And then there were 2. The Chiefs and 49ers are headed to the Super Bowl. I’ll have lots of Super Bowl shenanigans all next week just like last year. But for now lets get to some reactions from this week’s games. 

1. The Chiefs D is legit:

The whole week all we heard about was how great the Ravens defense is. I knew the Chiefs would take that personally. Besides a couple of plays, they dominated the first half. Then in the second half they executed bend but don’t break coming up with massive plays when they mattered most. They have given up 32 total points in the second half of the last 8 games. The Ravens have been rolling everyone and they just held them to 10 points. After several years of the defense being the liability they are now the strength of the team. 

2. McCaffrey should be the MVP:

Look Lamar has had a fine season. But it feels like we are basically rewarding him for no longer sucking at passing. He’s a quarterback, he is supposed to be good at throwing. I know the MVP is a regular season award but on the biggest stage he fell flat again. McCaffrey on the other hand is the most important player on the best team in the NFC. He’s been dominant throughout the year and has a touchdown in like 147 straight games or something. He is the only non QB who can impact a game at a QB level. He was phenomenal in the championship game and all year long.

3. Best running team in the league decides not to run the ball:

Look, Lamar didn’t play great. But what were the Ravens thinking? The ran the ball 16 times the whole game. They handed the ball off 6 times to their running backs. It was like the whole point of the game was to show that Lamar is a good passer. Spoiler alert, he’s not that good. I am baffled by their play calling. Especially since if there is a weakness to the Chiefs D it is defending the run. Their Offensive Coordinator might need a new job after this one.

4. Dan Campbell loses for being Dan Campbell:

I understand the argument of do what got you here. The Ravens should have followed that advice. The problem is that sometimes who got you here is not who you should be in certain moments. The Lions have built their team on taking risks. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. I get it. Here is the problem. Sometimes you have to make a conservative call. There were two calls that I really questioned. The first was going for it on 4th and 3 down 27-24. You have given up 20 unanswered points. You can tie the game and finally get something positive to happen for the first time all half. But instead you don’t get it and then the 49ers go down and score and you are down 10. The even worse call was on 3rd and goal with around a minute left you decide to run the ball. They didn’t get it and then you have to waist a timeout. This all but ends the game because you don’t have 3 timeouts to stop the clock and force the 49ers to at least get a first down. Just a terrible decision. They would have probably lost anyway but they would have at least had a shot. 

5. Patrick Mahomes is real good at football but playoff Pat is unreal:

He is 14-3 as a starter. He has gone to 6 straight AFC championship games. He hasn’t lost a non super bowl playoff game in regulation. He is now undefeated on the road. He has won 4 AFC Championship games and headed to his 4th super bowl. He is at his best in the biggest moments. He does whatever is needed to help his team win. He’s not perfect. I’m not saying he is the goat. I am saying he is by far the best player in the league and he is even better when it matters most. And somehow he ended up on my team. 

6. Lions are still losers:

Some teams are winners and some teams are losers. It happens every week in the NFL. But franchises are either winners or losers as well. It is hard to break through to the other side. The Lions are obviously not there yet. This is not a knock on the Lions. The Chiefs were in the same boat. In the 80s the team was a disaster. In the 90s the team was good but could never get over the hump. The 2000’s were filled with ups and downs. Then Andy Reid showed up. Then Patrick Mahomes showed up and everything changed. The same was true for the Patriots and Seahawks and other organizations that were bad for a long time. The Lions hadn’t won a playoff game since 1991. They haven’t won a championship since 1957. This was a nice season but they are not over the hump. A nice next step would be to make the playoffs again next year. But until they can win consistently or win something significant they are still losers. Lovable losers but losers none the less.

7. Road Warriors:

I think perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to the AFC was the Chiefs not getting the 1 seed. These guys over the past year have played so many extra games. In fact, over the past 6 years they have played a whole other season (17 games). It is tiring to play 3 or 4 extra games year in and year out. Homefield advantage is great but I think the Chiefs needed something new to ignite the team. They enjoyed being the villains, being booed, playing in a hostile environment. They embraced it all and bullied their way to another championship. They overcame the odds in Vegas, the Mahomes has never won on the road, they have never played in hostile enviroments like Buffalo and Baltimore, etc. etc.  They heard all the noise and rallied around it. I am honestly not sure they make it to the Super Bowl if they play those games at home.

8. Purdy was Purdy good:

I wouldn’t say I have been hard on Brock, but I have said and still say he is limited. He’s a good quarterback and with this team, you can win a lot of games when you are limited. He has a lot of weapons he can get the ball to. He’s also a smart kid and does a nice job managing the offense. What impressed me on Sunday was how he used his legs. He ran when he needed to and showed a lot of heart. He also showed a lot of composure handling a 17 point deficit coming out of the half. And for all the accolades we pour on Pat, we must remember that Brock is now 4-1 as a playoff starter and his one loss he barely played in the game. Now the question is can he win the game on the biggest stage.

9. The league is not rigged:

I saw the leaked script but it was incorrect. I also saw blame on the refs for the Ravens loss which is ridiculous. People are comparing what Kelce did after the TD to what Zay Flowers did to get a penalty. Travis stood up and looked in the defender’s direction and then turned away to spike the ball. He then sort of looked back at the defender but wasn’t all that close to him. Zay Flowers got up and pushed Sneed as he did so, stood directly over him and spun the ball by his head. Not the same thing. Travis also was an instigator all game. But it is always the second guy who gets caught. This is common knowledge. Also, they didn’t actually throw a flag on the second or even third guy. Van Noy hit Kelce’s helmet with his own. This will be a flag 100% of the time. All the other penalties on the Ravens were legitimate as well. What really happened was the Ravens tried to be the bully but the Chiefs didn’t care and so it didn’t work. In fact, quite early on the Chiefs used it against them by instigating and getting them pissed off and then they made bad decisions. Also, the league didn’t rig it to get Taylor Swift to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs beat the Ravens in every phase of football. That is all that happened. Being the regular season champ doesn’t mean you are the best team when it matters. The Ravens have proven this twice in the Lamar era.

10. Biden vs Trump Bowl:

If most of the population could have ranked their preferred super bowl match ups this one probably would have finished last. This will be the 49ers 8th trip and we all know that the world hates the Chiefs outside of Chiefs Kingdom. And on top of all that it is a match up that we just saw a few years ago. I am not here to muddy the waters or talk politics but I think we can all agree that most of the population is not exactly stoked for the Biden vs Trump rematch. Sure there are some people who really love Trump just like people really love the Chiefs. And then there are people who really hate Trump just like people really hate the Chiefs. Those people will be voting for Biden and cheering for the 49ers. But no one outside of Trump supporters and Trump haters is going to be real excited about the inevitable election of 2024. The same is sort of true of the Super Bowl this year. Luckily for me, I get to play the role of overly enthusiastic supporter for the big game.  But don’t worry my face won’t be painted, I won’t be wearing a big horn hat and I won’t be anywhere near the capital. I will be wearing my lucky Chiefs gear, drinking beer out of my Chiefs cup and running around my house handing out high fives anytime the Chiefs do something good. So when you are mad when the Chiefs are winning, just picture me being ridiculous and you will feel a little bit better about the villain winning. 

Next week there will be a Super Bowl Themed post each week day. So get ready for a Super Fifth-Down Week in preparation for the Super Bowl. And in the mean time, check out my pro bowl predictions later this week.