2021 NFL Championship Round Recap
Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes: Image by Getty Images via BroBible
Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs
In Patrick Mahomes’ fourth year as a starter, he has the Kansas City Chiefs looking like perennial Super Bowl contenders. In each of his four seasons, the Chiefs have won 12+ games in the regular season and won the AFC West title each year. In 2018, Patrick Mahomes won NFL MVP and the Chiefs were one Dee Ford offsides penalty away from facing the Rams in the Super Bowl. In 2019, the Chiefs closed out the season with nine straight wins to win the team’s first Lombardi Trophy since 1969. They reached the Super Bowl again in 2020, but the Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers stomped on their hopes of winning back-to-back championships. After Mahomes was under serious pressure from the Bucs all game, Chiefs GM Brett Veach made the decision to overhaul the team’s O-Line during the offseason. Veach brought in veteran guard Joe Thuney, as well as two-time pro-bowl tackle Orlando Brown Jr. In the 2021 NFL Draft, Kansas City selected Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey in the second round as well as Tennessee lineman Trey Smith in the sixth round. All four of these additions started at least 16 of the team’s regular season games. Andy Reid led this team to yet another AFC conference championship, as the team looked to beat the Bengals and reach their third straight Super Bowl.
While the Chiefs combined for 26 regular season wins in 2019 and 2020, the Bengals combined for 6 wins over the two-year span. After having the worst regular season record in 2019, Cincinnati selected Heisman Trophy and National Championship winning quarterback Joe Burrow with the first overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. In 2019, Burrow had set the college football record for passing touchdowns, total touchdowns, as well as passer rating in one season in college football history (all of which have now been surpassed). Burrow’s rookie season was a bit of a mess; after throwing 13 touchdowns and giving away 9 turnovers in the span of 10 games, Burrow tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee in a game against the Washington Football Team.
Burrow’s struggles can be partially attributed to his porous offensive line who allowed 32 sacks in his 10 starts. The defense wasn’t much better, as the Bengals were ranked 26th in yards allowed and 22nd in points allowed. Despite many fans hoping that the Bengals would draft Penei Sewell, star offensive tackle out of Oregon, Mike Brown and the Bengals front office decided to take Ja’Marr Chase. Chase was a LSU wide receiver and former college teammate of Joe Burrow. This pick couldn’t have turned out better. Despite drop concerns in training camp and preseason, Chase put up the best rookie campaign we have ever seen from a receiver. In 17 games, Chase caught 81 passes for 1455 yards and 13 touchdowns. In week 17, Chase caught 11 passes for 266 yards against the Chiefs in a 34-31 win. Cincinnati won the NFC North with a 10-7 record, although Burrow was sacked for 51 times over the course of the season. This trend continued in the playoffs, as Burrow was sacked 11 times in the teams’ first two games. However, the Bengals were still able to reach the AFC Championship after two game-winning kicks from rookie kicker Evan McPherson.
January 30th… Game 1
The AFC Championship matchup was set. The powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs were hosting the unlikely contenders from Cincinnati. Coming into the game, the Chiefs were 7-point favorites to win. In the first half, the Chiefs showed exactly why they were such heavy favorites. This is what happened on the Chiefs’ four first-half drives.
Drive 1: 11 Plays, 84 Yards, TD
Drive 2: 7 Plays, 75 Yards, TD
Drive 3: 8 Plays, 72 Yards, TD
Drive 4: 7 Plays, 80 Yards, END OF HALF
This fourth drive was crucial to how the rest of the game played out. With a 21-10 lead, the Chiefs had a 1st and Goal at the Cincinnati 1 yard-line with 9 seconds left and no timeouts. After an incompletion, Andy Reid draws up another pass play with 5 seconds left. Mahomes subsequently throws a screen pass to Tyreek Hill who was tackled in bounds. NO POINTS. Instead leading 28-10 at half or even 24-10, the score was still 21-10. When having first and goal at the 1 yard-line, teams have an expected-value of 6.97 points scored on the drive. The Chiefs were left with zero. The Chiefs offense were not the same after this. In their next four drives, the Chiefs punted the ball three times and were intercepted once by defensive lineman B.J Hill on a screen pass. Although the Bengals offense was not looking too super, they were able to tack on a field goal early in the third as well as a touchdown after Hill’s interception. The game was now tied 21-21 going into the fourth quarter. To end regulation, the Bengals put up a 6-minute, 11-play drive. The Chiefs answered with a 6-minute, 14-play drive. However, neither team were able to reach the endzone and their kickers kicked a 52-yard field goal and a 44-yard field goal respectively, sending this game to overtime.
Just the week before, the Chiefs went to overtime with the Buffalo Bills in what I thought was the greatest playoff game of all time. After getting the ball first, Mahomes took the Chiefs 75 yards downfield against the worn-out Bills defense for the game winning touchdown. After winning the coin toss again, fans across the world (including myself) fully expected the same thing to happen. The Chiefs would take the ball down the field and reach yet another Super Bowl. This didn’t happen. On a 3 and 10 at their own 25, Mahomes was intercepted by Vonn Bell on a deep pass to Tyreek Hill. After taking over at their own 45, Burrow completed a couple of timely passes to receiver Tee Higgins putting the team in field goal range. For the third straight playoff game, rookie kicker Evan McPherson kicked the game winning field goal. The underdogs are headed to the Super Bowl. Despite a slow game from rookie superstar Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals came out victorious. Even with the revamped O-Line, the Chiefs allowed 4 sacks in the second-half. Two of which came by Sam Hubbard late in the fourth quarter, when it looked like the Chiefs would score the winning touchdown. Instead, they were forced to kick the tying field goal to send the game into overtime.
