I begin this blog with an apology. My cousin correctly noted that it was late fall in 1965 when the Great Northeast Blackout happened. It wasn’t a warm sunny day at all. The temperature on November 9 was in the mid-40’s. The facts I recited remain the same.
Now that I got that out of my system, there was a whole heck of a lot of football this past weekend. Four NFL Playoff games plus the College Football Playoffs Championship on Monday. I felt like I needed a respite after Sunday’s contests; thankfully it was a college game to end this pigskin fiesta.
There was one upset winner and a lot of thrills along the way. And I am not talking about social media heating up over Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark embracing in the Travis Kelce suite in GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City with family and friends.
So what about the Chiefs? The top seed in the AFC handled the challenge from the Houston Texans, AFC South champions. Just a few weeks earlier, in Week 16 of the NFL regular season, KC defeated Houston in the same venue by a 27-19 score. Thus there was familiarity between these opponents facing each other in the opening game of the Divisional Round.
Kansas City completed the regular season with a 15-2 mark, which tied for the best record in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, the top seed in the NFC. Kansas City lost the season finale to Denver on the road by a 38-0 score, with Head Coach Andy Reid opting to rest his starters.
There are a whole lot of naysayers regarding the Chiefs. The offense wasn’t very good despite the star power of QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Kelce. The Chiefs failed to score more than 30 points in any game during the regular season—they scored 30 twice versus Tampa Bay and Carolina. Those critics claimed the defense was overrated.
To which I point out that they won a lot of close games and were battle-tested for the entire season. Sure, the points for the season was low—385. But the points scored against Kansas City was only 326, which placed the team third in the AFC and NFL, behind AFC West foes Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos. That number included those 38 points in what amounted to a regular season exhibition game.
Steve Spagnuolo is maybe the best defensive coordinator in the league. The Springfield College grad is the only coordinator—offense or defense—to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises and also to win four Super Bowls as a coordinator. New York Giants fans clearly recall his defense stopped the undefeated New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII.
This KC defense is highlighted by three top tier defensive linemen in George Karlaftis, Chris Jones and Tershawn Wharton. The linebackers are stellar, with Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal. The fine defensive backfield is anchored by Trent Mc Duffie, Bryan Cook and Justin Reid.
This unit is a force. Spags, as he is called, knows what stunts and blitzes to call. They are the rock of this team.
As for the offense, the conspiracy theorists who claim that the NFL favors the Chiefs and Mahomes in particular with penalties called against their opponents are wrong. The NFL rebutted that falsehood on Sunday after announcers and fans questioned roughing the passer penalties agains Houston.
Kansas City’s rival, the Buffalo Bills, is the team standingin the way of another trip to the Super Bowl. Buffalo, led by talented QB Josh Allen, gave the Chiefs their only blemish on their impressive record besides the loss to Denver with a thrilling 30-21 win by the Bills on November 17th in Orchard Park, New York.
The Bills first had to overcome the Baltimore Ravens on another cold night in upstate New York. Baltimore, led by the all-worldly and reigning NFL M.V.P. (and likely to be a repeat winner) Lamar Jackson, had lost to KC on Opening Night by the width of a toe on a pass that was called incomplete, and had handed the Bills a resounding defeat back in September in friendlier weather conditions in Baltimore.
Forcing the Ravens offense into uncharacteristic turnovers by Jackson and sure-handed tight end Mark Andrews, who fumbled a catch and then couldn’t haul in what would have been the game-tying two point conversion, Buffalo survived to reach the AFC title game.
Predicting this upcoming game isn’t easy. The Bills can be dominant on both sides of the ball. What looms bigger is how the KC defense performs against the Bills.
Stopping Allen and causing turnovers wins games for a team. Which is exactly what the Chiefs need to do.
Conversely, Buffalo must limit the effectiveness of Mahomes while controlling the tempo of the game. Which won’t be simple.
Meanwhile, look at the Washington Commanders. Victors over Tampa Bay on the road in the Wild Card round, QB Jayden Daniels, the second pick in the most recent NFL Draft, has demonstrated a maturity and ability beyond his years and NFL experience. This team, in the mold of Head Coach Dan Quinn, is rough and ready. Quinn loves to go for it on fourth down, and the results have been overwhelmingly favorable for the Boys of Old D.C.
In a high-octane performance on Saturday night, both the offense and defense clicked against top-seeded Detroit. Repeatedly, the Commanders took the game away from the Lions and partisan crowd inside Ford Field. They forced the Lions into uncharacteristic miscues and headed off rallies while scoring 45 points and holding a good Lions offense to 31.
For their win, the Commanders have a third game against division opponent and #2 seed Philadelphia. The Eagles, behind the early running of RB Saquon Barkley and QB Jalen Hurts, held on against a game LA Rams team which threatened to score in the waning moments of the game to take away a win for the embattled Southern California people. When Matthew Stafford’s fourth down pass fell incomplete, the Eagles fans could merrily sing “Fly, Eagles, Fly”, and anticipate the matchup with Washington.
Can Washington continue an impressive post-season run? Or are the Eagles really the best team in the NFC—and maybe in the entire league? Those questions will be answered on Sunday afternoon in South Philadelphia.
The last game of the quintet was held inside a NFL site, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Heavily-favored Ohio State, seemingly the best team in the country, had to get past one-loss Notre Dame to claim the championship trophy.
In a testament to why the system needs to be tweaked, the #7 team (Notre Dame) met the #8 seed (Ohio State). With #8 holding on to thwart the luck of the Irish with a crucial long pass which caught the Notre Dame defense by surprise, then hitting a field goal to ice the game for the Buckeyes.
OSU should have won the game much easier. Except that the play-calling became too conservative and Notre Dame took advantage of the tiring defense in an attempt to mount a comeback.
In the rankings, OSU deservedly is number 1. While Notre Dame, Texas and Penn State made the final four, I don’t know if they could have beaten Oregon, losers to Ohio State in a rematch, and which had soundly defeated Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game. Those are definitely my top five teams.
Agree or disagree with the playoffs as they played out. At least the champion is a worthy one.
ABC showed all of the Ohio State Head Coaches, many of who were present at the game, along with Irish mentor Lou Holtz, the last Notre Dame leader to win a national title. What ran through my mind was how, at each school, the pressure to win is undeniable. Each Buckeyes head man had to flee the pressure or be removed—from Woody Hayes to Urban Meyer.
Even with his win, Ryan Day will not escape the loud murmurs from the OSU faithful—largely because he has only one win in five tries against arch-rival Michigan. Sadly, for some badly disturbed fans and alumni, even winning this title game isn’t enough. Why should he have to protect himself and his family with security when it is merely a football game?
Again, the answer is money. The expectations are now outrageous and with the transfer portal and NIL cash for the best players, it is a cauldron which must be tempered down. Or good people, like Ryan Day, will be forced out of a job he seemingly can handle.
That’s it for me. I won’t even talk about the Golden State Warriors’ 40 point loss at home to the Boston Celtics or how college basketball is transpiring now that conference play is being conducted in earnest. Or how the Jets search for a head coach and general manager may be winding down. Nope.
Three more football games to go.
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