Well, here we are, just one game to go. Super Bowl 57 will be contested between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s the Andy Reid Bowl, the Kelce Bowl, whatever you want to call it. There’s enough intrigue between the two teams and their star power even without the need for narratives. But before looking forward, we have to look back and diagnose the AFC and NFC Championship Games. Let’s get to it.
The Bengals backup offensive line looks just like that
The dilemma surrounding the Bengals offensive line still exists unfortunately. Certainly not to the extent of the 2021 season, where Joe Burrow was thrown to the wolves every week and sacked a league-high 51 times. But one of the main storylines of the AFC Championship Game was the performance of the offensive line and how it could hold up against the likes of Chris Jones – one of the finalists for the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
The Bengals were missing Jonah Williams, La’el Collins, and Alex Cappa after the Divisional Round win against the Bills, with Jackson Carman, Max Scharping, and Hakeem Adeniji getting the start.
Both Adeniji and Carman struggled last season and were a part of the porous unit that gave up the most sacks in the NFL – though Carman started only six games. To say there were doubts that they could hold up against the Bills defense was a gross understatement, but to their credit, the offensive line was excellent. It looked like a unit that could play together consistently. Not one that featured just two starters in Cordell Volson and Ted Karras with the rest being held together with duct tape. Carrying that performance into the AFC title game would be key if the Bengals wanted to make it to back-to-back Super Bowls.
It wasn’t to be. As the game went on, it became clear that this was mostly a backup offensive line for the Bengals. They were bullied all day. After being sacked just once for 2 yards against the Bills, Burrow was sacked 5 times by the Chiefs with the offensive line allowing 23 total pressures, per PFF. That wasn’t the difference in the game, but it definitely contributed to a not-so-typical Bengals performance on offense.
Even a limited Patrick Mahomes is near-unstoppable
The legend of Patrick Mahomes continues to grow. In his first five seasons as a starter in the NFL, he’s made it to five Conference Championship games and three Super Bowls. There just aren’t many players who have had such a winning start to their career, and there certainly aren’t many as talented as Mahomes. It sounds like pandering, but the proof is in the pudding: Mahomes is already on track to be one of the greatest of all-time.
His performance against the Bengals is another example of his legacy building. Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain against the Jaguars and gutted it out in the Divisional Round. He was never not going to play in the Conference Championship, but there were questions about how limited the injury would make him. He could barely step into throws against the Jaguars and his mobility was clearly neutralized – something the Bengals could look to take advantage of. Mahomes is at his best when he’s off script, so keeping him in the pocket would favour the defense.
Except it didn’t. Mahomes still completed 29-of-43 pass attempts for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns passes. The offensive line did well to protect Mahomes and give him time to work in the pocket, and he worked his magic. That magic included an absolute dart to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a touchdown.
There was a lull in offense prior to that touchdown, but the Chiefs found a way through in the second half. This team is obviously more than Mahomes, but it’s hard not to get stuck on his ability. Now, he has a full two weeks to recover in time for his third Super Bowl appearance in five seasons.
The Eagles are the most complete team in the NFL
The NFC Championship game was a total disappointment with the Eagles strolling to a 31-7 victory, and we’ll talk more in-depth about why that game got so out of hand in the next section. But it would be a wasteful moment not to give credit to the Philadelphia Eagles – regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl.
Howie Roseman and the front office have carefully built the strongest roster in the NFL by way of every resource possible. There have been misses in the draft (i.e. Jalen Reagor and JJ Arcega-Whiteside) but, generally, they draft well. The 2018 draft class produced four Pro Bowlers in five selections.
Trading for players like A.J. Brown and signing Haason Reddick in free agency certainly raises the ceiling of the team as well. The totality of it all, as well as having a great quarterback on a rookie contract, is that this team has the chops to be competitive for a long time.
And, to think, just two years ago this team finished 4-11-1. Hiring Nick Sirianni and giving him the keys to the franchise was a great decision too. He’s helped turn the ship around in no time at all.
Sure, the Eagles haven’t had the hardest ride in the postseason, but they also beat the number one defense in the NFL last week and continue to go from strength to strength. There’s no team that’s more complete from top to bottom in the NFL. That’s why they’re in the Super Bowl – not because of an easy ride.
Too much adversity finally catches up to the 49ers
What a rollercoaster of a season for the 49ers. It started with the presumed face of the franchise, Trey Lance, suffering a broken ankle early in the season and being replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo – once thought to be on his way out in the offseason.
Garoppolo played well up until his injury in Week 13 against the Dolphins. He was replaced by Brock Purdy, who continued the 49ers win streak and was 8-0 as a starter up until the NFC Championship Game. At this point, the fact the 49ers were still winning with their third-string quarterback under centre was mighty impressive. The fact he was a seventh-round rookie was even more impressive still.
But there’s only so much adversity one team can take, especially at the quarterback position. Purdy was sacked on his fifth pass attempt of the game against the Eagles, with Reddick hitting his arm and knocking the ball out. Purdy was clearly in discomfort and was knocked out the game, with Josh Johnson – the fourth quarterback on the depth chart – stepping into the huddle. Johnson helped lead the 49ers on a touchdown drive to tie the game, but even he was soon knocked from the game after a hard hit.
Losing Purdy and Johnson put the 49ers in a bind. Christian McCaffrey was the next man up as the emergency quarterback – but that entire offense would just likely be the Wildcat. There wasn’t much room to work. At the same time, the Eagles started to exert their authority on the game and without a real functional offense, the 49ers couldn’t keep up.
Purdy eventually came back in, but couldn’t throw the ball at all, and was later found to have torn his UCL and is going to be out for some time. The fact the 49ers ever got this far is a true testament to the team, but we were sadly robbed of a game between the two best teams in the NFC.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.