Sunday, January 19, 2020

2019 NFL SEASON: CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY






AFC CHAMPIONSHIP, 1PM CBS
TITANS AT TEXANS CHIEFS

The Texans jumped out to a 24-0 first quarter lead which shocked the Chiefs and their fans. Kansas City was unable to recover from this deficit and for the first time in Houston sports history, they will host a conference championship game.

Wow… I’ve seen collapses in the playoffs, but this…

Kansas City became the first team in the playoffs to trail by at least 20 and win by at least 20. They became the fifth team to trail by at least 20 points in the playoffs and comeback to win the game. The other instances: Patriots in Super Bowl LI, Colts trailing the Chiefs in the 2013 playoffs, the 49ers rallying from down 38-14 in the 2002 Wild Card against the Giants, and 35-3 in 1992.

Patrick Mahomes became the first quarterback to throw for at least four touchdowns in a single quarter since Doug Williams in Washington’s beatdown of the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

The Texans should have denied Bill O’Brien entry on the team plane back to Houston. They had a 24-0 lead… with the Chiefs all but dead and effectively a spot in the AFC Championship Game… against a franchise that has been snake bitten since their last Super Bowl appearance 50 years ago… against Andy Reid that has regular season success but has self-destructed in the playoffs in every possible way imaginable… IN KANSAS CITY… and instead the Texans turned into a slow moving car pileup on the interstate highway of your choice.

Yeah, the Texans entire coaching staff should have been shot into the sun and no one within the limits of Harris County, TX mentioning shall mention it again… under penalty of torture.

Meanwhile, Derrick Henry’s path of destruction plowed through the Ravens in Baltimore. Henry once again rushed for over 100 yards. When Henry has rushed for over 100 yards this season, they have won their games. Perhaps the Titans are better than their 9-7 record.

This is a rematch of their Week 10 matchup in Nashville. This was Patrick Mahomes first game back after a knee injury and it showed. Despite this, Kansas City had two opportunities for a late field goal. The first ended with a botched snap that gave the Titans excellent field position that was led by Ryan Tannehill engineering a touchdown drive that gave his team a 35-32 lead with 29 second remaining. Mahomes put the Chiefs in position for their second field goal of the game’s final 90 seconds and a chance to go to overtime. The field goal was blocked and Tennessee went to .500. For the Chiefs, it was their last lost. Their winning streak – combined with the Dolphins beating the Patriots in Week 17 – gave the Chiefs the necessary bye week and the opportunity to host at least one home playoff game.

Fate has smiled on the Chiefs once again due to the Titans beating the AFC 1-seed Ravens. Instead of traveling to Baltimore for the AFC Championship Game, today’s game will be in Kansas City.

Sometimes in the playoffs if things go right, it can lead to larger success. Kansas City has benefited from the fall of the Patriots in the final week of the season and the Ravens losing last week to the Titans.

And it will lead to the Chiefs first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years.


CHIEFS 35, TITANS 20



NFC CHAMPIONSHIP, 4:30PM FOX
PACKERS AT 49ERS

Even though both teams won their respective games, they are almost incomplete performances.

The 49ers led 14-10 at the half but their defense and running game turned it on in the second half. Tevin Coleman rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns while the defense led by Nick Bosa recording two of the team’s six sacks and Richard Sherman picking off one Kirk Cousins pass.

I don’t think he liked that.

The one thing I would be concerned about if I was a 49ers fan was Jimmy Garoppolo’s performance of 131 passing yards with 1 touchdown vs. 1 interception.

In Green Bay, two Aaron Jones rushing touchdowns and two Davante Adams receiving touchdowns put the Packers up 28-10 in the third quarter. Seattle’s comeback obviously fell short but Packers fan had to be breathing heavy towards the end.

This is a pretty unique opportunity for Aaron Rodgers. In the 2005 NFL draft, the 49ers had the first overall pick and used it to draft Utah’s Alex Smith. While Smith had a late career revival with the 49ers under Jim Harbaugh and then later in Kansas City under Andy Reid, he was labeled as a bust but mainly it was due to the coaches he played for in the early days in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers who led Cal to a 10-2 record and a bowl appearance in 2004 fell to the 24th overall pick in Green Bay. He was groomed to be the heir apparent to Packers quarterback Brett Favre. When Favre retried the first time after the 2007 season, Rodgers was elevated to the starting position. In 2010, Rodgers returned the Lombardi Trophy to Green Bay. Since their last Super Bowl appearance, Green Bay has seen their fair share of playoff shortcomings such as two losses in the NFC Championship – one being blowing a 19-7 lead in Seattle late in the fourth quarter and the other getting blown out by the team that would blow a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl.

The Packers aren’t relying on Rodgers bailing them out as much as in previous seasons, and it has resulted in an NFC Championship Game appearance. However, they live very dangerously in their games. Green Bay did let up a bit in their win over the Seahawks to allow them back in the game while the 49ers came out in the second half to bury the Vikings.

Like the AFC Championship, this is a rematch of a regular season game, but it was not as entertaining as the previous Titans-Chiefs matchup. San Francisco sacked Rodgers 5 times and held him to his lowest passing yards (104) this season. It was pretty much over at halftime with the 49ers leading 23-0 and finishing with a 37-8 victory.

I think the Packers will put up a better performance than the one in Week 12 but the 49ers run game and defensive line will power them to their first Super Bowl appearance in seven years


49ERS 27, PACKERS 17

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