A Tale Of Two Halves

What a Sunday night. The Super Bowl is set, and we had a story of two different halves in each conference championship to get the Super Bowl contenders there.

Let’s dig into both games and let’s not think too much about the fact that we only have one football game left before we have seven more months for more action.

AFC Championship

Kansas City Chiefs 17 | Baltimore Ravens 10

After Baltimore punted on the 4th play of the game, The Chiefs walked down the field and scored on their first drive. Baltimore had to answer, and they did. The Ravens looked great on their second series of offense, and many had this feeling of “How can the Chiefs stop this?”. Pressure and 3 turnovers were the answer. Yup, the 3 turnovers definitely helped, especially when one happens on a play that could’ve easily been a touchdown.

The Ravens had the best-looking defense in the last decade, and Patrick Mahomes had a field day with it. The Chiefs out-disciplined and out-physicaled the Ravens. If you think Brock Purdy is a game manager, then I’m not sure what you would’ve called Mahomes last night because it’s the exact description of a game manager. Mahomes was 30 of 39 for 241 yards and 1 TD. Sure, Mahomes used his feet here and there to move away from some pressure or escape the pocket, but he did a great job of taking short throws, and for one time this season, his receivers finally made a few plays down the field.

Sometimes, football comes down to a few plays. The Ravens shut out the Chiefs in the 2^nd half, and the Chiefs made some great plays to shut the run down, but they also contained Lamar and were possibly the best to do it all year against the Ravens offense. We mentioned the turnovers, and it was really just about 3 plays that made the game get out of reach. Lamar was stripped on a dropback, Zay Flowers got a taunting penalty for something that was definitely taunting, and then Flowers fumbled on a big play just inches before he was about to cross the goal line with the football.

I wondered how the team that we considered the best in the NFL almost all year could be so bad yesterday. Yes, the Chiefs drew up a great game plan, but the Ravens lacked something. It almost looked like Lamar was trying to do it with his arm instead of his legs, and we all know which is his better weapon. Could the Ravens really just not get the RBs into a gap or open space? Were there no running lanes for Lamar? I think one thing we haven’t mentioned yet was the phenomenal coverage most of the day from the Chiefs’ secondary. I definitely overlooked it coming into this game, and they showed up.

The Chiefs did it once again, and I guess I leave this game wondering this…. Do the Ravens have a Lamar Jackson problem or does the AFC have a Patrick Mahomes problem?

NFC Championship

Detroit Lions 31 | San Francisco 49ers 34

After the first game, you had to have the feeling that some points would be scored in this one. You weren’t wrong. But did you have the feeling that the Lions would have a 24-7 lead at the half? Don’t lie!

You know the result, and yes, Brock Purdy has led his team to the Super Bowl in just his second year as QB. It might be more of a Lions collapse than a Niners win, but that’s almost unfair for a team that has looked so untouchable for most of the year. The Niners definitely didn’t look untouchable for 30 minutes last night.

The Niners barely got past the Green Bay Packers and narrowly escaped the Detroit Lions. If it wasn’t for a few 4^th downs and a wild catch near the endzone, the Niners might have been on vacation for the next two weeks.

You know what? It’s definitely not fair to chalk it up to a crazy catch and some wild calls from an NFL coach. The Niners were down 17 at the half and flipped the script in the final 30 minutes. 17 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter?

Down 24-7 at halftime, and SF flipped the script by scoring 17 unanswered points in the third quarter. All the momentum shifted to San Francisco. SF was coming up with stops on 4th downs, causing fumbles, and taking advantage of footballs hitting faces. The Niners were up 27-24, and once again, the Lions took a shot at converting on a 4th down. SF got the stop, got the ball back with great field possession, and cashed in with the go-ahead score. I love the analytical approach by Dan Campbell, but at some point, you have to look at the situation you’re in. It’s win or go home. You have the opportunity to tie the game and also kickoff and likely get a touchback. Instead, when you fail on 4th down, you give one of the best offenses in the NFL the ball back with a shorter field. It just doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s why I’m not standing behind the podium on Sundays (maybe?).

Regardless of what you think about the 4th down calls, The 49ers took advantage of every little mistake in the 2nd half and had an epic comeback.

San Francisco is favored in the Super Bowl by 1 point, and the total points are 47.5. This should be an all-time game in two weeks.

p.s. Looking for some stats? Brock Purdy was 20 of 31 for 267 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He also ran for 48 yards. Christian McCaffrey ran for 90 yards and 2 TDs. Jared Goff completed 25 of 41 passes for 273 yards for the Lions and had 1 TD. David Montgomery was the leading rusher with 93 yards and 1 TD.

That’s a 5-minute breakdown, and we’re not taking more of your time today. We’ll be back tomorrow with something other than football. We promise!

Have a great start to your week.

-The Daily Breakroom