THE GOAL POST:
Four teams now remain in the NFL playoffs: the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and surprising Washington Commanders. Two teams will make it to Super Bowl 59, and the other two will be heading home for a long, disappointing offseason. Here are my predictions for the AFC and NFC Conference Championship games:
Buffalo Bills v. Kansas City Chiefs: The Bills will be traveling to Kansas City once again to face the Chiefs in the AFC Conference Championship game. The Bills defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 in Buffalo this past weekend, sealing the victory on a dropped two-point conversion by normally sure-handed tight end Mark Andrews. Conversely, the Chiefs escaped with a home win over the Houston Texans, defeating the Texans and their young star quarterback CJ Stroud 23-14. The Texans dominated most of the game, but 8 sacks by the Kansas City Chiefs and some questionable penalty calls led to the Chiefs’ victory. I think it’s time for the Bills to finally meet expectations and reach the Super Bowl this season. The Bills’ superstar quarterback Josh Allen is on fire as of late and should pick the Chiefs’ defense apart with his arm and rushing ability. Arrowhead Stadium is a difficult place for road teams to win football games, and I expect Patrick Mahomes to keep pace with the Bills for most of the game – but the Bills do not have any injury problems whatsoever at this point in the season, and are churning on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. I expect this game to be close, with Josh Allen scoring a late touchdown to finally defeat the Chiefs in a “35 – 28” type result and booking their plane ticket to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59.
Washington Commanders v. Philadelphia Eagles
The Commanders will be heading to Lincoln Financial Field to face the Eagles in the NFC Conference Championship game. The Commanders blew out the #1 seed Detriot Lions, getting the upset victory and defeating them 45-31. The Commanders’ star rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, continued his unbelievable play this season and has now upset the #3 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the #1 seed Detroit Lions. Now, the Commanders are looking to defeat the #2 seed Philadelphia Eagles to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl. The Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams in an extremely close game, winning 28-22 to move on to the Conference Championship game. Eagles’ runningback Saquon Barkley essentially continued doing whatever he wanted against opposing defenses, torching the Rams for 205 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. The Commanders’ only weakness may be their defense which can allow big passing plays and struggles to sometimes contain opposing running backs. It’s also possible that rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels may finally be overcome by the pressure and moment of this important game – although so far this season he has proved all of his critics wrong! Meanwhile, the Eagles are playing the best they have all season, with their defense also stepping up to sack Matthew Stafford of the Rams 5 times this past weekend. I’m assuming that the Eagles’ offensive line will provide better protection for quarterback Jalen Hurts against the Commanders’ defensive front (they gave up 7 sacks last week to the Rams!). The team split their regular season contests this season (with the Eagles defeating the Commanders 26-18 in week 10, and the Commanders defeating the Eagles 36-33), so this is likely going to be a competitive game. Will Jayden Daniels lead the Commanders to the promised land and defeat the powerhouse Eagles? I don’t think so. I have the Eagles winning this game at home by at least a field goal, with the Commanders making a late charge but coming up short (with the game likely ending up in the range of “35-30” in favor of the Eagles).
Enjoy the games this weekend!
