NFL 2022/23 Season: Conference Finals on January 27
THE Divisional Round of the 2022/23 National Football League (NFL) season saw three of the four games mostly wrapped up before the closing minutes, which is a far cry from last season where all four games were decided by one-score and provided nail-biting finishes. There was only one real surprise, the Buffalo Bills lost at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, but all other results ran true to form.
The Kansas City Chiefs opened the weekend last Saturday against the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars and overcame some challenges to emerge 27-20 victors. The rested and more talented Chiefs had a 17-10 halftime lead and never appeared really challenged, despite star QB Patrick Mahomes hobbling along on an injured ankle. Mahomes missed most of the second quarter after his ankle was landed on by a Jacksonville defender, and Chad Henne came in to lead a 12-play, 98-yard touchdown drive to close the first half. Mahomes returned in the second half and, relying on guts and guile, led the Chiefs on a 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that booked a date in the American Football Conference (AFC) final.
Next up, last Saturday evening was the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants in their third match-up for the season, this time with no room for error. Philadelphia won both regular-season encounters and, with everything to play for, they humiliated the New Yorkers 38-7 in a virtual no-contest to ensure their place in the National Football Conference (NFC) final. It was the first time the Giants had ever lost three games to the same team in one season, but the Eagles are now just one game away from their first Super Bowl appearance since the 2017 season, when they bested the New England Patriots.
With half of the Conference Finals decided last Saturday, the winners would have watched the action the following Sunday to do some last-minute scouting on their opponents. First up was the visit of the Bengals to Buffalo for the first meeting of the teams since Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field a few weeks ago. Neither of these teams looked great the prior week as they both squeezed out wins over teams playing with backup quarterbacks. The Bengals’ offence was pedestrian against the Baltimore Ravens, accumulating just 234 total yards and they won thanks to Sam Hubbard’s miraculous 98-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter, while the Bills only just beat the Miami Dolphins 34-31 in what appeared to be a comedy of errors.
With a steady flurry of snow and all the emotion tilting in the Bills’ direction, the Bengals came out strong with an intention to dismantle Buffalo’s Super Bowl aspirations. A pair of Joe Burrow touchdown passes gave Cincinnati an early 14-0 lead, and the Bengals took a 17-7 lead into half-time, leading to a comfortable 27-10 play-off road win, and a repeat matchup of last season’s AFC Conference Final, where they defeated the Chiefs 27-24 in Arrowhead Stadium.
To close last weekend, the Dallas Cowboys visited the San Francisco 49ers in what turned out to be a defensive battle. Both defences came out swinging, but the offence of the 49ers, led by rookie QB Brock Purdy, was just a tad better than their opponents. The Dallas offence struggled all afternoon, but the defence did just enough to hang with San Francisco and that offered opportunities in the closing minutes. However, poor play calling, and bad clock management were the Cowboy’s downfall and the 49ers came out 19-12 winners to advance to the team’s second-consecutive NFC championship game on Sunday, thus extending Dallas’ conference title game drought to 27 years.
First up this Sunday is the NFC title game and the chance for the Eagles and 49ers to ensure their names are on this year’s Super Bowl tickets. The Eagles and 49ers don’t have much recent history together and they have faced off just twice over the last five seasons — the 49ers beat the Eagles in Philadelphia in September 2021, and the Eagles beat the 49ers in Santa Clara in October 2020. History aside, the focus in this game will be San Francisco’s stout defence against Philadelphia’s prolific rushing offence and the skill of Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate Jalen Hurts against 49ers rookie QB sensation Brock Purdy, who has gone from Mr Irrelevant to Mr Relevant.
Purdy improved to 7-0 last weekend as the starter, after taking over for an injured Jimmy Garropolo in mid-december. He will become the first rookie QB to start a conference title game in 13 years, and the fourth to do so since 2000 (joining Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Mark Sanchez). This is the best NFC matchup one could hope for this year and the only regret may be that this couldn’t have been the contest for the Super Bowl — brace for the impact.
In the AFC, the Bengals’ return to the AFC championship game provide the Chiefs with an opportunity to avenge last year’s overtime defeat. But after Mahomes sprained his ankle last weekend, the appetite for this matchup has been doused. This will be the fourth game between the Chiefs and Bengals over the last 13 months, Burrow and Cincinnati having won the previous three, even with Mahomes healthy. Obviously, for the Chiefs, the question will be what version of Mahomes will take the Arrowhead field, just eight days after he suffered a high ankle sprain, but for now, all reports indicate that the QB will be ready for Sunday. The jury is still out on this one, but it should be enjoyable (come what may).
Along with the Bengals — who were third in the AFC — three of the four best teams in the NFL are still in with a shot at the Lombardi Trophy, all playing on Sunday for a trip to the Super Bowl. There’s a gut feeling that Joe Cool (Joe Burrow) will not be denied this year, especially knowing his history with the Chiefs, plus Mahomes needs to be at his best to beat the Bengals, and that might not be physically possible this Sunday. The NFC Championship game may be the best of the three remaining games in the season as the 49ers last tasted defeat in October (seeking their 13th straight win) and the Eagles are out to avenge their last play-off meeting against these opponents, a 14-0 loss in 1996 (their only ever shut out in a post-season game).the Eagles are ranked No 2 in defence and No 3 in offence, and the 49ers are No 1 in defence and No 5 in offence — the only NFL teams ranked in the top 5 in both categories this year.
A date for Super Bowl LVII on February 12 is on the line – Are you ready for some football?
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