Conference Championship Recap: I've Seen This Movie Before

Conference Championship Sunday. Always an awesome treat. I've said this many times on here, the final round before the big one is always epic. The NFL has the Conference Championships since 1970. MLB has the League Championship Series, which started a year prior in 1969. The NBA and NHL each have the Conference Finals as the last round before a champion is crowned. Both Conference Championships often take place on Sunday, though some have said that we should see one game on Saturday, while the other occurs on Sunday. A benefit to that idea is that each game would air on primetime, but it's actually fine that both games play on Sunday, mainly because one conference champion could receive an extra day of rest before the Super Bowl, and that wouldn't exactly be fair.

Regarding which game gets played first, that is always rotated every year. This year, it was NFC first, then AFC, and it'll switch up next year. With that, let's take a look back at both games.

Commanders @ Eagles

Being an NFC guy, I always find myself drawn more to the NFC Championship than the AFC game, mainly because Fox has it every year. This was the least frustrating game for me, because I have nothing against either team. The Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles were facing off for the third time this season, and this was the rubber match, as the regular season series was split. I always love divisional matches in the playoffs, especially in the Conference Championship. We saw a long opening drive from Washington, but after a pair of fourth down conversions, all they got was a field goal. Meanwhile, it took only one Saquon Barkley run for Philly to take the lead.

Barkley got in again to put the Eagles up 14-3, but after Washington got a field goal, Terry McLaurin found the end zone, but they couldn't get the two pointer. From that point, the Eagles started running away, leading by 12 at the half, and continuing to take away the ball when the Commanders got close. We were treated to a very wild and hilarious moment when Washington kept jumping offsides during a Brotherly Shove attempt. It really reached the point where the refs could actually just award a free touchdown to the Eagles if it was done again, I'm not kidding. But yeah, the game was a done deal.

The Eagles won, 55-23, and for the fifth time in franchise history (and the second in three years), they are champions of the National Football Conference. Historically, the Eagles were defeated in Super Bowls XV and XXXIX, they won Super Bowl LII seven years ago, but were defeated in Super Bowl LVII two years ago. Amazing. When the Eagles were 2-2 and fans wanted Nick Sirianni fired as head coach, it looked like there was despair on the City of Brotherly Love. They've lost only once since then, and ironically, that was against the team they just defeated.

As for the Commanders, they have a lot to be proud of. Remember: this team was 4-13 last year. They were supposed to be playing for the draft again. Instead, they improved by eight games, got a Wild Card spot, and had quite the Cinderella run. Jayden Daniels is an absolute stud, and the best part of this: they pissed off Daniel Snyder by having this great season without him. Truly proves that the best revenge is living well.

Bills @ Chiefs

Oh boy. I, among everyone else, was pleading for this to be different. We needed the Bills to finally dethrone the Chiefs. Yes, I said this team wasn't going anywhere. Yes, I know that a Bills win will allow their fans to let me have it. I didn't care. I would happily deal with the egg on my face if it meant that the Chiefs would be knocked off. Josh Allen was his usual shaky self, nearly throwing picks at the start of this. Even so, it was 7-3 after one quarter, but KC started to run away. They led 21-10, but a James Cook touchdown made it 21-16, and that was the score at halftime.

Then a funny thing happened. Buffalo took the lead in the third. They didn't get the two, but they were leading. Even so, I wasn't getting overexcited. It had less to do with the fact that there was a whole quarter left, and more to do with the fact that this was the Bills. How would they fuck this up next? Allowing Mahomes to score on them again did the trick, and they got the two. So it was 29-22, but the Bills actually tied it up in the fourth. 29-29! Seeing this actually caused me to forget about how toxic Bills fans are. Even so, I wasn't completely confident, and they gave me a reason to remain pessimistic, as KC got to field goal range quickly. After the three-pointer, Buffalo had one last chance to get to FG range, and as usual, when the going got tough, Josh Allen curled up into a ball.

You know what angers me the most about this? It's that we all first saw the Chiefs as a breath of fresh air after the Patriots dynasty ended. I was especially vocal about it on Vocal. I said that the Chiefs were way more likable than the Patriots dynasty. Boy, was I off. They're actually worse. When the Patriots were winning, the entitlement came mostly from fans, and from Tom Brady. In this dynasty, everyone's entitled. Everyone. And remember when Brady would get calls like clockwork? Mahomes is getting even more of them. The refs have been working harder to help KC than they were to help Brady. It's like they're not even hiding it.

The refs were a factor in this game as well, especially when they took a rightful interception away from the Bills (giving this Packers fan memories of the "Fail Mary") but they were second to the real reason why the Bills lost:

Don't, Bills fans. Just don't. I don't want to hear it. Bills fans are quick to call Lamar Jackson a perennial choke artist, but they refuse to hold Josh Allen accountable for the fact that he's Mahomes' pet. Did you see that last drive? It was lethargic. Josh was throwing bad passes left and right, shades of last year against KC--at home. Bills fans knew what the goal was. I said it when the Bills beat KC during the regular season. Do it in January. They didn't, because of course they didn't. This is exactly why I was heartbroken when Baltimore lost--because I knew this would happen. Lamar would have beaten KC. Lamar was closer to winning in Arrowhead this year than Josh was. But sure, keep blaming Sean McDermott and wanting him fired if that helps you sleep at night. It wasn't McDermott out there throwing bad and uncatchable passes in clutch situations.

So there we have it, we have a Super Bowl rematch, but not the one fans wanted. Fans were hoping for Bills vs Commanders, which is a rematch of Super Bowl XXVI, but instead, for the second time in three years, it's Chiefs/Eagles. The Chiefs have a shot at history: they win, that's three straight. No team has ever won three straight Super Bowls, and there hasn't been a championship three-peat in the NFL in over 90 years. Also, the Chiefs can join the five-time champions club with a win. The Eagles are looking for payback for Super Bowl LVII. It can be done. Remember: the Eagles defeated the Brady/Belichick Patriots seven years ago. Super Bowl LIX will take place in New Orleans, and will air on Fox.

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