In this series of articles, I will highlight the NFL games of the Conference Championship Weekend. With only four teams left, the only goal was to make it to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Here are the highlights.
Chiefs vs Bills
The Chiefs hold off the Bills to make it to their third straight Super Bowl.
With Kansas City’s first possession, they drove down the field with a 31-yard gain to JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kareem Hunt took it the rest of the way for a touchdown. Their next drive ended when Patrick Mahomes fumbled the snap, and Ed Oliver recovered it for the Bills. After another long drive, Mahomes connected with Xavier Worthy who ran it in for a touchdown.
Following a 41-yard kick return, Worthy makes a contested catch in double coverage that went for 26 yards, putting them on the three-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes ran into the end zone to take a 21-16 lead going into halftime.
After two punts to start the second half, Mahomes found Smith-Schuster again for a big gain of 29 yards. Hunt took it to the 10-yard line and then Mahomes ran it in again himself for a 10-yard rushing touchdown. They also successfully got the two-point conversion to go up by seven points in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied, the Chiefs kicked a field goal to take the lead again. The defense was able to stop the Bills from getting into field goal range and Kansas City took over with just under two minutes left. After the first two downs, they were able to kneel out the clock and punch a ticket to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. They have the chance to make history and be the first team to win three Super Bowls in a row.
The Bills started slow with a three and out on their first possession. From there, they got into field goal range and Tyler Bass hit a 53-yarder to put points on the board. After recovering a fumble, Josh Allen fired a pass through the middle to Khalil Shakir to get into the red zone. James Cook took it into the end zone in the next play to take an early lead.
After the touchdown, they went three and out again on the next drive. With 43 seconds left in the half, a pass to Keon Coleman got the Bills into field goal range, but two plays after that, Allen threw an over the shoulder pass to Mack Hollins in the endzone for a 34-yard touchdown. Their two-point conversion attempt failed, so they were down by five at the half.
Out of the half, James Cook got the offense going with a 33-yard run, followed by Allen running for 13 yards. Dawson Knox got them to the two-yard line at reception and after two runs that only went for one yard, they were facing a fourth and goal down by five. Allen pitched it to Cook to the right side and he ran towards the end zone to try and break the plane. With one arm down, he reached the end zone for the score.
In a pivotal moment for the Bills, Allen was stopped short of the line to gain on fourth and one after a review of the play. They gave the ball back to the Chiefs while being up by only one point. Now down seven, Cook took over with a 9-yard run and a 23-yard run followed by another huge gain for Hollins to get within the five-yard line. Once again facing a 4th and goal needing points, Allen hit Curtis Samuel in the back of the endzone to tie the game.
With the ball back down three points, Buffalo needed at least a field goal to tie. With a fourth and five on deck, Allen threw up a last-ditch effort throw that slipped through the hands of Dalton Kincaid.
Eagles vs Commanders
The Eagles put up a dominant performance to beat the Commanders on the way to the Super Bowl.
On the very first offensive play of the game for Philly, Saquon Barkley took it to the house on a 60-yard run, giving the Eagles an early lead. Then on the next drive, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and A.J. Brown all contributed catches to get to the four-yard line. From there, Barkley got his second rushing touchdown of the first quarter.
A sack stalled Philadelphia’s next possession and Jake Elliott missed what would have been a 54-yard field goal. They picked back up on the ensuing drive with aggressive calling. On a fourth and five, Jalen Hurts connected with Brown for a 31-yard reception and the first down to continue the drive. Facing a third and 13, Smith drew a defensive pass interference call for a first and goal at the one-yard line. Hurts ran up the middle for the touchdown.
After a kick return fumble recovery, Philly was at the 24-yard line, in a position to score again before the half. Brown caught Hurts’ pass in the end zone to take a 12-point lead into the break.
Coming out of halftime, Hurts was sacked twice in a row and the Eagles had to punt. On the next possession, it only took the Eagles four plays to go 58 yards, including a Hurts nine-yard touchdown run. Another third down sack forced Philadelphia to punt again later in the quarter.
The Eagles recovered another fumble from the Commanders and following that, Barkley ran 22 yards to the one-yard line. Anticipating the “Tush Push,” Frankie Luvu jumped over the defensive and offensive line twice to try and stop Hurts from getting a touchdown. After those two encroachment penalties, they jumped one more time before the snap. Hurts eventually plowed into the endzone for a touchdown.
A desperate Commanders team had to go for it on fourth down and they didn’t get the first down, giving Philly a very good field position to start. It took them four plays to score with Barkley getting his third touchdown of the day. The Eagles were up by 25 points with five minutes left to play.
Following a Quinyon Mitchell interception in the end zone, Will Shipley had runs of 16 yards and 57 yards to get into the red zone and then punched it in from the two-yard line to score. The 55 points that the Eagles scored are the most in a Championship game in NFL history. Philadelphia will be taking on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl after the statement win.
Jalen Hurts celebrates the win holding the George Halas trophy. Photo Courtesy: philadelphiaeagles.com
The Commanders came out of the gate with a strong, time consuming 18 play drive. They converted on two third downs and two fourth downs in this possession, but once they got to the red zone, they elected to kick the field goal.
After only three plays of the next drive, Dyami Brown fumbled the ball, and the Eagles jumped on it. Following a three and out, Washington was going to punt, but Tress Way ended up throwing the ball instead and completing it to Ben Sinnott for the first down and more. They would later have to settle for a field goal.
Terry McLaurin added to the scoring with a 36-yard touchdown. The Commanders tried to tie the game with a two-point conversion, but they stopped short. Off a kick, Jeremy McNichols fumbled the ball and gave the ball to the Eagles in Washington territory.
With 39 seconds left, Jayden Daniels led the Commanders down the field into field goal range to get some points before halftime.
Following a punt, Daniels found Zach Ertz for 21 yards and later Daniels ran it in himself for the touchdown. After this touchdown, the Commanders did not score again. They ended the game with a fumble, two turnovers on downs, and an interception. They were not able to catch up with the Eagles with all the turnovers they had.
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