Championship Sunday Recap!

The Chiefs and 49ers both punched their tickets to Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Both home teams won, in convincing fashion, and we have a very solid matchup with plenty of storylines to dive into. Before we get there, here is my recap of Championship Sunday.

AFC Championship Game
Kansas City-35 Tennessee-24

1) The way that the Titans played in the first half, you really had a feeling they could pull off the upset. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead and then a 17-7 lead in the first half. They were moving the ball, executing the gameplan, and keep Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs in check. After they went up 17-7, I can't really understand how it all got away from them.

2) The key sequence in this game was the latter part of the second quarter. Down 17-7 with only 6:39 left in the half, the Chiefs scored in 5 plays when Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for a TD, and then after a 3 and out by Tennessee, the Chiefs got the ball back and went right down the field again and capped off the drive with a TD run by Mahomes to take a 21-17 lead heading into halftime. That was the difference in the game.

3) Mahomes had a great 27 yard run to score the touchdown and it will go down as the memorable moment of the game, but the Titans did an absolutely awful job trying to tackle him. That was just so bad.

4) The final nail in the coffin was when Mahomes bought himself time, and threw a bomb to Sammy Watkins for a 60 yard touchdown to make it 35-17 with 7:33 left in the game. Mahomes has been doing that since he got into the league and it was the dagger that basically put the Titans away and clinched the AFC Championship for the Chiefs.

5) The Titans were valiant for most of the three quarters, but they just couldn't put together enough scoring drives in the second half to back the Chiefs in a corner. Give Tennessee credit for making a run as the #6 seed and going on the road to beat New England and Baltimore, but they just didn't have enough to take down the Chiefs in Arrowhead.

6) As a Broncos fan, there was always joy when the Chiefs lost or choked away a big playoff game. They haven't been to a Super Bowl since Super Bowl IV, and they have been the Broncos biggest rival in my lifetime. It seemed like they were a cursed franchise for a long time, but the last two years have changed that-specifically the rise of Pat Mahomes. As much as it pains me, the Chiefs are going to their first Super Bowl in 50 years. They have had a lot of heartbreak and disappointment during that time period, but they were able to erase those painful moments and get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl. The scary part from my perspective is that the Broncos have to deal with Pat Mahomes in the division every year, and that is going to be very difficult to deal with. The Chiefs and Mahomes are heading to first of what could be many Super Bowls.

NFC Championship Game
San Francisco-37 Green Bay-20

1) I thought that this game was going to be close, but boy was I wrong. This was complete domination by the 49ers. They dominated the game on both fronts as they raced to a 27-0 halftime lead. It was a butt-kicking.

2) Raheem Mostert rushed for 220 yards on 29 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. He was the story of the game. The run game was so dominant that Jimmy Garoppolo only threw 8 passes the entire game. His 36 yard run with 5:55 left in the first quarter was a on a 3rd and 8 play. That set the tone for the game and the performance by the 49ers rushing attack.

3) I thought the Packers looked terrible. They looked unprepared on both sides of the ball. The key mistakes by Aaron Rodgers were really just killer plays in the game. Down 17-0 but driving in the second quarter, Rodgers fumbled the QB-Center exchange and SF recovered. They got a field goal to make it 20-0. Then, right before the half, Rodgers threw a bad pick and SF scored a 18 yard TD run by Mostert to make it 27-0. That was the game right there.

4) The Packers have a nice season, but you have to wonder about them with the way they got buried and blown out in this game. They got killed three years ago in the NFC Championship Game at Atlanta, and now they got killed again. It will be interesting to see when or if Aaron Rodgers can get back to a Super Bowl.

5) The 49ers went wire-to-wire as the best team in the NFC and they proved it on Sunday with a dominant win in the NFC Championship and advancing to their 7th Super Bowl appearance and their first since the 2012 season. Give credit to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan for rebuilding this team and in three years getting this franchise back to the Super Bowl.