Last season, the AFC crown came down to the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. In that game, the Chiefs came out victorious, making their way to their second straight Super Bowl appearance after winning it the year before. One year later, both teams meet again in the divisional round in a game that has the chance to be the game of the year. Let us analyze all three phases of the ball for each team, as well as coaching, and predict who is going back to the AFC Championship game.

How They Got Here

While both teams won their division, it was not always easy for both squads, as they each went through some bumps in the road throughout the season. Starting with Buffalo, after a 4-2 start heading into the bye, they went 3-4 in their first seven games after, including a bad 9-6 loss to Jacksonville. Another bad loss was a 41-15 beatdown by the Colts, who also lost to Jacksonville in the final week of the season. They also lost a game in which their opponent, the Patriots, threw three passes. After these struggles though, Buffalo ended the season on a four-game winning streak and beat those same Patriots in dominant fashion in the first round of the playoffs, 47-17. When Buffalo wins, they dominate. They have won every game by at least 12 points, shut out two teams, and won by 30 or more points three times. It is the close games that have given Buffalo fits.

As for Kansas City, there were similar concerns but raised to a different level after starting the season 3-4 and turning the ball over at will. After an embarrassing 27-3 loss to the Titans in Week 7, Kansas City promptly won nine out of ten to end the season, which included an eight-game winning streak. Their only loss was to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17, a 34-31 shootout loss. After clinching the AFC West against the Steelers in Week 16, the Chiefs took care of business of them in the Wild Card round, steamrolling them to the tune of 42-21.

Allen vs. Mahomes

In a game that may feature the two best young quarterbacks in the league, there should be tons of fireworks in this one. Some may even call it the modern-day version of Manning vs. Brady. Regardless, Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes should be nothing short of electric. Starting Mahomes, it was a tough start for the young superstar. Despite this, his numbers to end the season were anything but a struggle, completing 66% of his passes for 4,839 yards, throwing 37 TD to 13 INT. After throwing 12 picks threw Week 13, Mahomes threw just one over the last five weeks while tossing a whopping 12 TD’s in that span. In the first round of the playoffs, Mahomes was nearly perfect, going 30/39 with 404 yards and 5 touchdowns. By far his best performance of the season.

As for Allen, he was slightly worse, but using the term worse is a disservice to the season Allen had. Allen totaled 42 TD to 15 INT with 4,407 passing yards and 763 rushing yards. It was either perfect for Allen, or the sky looked like it was falling, but most of the time it was on the better side. Allen is still prone to turn the ball over at a higher clip than you would like, but his incredible athletic ability and maturation on the fly have made that an occurrence less and less. It is crazy to think that Mahomes performance was the second-best of Wild Card weekend, but because of Allen, here we are. Allen was as locked in as you can possibly be, putting up one of the best playoff performances in recent memory, if not NFL history. Allen diced up an elite Patriots defense, going 21/25 with 308 yards and 5 touchdowns, while also rushing for 66 yards in the victory. Both Mahomes and Allen had passer ratings over 135, with Allen getting the better mark at 157.6 (158.3 is perfect).

Matchups to Watch

As expected, TE Travis Kelce and WR Tyreek Hill will show up for the Chiefs, as well as WR Stefon Diggs and TE Dawson Knox for the Bills, but the matchup to watch is in the backfield between HB’s Jerick McKinnon (Chiefs) and Devin Singletary (Bills). Starting with McKinnon, who was basically a non-factor during the regular season, turned 20 touches into 142 yards and a touchdown. He had 169 total yards in the regular season. Even with HB Clyde Edwards-Helaire practicing this week for Kansas City with a chance to play, there is no way McKinnon does not start or play the bulk of the snaps. Players that get hot in the playoffs tend to stay hot and that might be the case for McKinnon. 

On the other side, HB Devin Singletary ended the season strong and carried that into the playoffs. Since Week 15, Singletary has 404 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, including the playoffs. The main correlation is that Buffalo has not lost since he started playing well, taking some pressure off Josh Allen. It will not be the focal point of either offense because of how potent the passing games are, but there is a chance the team that can run the ball the best will win this game.

Defense

Because of how explosive the offenses are, some people forget about how good the defenses are as well. Starting with Buffalo, they were ranked the number one defense in total yards and points allowed. They gave up 30 points three times all season and lost all three games. Despite this, Buffalo allowed 20 points or less 10 times this season, including holding the Chiefs to 20 in a blowout win in Week 5. Buffalo can beat you on both sides of the ball, despite being somehow underrated on defense.

