getting to play the Super Bowl on their own home field. This will be the fifth Super Bowl in franchise history, although they only won one of those, and that one was when they played in St Louis. Of course, the Rams were in the big game just four seasons ago, when they lost to the New England Patriots, 13-3, in what proved to be the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history to date. Somehow, no matter who wins or loses this one, it seems likely that there will be more points scored.
My pick: Inaccurate
