NFL Championship Weekend Recap
The Conference Championship round of the NFL postseason has concluded.
Superbowl LVII is now set with the Kansas City Chiefs representing the AFC and the Philadelphia eagles representing the NFC.
How did these teams fare in their respective title games?
Kansas City Chiefs def. Cincinnati Bengals 23-20
The Cincinnati Bengals travelled to Arrowhead in hopes to repeat last years’ AFC title game.
Kansas City had revenge on its mind, led by a defensive performance stunning Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Chiefs’ Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo continues to shine as a game planner with a new unique set of formations unveiled during the AFC Championship.
Instead of keeping star nose tackle Chris Jones on the 0-technique (lined head up on the center) where he had been mostly all season, Spagnola instead had his two tackles lined up in the 1-technique lined up on each shoulder of the center.
The reason this strategy is so genius is because it is a very uncommon look for the traditional 4-3 defense. The traditional 4-3 defense usually has the nose lined up on the 0 or the 1, depending on where the strong side of the field is and the other tackle would be on the 3 (or lined up on the side of one of the guards).
Having two big boys rush up the center of the pocket flushed Joe Burrow outside where the defensive ends would be waiting to sack him.
Another key component of why this strategy was utilized is the Bengals were down three starting offensive lineman. Three unprepared starters had to play in a game against a Bengals look they have barely even seen before on film.
Long story short, Burrow threw two picks, Chris Jones had two sacks and the rest of the Chiefs pass rush posted an additional three sacks.
What made this entire game even more magical is Patrick Mahomes was playing with a high-ankle sprain.
The Chiefs lost corner L’Jarius Sneed to a concussion, and wide receiver Kadarius Toney was ruled out during the first half with an ankle injury. Kansas City also lost linebacker Willie Gay Jr. with a shoulder injury and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a knee injury in the second half.
Even with Burrow’s mishaps, the game wasn’t settled until a controversial late hit by Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai set the Chiefs up into field goal range to make the game winning kick.
Some fans will try to take away from Kansas City’s win by blaming the refs, but this was an example of championship football at its finest.
A defensive performance carry’s the banged-up chiefs to a Super Bowl.
Philadelphia Eagles def. San Francisco 49ers 31-7
If you want to complain about a robbery, here it is. This football game was victim to the unfortunate curse of the injury bug.
Is Philly a good enough team to win this game regardless? Yes.
Could San Francisco have given the Eagles a run for their money if given the chance? Yes.
Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a complete UCL tear during the NFC Championship. Possibly the worst news the 49ers could have heard already down their first and second-string quarterbacks.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, fourth string quarterback Josh Johnson, who replaced Purdy, suffered an injury shortly after during the game.
San Francisco’s quarterback rotation threw a total of 18 passes, 11 which were complete. This rotation included Purdy going 4-for-4 before getting hurt, veteran Josh Johnson throwing 7-for-13 before getting hurt and even a pass by emergency quarterback Christian McCaffrey.
Without a signal caller, San Francisco tried to rely on the back of their run game. McCaffrey totaled 15 carries for 84 rushing yards and a touchdown. Running 5.6 a clip isn’t too bad when the opposing team knows it’s coming.
Philadelphia shut down Deebo Samuel as his rushing stats were six carries for -9 yards. On the receiving end, he only caught three passes for 33 yards.
There’s not much else to say for Philadelphia, as it’s hard to critique a team that didn’t even face an opposing quarterback.
The Eagles’ rushing attack was firing on all cylinders, scoring four total touchdowns. Two came from running back Miles Sanders, the others from running back Boston Scott and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
The only concern for Philadelphia is their passing scheme, as Hurts did not look comfortable throwing the football.
Jalen Hurts is going to need these next two weeks of rest to heal his banged up shoulder.
Super Bowl LVII Preview
Both teams’ starting quarterbacks aren’t 100%, which makes this year’s Super Bowl very interesting. No one knows how each quarterback will look after two weeks off.
The Eagles have the better all-around roster and a young budding star at quarterback.
Kansas City has Mahomes and Andy Reid which makes nothing impossible.
Football fans should be looking forward to this epic Super Bowl matchup.
Antonio Fondacaro is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email adf5400@psu.edu
