I Should Have Seen This Coming?

I should have realized that something was afoot on Friday night and that this wasn’t going to be an ordinary sports weekend. Steph Curry hit his first game-winning shot of his career, in helping the Golden State Warriors to a come-from-behind victory over the Houston Rockets at the Chase Center.

Think about it. Throughout his remarkable career, during which many have said he is the greatest pure shooter ever to play the game, we have sen Curry dazzle us with his moves and his uncanny ability to get open no matter how tightly defended. His shooting is a thing of beauty—so many swishes that ripple the net, whether it be from his trademark 3 point shots or from mid-range jumpers. 

So it is logical for us to have believed that Curry had already won a couple of games for the Warriors with his stellar shooting. Yet on Friday night, when Curry put in a shot as time ran out, it was his first game-winner. 

Mired in a shooting slump which seemingly began right after he broke the record for most three point goals in NBA history, Curry was visibly frustrated when the team, minus stars Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, fell behind by 18 points. He showed his anger by kicking a chair. Good thing he didn’t injure himself.

Rescuing the Warriors from another home defeat at the start of a seven game home stand after having fallen to a depleted Indiana team in overtime two nights before, the shooting wunderkind put this exploit in perspective. He simply marveled and exhaled, noting that “{I}t’s about time.”

But this weekend wasn’t solely about the NBA and the Warriors. No, it was time for divisional play in the NFL Playoffs. Four games. Both #1 Seeds, Tennessee in the AFC and Green Bay in the NFC, were to play their first games. The other four teams had won the previous weekend and the oddsmakers really didn’t favor Cincinnati, Buffalo, San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams to win.

Those savant oddsmakers got only one of those games right. That was the Buffalo-Kansas City game on Sunday night, the last of the four games over two days, and those guys setting the point spreads had plenty to sweat about until the conclusion of that matchup. 

Plus nobody told the underdog teams, all on the road, that they weren’t going to win their games. Only the particular team and their fans really had any confidence in an upset. 

Game one was between Cincinnati and Tennessee. The Bengals came into Nashville having triumphed in their opening game, downing a Pittsburgh Steelers squad that had made it to the playoffs on fumes. 

Sure, Bengals QB Joe Burrow looked awesome. He has the swagger of a top choice in the NFL Draft and the playing ability to back up his brashness. 

And let’s not forget that the Bengals and Burrow had actually been the best team in the AFC for a potion of the regular season. If anything, the Bengals might have been underestimated given the fact that the franchise hadn’t been in or won in the playoffs seemingly in eons. 

Tennessee had been on a roll to end the regular season and capture the top seed. With a solid defense and good coaching, the Titans overcame the loss of top running back Derrick Henry to an injury. For this game, Henry had been cleared to play, so that made the Titans appear to be more formidable. 

Was this a great game? Not really. Titans QB Ryan Tannehill looked dreadful, while Burrow excelled. Henry was rusty. 

Nonetheless, it took Burrow leading his team to find goal position at the end of the game and the Bengals’ rookie kicker to convert a game-ending field goal for Cincinnati to march on. It was exciting, and a portend of what would happen next.

The Saturday night cap featured the San Francisco 49’ers, led by much-maligned Jimmy Garrappolo at quarterback, facing the presumptive NFL M.V.P. Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay Packers, a favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. 

For all of his smarts as a QB, his huge ego and a load of talent, Rodgers had a history of not beating San Francisco in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Jimmy G did nothing but win for the Niners, whose management had the temerity to draft a QB to replace him with the third pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. It was thought that he was too injury-plagued, suffering another injury to his upper body heading into this clash. 

In the end, the Niners prevailed in the snow and cold of northern Wisconsin, with veteran Robbie Gould, who seemingly never misses in the post-season, converting the winner. Rodgers was now 0-4 versus San Francisco and contemplating what he was going to do next with his career at age 38. I can’t say that there weren’t a lot of people happy that Rodgers and the Pack lost because of his vaccination stance. 

So, two game were won at the end of regulation by the road teams. Sunday couldn’t possibly match the excitement of Saturday. Right? 

Wrong. At roughly 3:00 p.m. EST, until somewhere after 10:30 p.m., there was some incredible football. One game included a tremendous comeback by the G.O.A.T. and the other game was a shootout with two of the best young QB talents in the NFL. 

The Los Angeles Rams were playing to their expected capabilities behind Matthew Stafford at QB. The offense clicked and the defense was stifling. Tom Brady, the inexorable 44 year old gunslinger, was looking old and ready for retirement. 

Except that is Tom Brady’s DNA is made of sterner stuff. Somehow, with the help of some Rams miscues, Brady engineered three TD’s to tie the score towards the end of regulation. 

The problem was that the porous Bucs secondary couldn’t stop Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp, who led the NFL in all categories at his position. The duo teamed up for a huge gainer, putting the Rams in field goal territory. Just like both games on Saturday, the kicker made his kick as time ran out, vanquishing Brady and Tampa Bay. 

Three games. Three field goals by the visiting team to win at the end of regulation. How the heck could the Bills and Chiefs possibly top those magical games? 

With some word-defying play which led to a Kansas City win. In overtime. 

QB’s Josh Allen of Buffalo and Patrick Mahomes II of the Chiefs are two of the top guns in the NFL. I don’t care how great Brady has been or how Rodgers may win back-to-back M.V.P. trophies. This duo went at it in a heavyweight match that may have been the greatest playoff game ever played. 

I will spare you the statistics from this game. Because they are mind-boggling. Both QB’s put up ungodly yardage, completions, with no interceptions and both led their teams in rushing. 

What can be said is that 25 points were scored in the last 2:00 of regulation. Back and forth. When Allen connected with WR Gabriel Davis on his playoff-record fourth TD, it looked like the Chiefs were doomed with :13 left on the clock. Buffalo was ahead, 36-33. 

After a mind-boggling decision to kick the ensuing kickoff into the end zone, thereby preserving the time for Mahomes to operate, he did so with surgical efficiency. Two passes to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce and the Chiefs were in field goal range. 

Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker, who had missed a field goal to end the first half as well as failed to convert an extra point, was good from 49 yards. Tie score. Overtime was looming.

In a fateful choice, Allen, Buffalo’s captain, called tails for the coin toss. The coin landed on heads. Kansas City ball. 

The game was effectively over before the OT began. Mahomes and his superior receivers were not to be denied. His offensive line kept Buffalo at bay and he shredded the Bills’ secondary. With a magnificent pass to Kelce in the corner of the end zone, this game was over. 

Nobody deserved to lose. One team had to. Buffalo is a little snake-bitten from its last defeats in the Super Bowl. Allen and his mates should not hang their heads in defeat. 

As for the Chiefs, this is the fourth year in a row that the team is hosting the AFC Championship. Cincinnati could derail the KC Express. 

The Rams and Niners meet for the third time this season. LA has not stopped the high-flying SF offense in either game. A win at home for the Rams puts them at home for the Super Bowl. 

Who could have anticipated the outcomes of those four games? It would be a stretch to believe that these two title matches could meet or exceed what transpired last weekend. 

As a footnote to the football games, I turned on the Jazz and Warriors. I saw the end of the game when Golden State pulled ahead for good. Of course, the Dubs had to withstand an attempted three point shot which went in and out of the basket and then the tip in which tantalizingly rolled around the rim before falling harmlessly to the ground. 

Six remarkable games. I should have seen this coming?