Like the offense, Kansas City’s defense was not pretty early on, but turned a corner and never looked back. After giving up 29 or more points in their first five games, the Chiefs gave up 20 points or more in just four of their last 12 games, including holding teams to under 15 for a month straight. It is going to be tough to stop these offenses, so getting one-stop might be the difference in this ballgame.

Prediction

While I truly do not know who has the edge in this game, I am going to predict the Chiefs to win in an extremely close game. The Chiefs did not have as emotional of a victory as Buffalo last week just based on their opponent and may have a little more in the tank than Buffalo. If the Bills come out flat, the Chiefs might go up three scores in a blink if they are not careful. While yes, the Bills will be locked in, the Chiefs have been rolling for the better part of two months and have seemed to hit their stride. While the Bills did as well, I feel if both teams play a perfect game, the Chiefs have just barely more talent to get the win in the Divisional Round.

Stats from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

After the first round of the playoffs were completed, a large narrative was the age of the quarterbacks. In the AFC, the oldest quarterback was 25 and, in the NFC, the youngest was 26 with the other three over 35. Let us analyze if the young buck of the group got the job done or if the seasoned veterans stayed on top.

Rodgers and Green Bay Too Much to Handle for Goff and Los Angeles

After earning a first-round bye with the one-seed, the Green Bay Packers got off to a strong start to their playoff run, defeating the Los Angeles Rams 32-18. Offensively, Green Bay did a good job balancing the run with the pass to total for 484 yards of offense. QB Aaron Rodgers was efficient in the victory, going 23/36 with 296 yards, three touchdowns (two passing), and no turnovers. WR Allen Lazard led all receivers with 96 yards, including a long 58-yard touchdown. WR DaVante Adams also corralled nine catches for 66 yards and a touchdown in the victory. On the ground, the duo of Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams combined for 26 carries, 164 yards, and a touchdown by Jones. 

Whenever the Rams looked like they were getting back into the game, the Packers defense came up with a big stop. Green Bay sacked Goff four times and held the Rams to 2/8 on third down. LB Krys Barnes was the leading tackler with 10 total tackles while Rashan Gary, Kenny Clark, and Z’Darius Smith were responsible for the four sacks. With their efforts, the Packers held the Rams to just 244 yards of offense in the victory.

In the defeat, the Rams could not get anything going on offense and could not sustain drives. As stated before, Los Angeles went 2/8 on third down and were dominated in the time of possession game. QB Jared Goff threw for just 174 yards while RB Cam Akers rushed for 90. On the defensive side, which featured an injured Aaron Donald in and out of the game, the Rams could not get the Packers off the field. Green Bay held the ball for seconds over 36 minutes and were 8/12 on third down. Rodgers was also not sacked, sitting comfortably in the pocket the entire game.

Brady Gives Brees a Sour Goodbye

With what many people believe to be Drew Brees’ final playoff run on the line, the New Orleans Saints fell short to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losing 30-20. For Tampa, it was a game that was one by a full team effort. All assets of the game played well, particularly the defense. Led by LB Devin White, who had 11 tackles, Tampa Bay forced four turnovers in the victory (three interceptions, one fumble). Of their 30 points scored, 21 came off turnovers. Along with White, CB Sean Murphy-Bunting and S Mike Edwards had interceptions, while S Antoine Winfield forced a fumble in the win.

On the offensive side, Tampa Bay took advantage of the turnovers on their way to victory. QB Tom Brady had only 199 yards but three total touchdowns on the day. Brady did a good job of distributing, targeting nine receivers on the day, leading to 18 completions. On the ground, RB’s Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II combined for 30 carries and 125 yards on the day. They were not pretty yards, but they were enough to keep the chains moving and give the Bucs a chance to sustain drives during the game.

In what is most likely his last game ever, QB Drew Brees had a game left to be desired. The future Hall of Famer threw three interceptions in the loss on just 134 yards through the air. The longest play they had on offense came when Brees was not on the field when QB Jameis Winston hit WR Tre’Quan Smith for a 56-yard touchdown early in the game. Smith led all receivers with 85 yards in the loss. RB Alvin Kamara chipped in 105 total yards but was not enough to earn the win. S Malcolm Jenkins was the leading tackler for the Saints defense, who were put in bad spots all game due to bad field position from turnovers. Overall, it was not a fun day to be a New Orleans Saints fan.

