The race for the Vince Lombardi trophy reached its home stretch on Sunday with the Conference Championship games. In the NFC, the Washington Commanders were hoping to keep their Cinderella playoff run alive after upsetting the 1st seed Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round. To do so they would have to get past their NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, who themselves were looking to return to the Super Bowl to avenge their loss two years previous. Meanwhile Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills were travelling to Arrowhead Stadium hoping to finally slay their white whale and overcome the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, after falling to Mahomes and co in the postseason 3 times in the last 5 years. Kansas City for their part, were chasing a historic 3rd consecutive Super Bowl win.
Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles emerged triumphant over the Washington Commanders in the first of Sunday’s two games. An emphatic 56-23 victory for Nick Sirianni’s Eagles team has sent them on the road to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. It was a case of “start as you mean to go on” for Philly; running back Saquon Barkley, coming off an astonishing season rushing for 2,000 yards, ran 60 yards down the field on the Eagles’ first offensive play of the game to open the scoring. He added another 2 touchdowns while posting 118 rushing yards. Beside him in the backfield, quarterback Jalen Hurts also put in a dominant performance, throwing one touchdown pass and adding 3 more rushing touchdowns (scored by running into the endzone instead of by passing the ball) as Philadelphia dismantled Washington’s defence
The deficit in playoff experience between the two teams was evident as repeated errors by the Commanders cost them throughout the game. They lost the ball 3 times as a result of fumbles, including one incident where they gave the ball back to Philadelphia immediately after the kick off that followed an Eagles touchdown, allowing them to score a second in quick succession. On top of fumbles, defensive penalties were a consistent issue for Washington, players frequently being penalised for infractions such as holding (grabbing a player to restrain him instead of pushing him), pass interference (restraining a receiver from fairly catching a pass) and most frequently offsides (crossing the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped). This allowed an already dominant Eagles offense to advance the ball with ease.
Despite the loss it was an impressive outing for Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. Throwing for 255 yards and a touchdown, on the back of an excellent rookie season where he repeatedly demonstrated composure and skill beyond his years to win numerous close games for Washington, marking him as the only reason to be optimistic about the future coming out of America’s capital.
Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs
Basketball superstar Joel Embiid famously said “It’s not a rivalry, they always kick our ass’ when asked about the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and his Philadelphia 76ers. It’s easy to believe that this sentiment is shared by the Buffalo Bills in regards to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020s.
This is the 4th playoff meeting between these two sides in the last 6 years and in all 3 of the previous meetings, it was the Chiefs who emerged victorious. NFL teams typically only get a narrow window to compete and win championships so this 4th loss came with a particularly high level of heartache for Bills fans.
It was a blockbuster matchup at the quarterback position. Patrick Mahomes, the 3 time Super Bowl champion and de facto face of the league, was looking to outperform Josh Allen, the leading candidate for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Allen came into the game fresh off dispatching his rival in the MVP race, Lamar Jackson, and the Baltimore Ravens in the previous week’s playoff games in an epic shootout that went right down to the wire.
It was ultimately Mahomes who emerged victorious. He threw for 245 yards and a touchdown. He also notably added two more rushing touchdowns, showcasing his oft under-appreciated athleticism. Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt were also major contributors, Hunt adding a touchdown of his own. Despite the loss, Allen kept things competitive throwing for 237 yards himself, adding 2 touchdowns of his own. James Cook added two more rushing touchdowns for Buffalo
A defining moment of the game came in the 4th quarter, with the Bills leading, a pivotal fourth-and-1 play saw quarterback Josh Allen attempt a sneak-play to advance the ball by the necessary 1 yard and keep possession. It was controversially ruled short, resulting in a turnover to the Chiefs which allowed them to score and take a 7 point lead. Despite the call, replays suggested Allen had gained the necessary yardage, the call was upheld upon review, leading to widespread criticism. Bills head coach Sean McDermott expressed his disagreement, stating, “I thought he had it… It looked like he got to it.” This decision has been heavily scrutinised by fans and analysts alike.
The incident comes amid numerous accusations of refs favouring the Chiefs. Demeco Ryan, coach of the Houston Texans who were defeated by Kansas the week previously, remarked after the game “We knew going into this game that it was us versus everybody… And I mean everybody.” While Texans player Will Anderson jr was more blunt, saying “We knew it was going to be us versus the refs going into this game”.
Ultimately, the call wasn’t the only deciding factor in the game. Both teams exchanged late scores, culminating in Allen having the ball on 4th down in his own half. Buffalo were trailing by 3 and needed a big play to get into field goal range. However, great play by Kansas City’s pass rushers forced Allen to throw a desperate pass under pressure that fell incomplete, returning the ball to Kansas and letting them see out a 32-29 win.
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