Kicker #2 Evan McPherson: Photo by Charlie Riedel/AP via The Guardian
BENGALS 27, CHIEFS 24
San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams
The Rams had a very disappointing 2020 season. Even with a dominant defense who allowed the least amount of yards per game and the least amount of points per game, they ended with a 10-6 record (barely good enough for a wild card spot). After beating the Seahawks 30-20 in the Wild Card Round, Sean McVay’s team was outclassed by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers 32-18. The Rams had to make some changes on offense if they wanted to replicate their Super Bowl run from two years prior. Their first move: make a change at quarterback. In March 2021, the Rams gave up a 2021 3rd round pick, a 2022 1st round pack, as well as a 2023 1st round pick AND starting quarterback Jared Goff in exchange for Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. In Stafford’s 9 seasons with Detroit, he finished in the top 10 of passing yards in seven seasons, top 10 in passing touchdowns in five seasons, and top 10 in passer rating in five seasons. Stafford needed a change in scenery; After all the great seasons he gave Detroit, the team returned the favor with ZERO playoff wins. Of course, the Rams wanted to bring in some more weapons to help out their new QB. They signed Super Bowl winning running back Sony Michel as well as bringing in Odell Beckham Jr. from Cleveland midway through the season. Combining this offense with a defense full of the best players in the league i.e., Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Jalen Ramsey, helped the Rams to a 12-5 record and a division title. It also helps that WR Cooper Kupp went above and beyond, putting together the greatest season of all time by a receiver. After taking down Kyler Murray’s Cardinals and Tom Brady’s Buccaneers, the Rams were set to face division foe San Francisco in the NFC Championship.
Following their Super Bowl loss to Kansas City in 2019, the 49ers struggled to gain traction in 2020 as they were riddled with the injury bug. Here is a quick list of notable starters and how many games they actually played over the season
QB Jimmy Garoppolo: 6 Games
RB Raheem Mostert: 8 Games
WR Deebo Samuel: 5 Games
WR Brandon Aiyuk: 11 Games
TE George Kittle: 8 Games
DT Solomon Thomas: 2 Games
DE Dee Ford: 1 Game
DE Ezekiel Ansah: 2 Games
DE Nick Bosa: 2 Games
LB Kwon Alexander: 5 Games
S Jaquiski Tartt: 7 Games
Many of the team’s depth players hit injured reserve as well, leaving the 49ers to pick up your Average Joe on the sidewalk and start giving out contracts to just about anyone. One season after winning the Super Bowl, San Francisco ended with a record of 6-10. In the draft, the Niners traded up from pick 12 to pick 3, giving up two future first-round picks in the process. They picked QB Trey Lance. Coach Kyle Shanahan’s plan was to train him under Garoppolo for a year before making him the full-time starter. With much of the team’s stars back healthy, the Niners bounced back and went 10-7 this season. This was good enough for a wild card berth. After beating the Cowboys in the Wild Card Round, San Francisco shocked the Green Bay Packers with a 13-10 win in the middle of a blizzard. So here they are, in the midst of training a backup QB for the future, yet one game away from the Super Bowl.
January 30th… Game 2
In Week 18, the 49ers were faced with a win-and-in situation where all they needed to do to make the playoffs was beat the Rams. The Rams jumped out to an early 17-0 lead before the Niners stormed back for a 27-24 victory after a couple untimely interceptions from Matthew Stafford. This would be the sixth straight time that Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers beat Sean McVay and the Rams. On January 30th, the 49ers were looking to make it 7 straight. In this game, neither team was able to rush the ball well at all. San Francisco rushed the ball 20 times for 50 yards against Aaron Donald and the Rams D-Line, while Los Angeles ran the ball 29 times for 70 yards against Nick Bosa and the 49ers D-Line. Essentially, the game came down to which team throw the ball better than the other team. In the first half, it was pretty even. Matt Stafford completed 14 of 24 passes for 130 yards and touchdown (1 interception as well) while Jimmy Garoppolo completed 8 of 12 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown. The best play of the half came from Deebo Samuel of the 49ers, who took a screen pass 44 yards for a touchdown while making a few defenders miss in the process. The score at halftime was 10-7 in favor of the 49ers.
Late in the third quarter, the 49ers put together a solid touchdown drive after getting good field position from a Rams turnover on downs. After a 13-yard pass to Aiyuk, a 14 yard pass to Samuel, and an 11-yard pass to Jennings, Garoppolo hit tight end George Kittle from 16-yards out to make the score 17-7. The very next drive, Matt Stafford made the 49ers defense look silly. Stafford was 5/5 for 51 yards and a touchdown on the drive to cut the score to a field-goal deficit. The Rams defense clamped down in the fourth quarter, allowing only 28 yards on 12 San Francisco plays. Stafford took the Rams on two drives ending in field goals to make the score 20-17 Rams with 1:49 left. Could Jimmy Garoppolo take his team down the field and score a touchdown… ultimately sending them to their second Super Bowl in 3 years in likely his last season as a 49er? The answer is no. On the third play of the drive, Garoppolo tried to throw a miracle pass as he was being tackled by Aaron Donald. The pass landed in the hands of Rams CB Travis Howard, sending Los Angeles to the Super Bowl.
Rams WR Cooper Kupp: Image by Mark Terrill/AP via FoxNews