Now, in the NFC Championship, we have a classic on our hands. On Sunday at 3:00 ET, Tom Brady will take on Aaron Rodgers, two legends, with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. The game will be hosted by the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in what should be a gritty game that is won at the line of scrimmage. Now, it is just a matter of who is going to win the battle.

Info and stats from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas

After a full slate of close games during Wild Card Weekend, the divisional round did not disappoint, especially in the AFC. Let us break down how the two games played out and the results.

Buffalo D Comes Up Big in Gritty Win Over Baltimore

Going into the game, the talk all week was Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson in this heavyweight matchup. Besides them, the Bills took on the Ravens in the divisional round and avoided the upset, winning by a score of 17-3. The key to victory for the Bills was their defensive effort. Despite losing the yardage battle and the time of possession battle, the Bills were able to get to Jackson four times and forced a red-zone turnover. This turnover was a pick-six by Taron Johnson to put the game out of reach.

On the offensive side, Buffalo struggled, but found a way to win the game. QB Josh Allen played a clean football game with no turnovers on 37 pass attempts. His lone touchdown was to WR Stefon Diggs, who had eight catches for 106 yards on the day along with the touchdown. John Brown also had eight catches to pace the air attack. As for the rushing attack, it was literally non-existent. Outside of QB Josh Allen, Devin Singletary and T.J. Yeldon combined for nine carries and totaled for 29 yards.

As for Baltimore, the offensive attack fell behind the chains too many times to have consistent success with their type of offense. QB Lamar Jackson struggled in the loss, totaling 196 yards with an interception before getting injured late in the game. In relief, QB Tyler Huntley was not much better, going 6/13 for 60 yards and no touchdowns. The rushing attack was solid, totaling 150 yards, but was not enough to win the game. On the defensive side, LB’s Pernell McPhee and Matt Judon had a sack in the loss.

Kansas City Hold Off Cleveland’s Comeback to Earn Victory

In their first playoff game since winning the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs had their work cut out for them against the Cleveland Browns, who got their first playoff win in over 20 years. Kansas City was able to hold off a late comeback from the Browns, winning 22-17. QB Patrick Mahomes had a great game despite getting injured, finishing with a line of 21/30 for 255 yards and two total touchdowns. In his relief, QB Chad Henne was able to finish off the Browns by converting a crucial fourth down to run down the clock. WR Tyreek Hill and TE Travis Kelce both had eight catches for over 100 yards, while Kelce found the endzone early in the game. On the ground, RB Darrel Williams had an efficient game, rushing 13 times with 78 yards in the victory.

The most underrated part of the Chiefs is their defense, which came up big once again. First, S Daniel Sorenson forced a fumble on the goal line to stop the Browns from scoring and getting back into the game. Next, S Tyrann Mathieu intercepted QB Baker Mayfield to end their first drive of the second half. In the first half, Kansas City did a good job of getting off the field on third down while controlling the line of scrimmage for most of the first half. S L’Jarius Sneed also had a sack in the victory.

While they came up short, the Cleveland Browns have a lot to look forward to in 2021. In this game, Cleveland started to move the ball on offense after falling behind 19-3, but ultimately did not get the opportunity for a game-winning drive since Kansas City moved the chains to seal the game. QB Baker Mayfield went 23/37 with 204 yards and a touchdown and interception. Despite losing a crucial fumble early in the game, WR Rashard Higgins rebounded to have a nice game, catching five balls for 88 yards. WR Jarvis Landry led the way with seven grabs and scored the lone receiving touchdown for Cleveland. With the running game, RB’s Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt combined for 19 carries with 101 yards and a touchdown, which was scored by Hunt. On the defensive side, S Karl Joseph had an interception late in the game and DE Myles Garrett recorded a sack in the loss.

These two outcomes set up for a chalk matchup in the AFC championship game, with the one-seeded Chiefs against the two-seeded Bills. The game will be in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium at 6:40 ET. It is going to be a pass-heavy attack with the hopes that QB Patrick Mahomes can come back from injury. If so, it will be one heck of a game.

Stats and info from profootballreference.com

Writer

-By: Richie Dordas