NFL Quick Takes: Conference Championships
The Super Bowl LVII matchup is set. Before looking ahead to Chiefs-Eagles, it's Quick Takes time.
It’ll be the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles heading to Arizona to compete in Super Bowl LVII. As cool as it would have been to see Joe Burrow and/or Brock Purdy advance, I think we got the best possible matchup.
Patrick Mahomes is made for the big stage. Already an MVP and Super Bowl-winning quarterback, he has aspirations to one day be mentioned in the same breath as the Tom Bradys and Joe Montanas of the world. That’s still a long way away, but the 27-year-old has the talent and time to catch up.
On the other side, no NFC team was more deserving than Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts was right there in the MVP conversation with Mahomes until his injury near the end of the regular season. The Eagles’ defense was a force to be reckoned with all year long and it asserted its dominance in both playoff games.
We’re in for a good one on Feb. 12. Here are some quick takes from Sunday’s action, plus a look ahead to the Super Bowl and a little extra.
Eagles would’ve beaten the 49ers regardless of QB situation
It didn’t matter whether Brock Purdy, Jimmy Garoppolo, Josh Johnson, Christian McCaffrey or Uncle Rico was at quarterback for the Niners. Philadelphia wins that NFC title game handily no matter who’s behind center.
I loved the Purdy underdog story as much as anyone. But the way the Eagles defense has played, I don’t see a scenario in which he keeps up with Hurts and the Philly offense. And it wasn’t just the QB situation that cost San Francisco. It was sloppy, undisciplined, football. The 49ers committed 11 penalties and fumbled three times. Three of those penalties came on the Eagles’ second TD drive.
Don’t use the injury excuse to discredit the Eagles. While Purdy may have made things more interesting, I don’t think his presence would have mattered. Philadelphia unquestionably is the best team in the NFC, and it proved it on Sunday.
Reminder: It’s still Patrick Mahomes, then everyone else
My initial reaction to Mahomes and the Chiefs advancing to the Super Bowl was *yawn*… “borrrrringggg”. But I’ve changed my tune. I don’t want to take this quarterback’s greatness for granted.
Mahomes suffered a brutal ankle sprain last week. We all saw it. There was no playing up the injury to make it look worse than it actually was. It looked bad, and I really didn’t expect to see MVP-level Mahomes against a tough Bengals team.
Sure enough, Mahomes reminded us all he’s still in a tier of his own. He threw for 326 yards, two TDs and no interceptions and led a drive that resulted in the game-winning field goal. He aggravated his ankle injury earlier in the game, then made this ridiculous throw a few plays later.
Mark it down as another signature performance from the greatest quarterback of this generation.
The Bengals got too cocky
We should’ve known after the “Burrowhead” clip that it wasn’t going to end well for Cincinnati.
During the New England Patriots during their dynastic run, teams constantly made the mistake of giving Bill Belichick’s group bulletin-board material. I can’t remember a time in which it didn’t come back to them. Meanwhile, you hardly ever heard a Patriots player give the opponent extra motivation heading into a matchup. If anything, they’d go over the top with their praises.
While I’m not ready to compare the Chiefs to the 2000s/2010s Patriots, they’re as close as a team has been to replicating their success. The Bengals should have known better than to give Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs something to fire them up.
And the winner of Super Bowl LVII will be…
I’m very conflicted, as is Las Vegas. The line for the Super Bowl opened as a pick ‘em. Philadelphia has since been favored by two points.
It’s a toss-up, but my gut is saying to not bet against Mahomes. The Andy Reid-Nick Sirianni mismatch, plus Mahomes and the Chiefs’ experience on this stage will be the difference. I’ll go Chiefs 34, Eagles 30 in an instant classic.
Aaron Rodgers to the Jets makes too much sense
One major non-playoff storyline to wrap things up. Aaron Rodgers’ time with the Packers appears to be coming to an end.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Packers prefer to move on from the 39-year-old QB ahead of the 2023 season. Rodgers isn’t opposed to the idea of playing elsewhere, though we still shouldn’t take retirement off the table as a possibility for the four-time MVP.
As for where Rodgers could land, right now it seems the New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, and Indianapolis Colts are the three most likely landing spots. To me, all signs point to history repeating itself.
The Packers traded a 38-year-old Brett Favre to the Jets in 2008. I think Rodgers to the Jets makes perfect sense this offseason.
The Jets are a quarterback away from being a playoff contender. They just hired Rodgers’ former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, Nathaniel Hackett, as their OC. Jets owner Woody Johnson said he's "absolutely" willing to spend big at the QB position. When you haven’t been to the Super Bowl in 54 years, you have to take a big swing. Trading for Rodgers would qualify as such.