NFL 2024 Conference Championship Recap

 Hello readers! Another week of National Football League action has come to an end. The week that was Championship Sunday would see four teams enter competition on Sunday afternoon and evening and we now have two teams that will represent the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The team representing the National Football Conference is the Philadelphia Eagles. The team representing the American Football Conference is the Kansas City Chiefs. In this post, I will break down how these teams got to this point. Let's get to work!

NFL Conference Championship Freaky Stat

Jalen Hurts' three rushing touchdowns and Saquon Barkley's three rushing touchdowns are the most in the NFC Championship Game's history. Philadelphia's 55 points is the most in Conference Championship game history, breaking 1990 Bills record 51 points in the AFC Championship game against the Raiders. 

NFL Conference Championship Recap

Washington 23, Philadelphia 55

Pick: Eagles

Philadelphia clobbers Washington and makes it back to the Super Bowl. Jayden Daniels hit 29 of 48 passes for 255 yards with a touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin. McLaurin's touchdown of 36 yards was the longest pass play for the Commanders. Jayden Daniels would toss an interception in the game. Daniels would also rush into the endzone for a score while getting six carries for 48 yards in the game. Washington's longest run in the game was a 19-yard run by Daniels. Brian Robinson was running back with the most yards with 11 carries for 36 yards in the game. Zach Ertz had 11 catches for 104 yards in the game. Washington would come undone in this game due to many factors: turnovers, unable to stop the run and not getting production on the run game. The first turnover was a Dyami Brown fumble which turned into a Eagles touchdown. Turnovers yielded to Eagles touchdowns. You're not going to win games against a great team like the Eagles like that. Pass protection would fail Washington as well as the Eagles did get to Jayden Daniels early and often. It was just hope and luck that would need to fall for Washington in this game and sadly it wasn't meant to be. Jayden Daniels has been a nice story and Washington's revitalization from a 4-win team last year to a NFC Championship Game appearance is nothing short but amazing and would make for a great story. For the Commanders, they got humbled but have something to look forward to next season while getting 350 total yards. 

Jalen Hurts hit 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards with a touchdown pass to AJ Brown. The passing game would be a footnote to what the run game would do to the Washington Commanders in this one. Saquon Barkley would do his thing and had 15 carries for 118 yards with three touchdowns. The touchdown runs were from 60, 4 and 4 yards. His 3rd touchdown would give a hat trick and would channel his inner Steph Curry and went to bed. Will Shipley had four carries for 77 yards with a touchdown. Most of his carries and yards came in the 4th quarter with Barkley resting the bench. Both Barkley and Shipley had runs of 60 and 57 yards to be the longest runs in the game for the Eagles. Jalen Hurts had 10 carries for 16 yards and had three touchdowns of his own in the game. AJ Brown was the leading receiver with six catches for 96 yards in the game. He had a catch that went for a 31-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Eagles in the game. Philadelphia would arguably play its best game of the season. They would use their running game a lot in this one with their scoring. Jalen Hurts looked the best that he has ever been and looks like his 2022 self. Philadelphia would even take advantage of some Tush Push's in this one. It's hard to get to a Super Bowl, its even harder to make it back to one after the faltering season they had last year. This season, they look to right the wrong of losing a Super Bowl and will play as the National Football Conference's champion. The Eagles had 459 total yards in the game. 

Next week:

Washington: go sight see in the Capitol or something.
Philadelphia: Bye then Super Bowl vs Kansas City

TW: 1-0

Buffalo 29, Kansas City 32

Pick: Bills

Allen-Mahomes IX provided some great moments. Josh Allen hit 22 of 34 passes for 237 yards with two touchdowns. The two touchdowns went to Mack Hollins and Curtis Samuel. James Cook had 13 carries for 85 yards with two touchdowns on 6 and 1 yard plays. Cook had a run of 33 yards that was the longest run play in the game for the Bills. Mack Hollins was the leading receiver for the Bills with three catches for 73 yards and had a catch that went for a 34-yard gain. The Bills would do everything that they could to play well against the Chiefs and they still lost. The defense wouldn't be able to stop the Chiefs and the Bills wouldn't be able to get out of their own way. Penalties would falter them as well as they had some really bad penalties that were so unnecessary. Facemasks, false starts, and pass interferences would cost them as well. The crucial play I think it was the 4th down call for Allen to get for a first down that was ultimately fallen short. The last 4th down play was just a prayer as Chiefs Defensive Coordinator dialed up a blitz that caused Josh Allen to fluster and throw a prayer. He almost had one answered had tight end Dalton Kincaid caught it. It's a pattern that is unmatched in life: death, taxes and the Bills shitting the bed in January. It is still a great season and the Bills were short to get back to the big game. For the Bills, the season ends but did put up 374 total yards in the game. 

Patrick Mahomes hit 18 of 26 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy. The player that the Bills let the Chiefs pick in the draft via trade. Kareem Hunt had 17 carries for 64 yards with a touchdown run on a 12-yard run. Patrick Mahomes had two touchdown runs on 8 and 10 yard plays. He had a run of 12 yards that was also the longest run in the game along with Hunt's run. Xavier Worthy was the leading receiver with six catches for 85 yards. Juju Smith-Schuster had a catch that went for a 31-yard gain to be the longest pass play for the Chiefs. The Chiefs would almost lose this game as they couldn't contain the run of the Bills. It would take a pep talk by Steve Spagnola for the defense to step up as they would plug a Josh Allen sneak for a 4th down conversion. The 4th down and 5 play would have the legend coordinator call on a 4-man rush that would break easily and forced Josh Allen to throw a prayer that would ultimately go incomplete. The Chiefs would do what they had to do to win and that would come on the passing game that would be an Achilles heel for the Bills in the game. The defense would ultimately win the day as they hung tough. The Chiefs are now the first team on the quest to three-peat to get to the Super Bowl. No other team has reached this point in the Super Bowl era that started in 1967. Lombardi's Packers, Shula's Dolphins, Noll's Steelers, Walsh and Seifert's 49ers, Johnson and Switzer's Cowboys, Shanahan's Broncos, and Belichick's Patriots wouldn't be able to achieve this mark. Kansas City has one more game to go to make it happen. They will face off against a familiar foe in the Philadelphia Eagles, who they had beaten two years before in Super Bowl LVII. They will try to do it in two weeks. 

Next week:

Buffalo: Eat some wings or something
Kansas City: Bye then Super Bowl vs Philadelphia

TW: 1-1

Records

2024:
Week 1: 14-2
Week 2: 10-6
Week 3: 10-6
Week 4: 10-6
Week 5: 3-11
Week 6: 13-1
Week 7: 13-2
Week 8: 9-7
Week 9: 12-3
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 11-3
Week 12: 7-6
Week 13: 14-2
Week 14: 11-3
Week 15: 13-3
Week 16: 12-4
Week 17: 12-4

Week 18: 9-7
Total: 193-80

Super Wild Card Weekend: 4-2

Divisional: 2-2

Conference Championship: 1-1

2012: 164-90-2
2013: 162-92-1
2014: 172-83-1
2017: 164-92
2018: 156-98-2
2019: 161-94-1
2020: 167-88-1
2021: 173-98-1
2022: 166-103-2
2023: 161-111

I will be posting the Super Bowl LIX post sometime around this time next week or so, keep an eye out for it! Enjoy your week!

-Tom