YOU BLEW IT!!! NFL Conference Championship Preview

There you are. You're down 10-19 with 7:27 to go in the 3rd quarter. Your defense has done a good job curtailing the Chiefs' dynamic #1 offense. They're driving down the field then their superstar QB Patrick Mahomes gets injured on a tackle that leaves him staggered.

Even though you don't want to wish for someone to get injured, him being out for the rest of the game gives you the best chance to comeback and win this game...or so you thought. In comes Chad Henne and with him they only get 3 points. So it's now the 4th quarter with 11:07 to go and your RB Kareem Hunt returned to KC to score a TD to cut the lead to 17-22.

We now hit the Two Minute Warning so it's crunch time! All you have to do is stop them from getting a first down so you can give your offense one more shot at upsetting the defending Super Bowl Champions. You stop them on first down. You stop them on second down. You forced a 3rd &14 but Henne channels Mahomes and runs for it getting stopped inches short. You're thinking they're gonna try to draw you offside or run the play clock out so they can punt it and trust their defense to stop you. Certainly they're not gonna go for it near midfield with a 35 year old QB who's been a backup for most of his 13 year career right? Right?

YOU BLEW IT!!! You had the chance to take advantage of Mahomes' absence and you pissed it away! You lost to a man who didn't play at all last season or 2015. You lost to a man who thrown more interceptions than TDs. You lost to a man who couldn't beat out Blake Bortles or Blane Gabbert for the starting Jaguars job!. You lost to THIS MAN!

RIP Deadspin :(

Sure, you can complain about the refs missing a helmet to helmet shot as Rashard Higgins fumbled the ball through the endzone which resulted in a touchback. You can also complain about how unfair that rule is and ask why every play isn't reviewable.

Personally, I have no problem with the touchback rule. The defense is protecting their endzone and if the ball travels into and out of their endzone due to you losing possession of the ball, tough shit, you should've held on to the ball better. People crying that it's "too severe of a punishment" to the offense completely ignores that passing interference is a spot foul that can penalize the defense 5, 15 or even 50 yards! Considering how much harder it is to play defense nowadays I don't feel sorry for offenses not getting a mulligan for turning over the ball. So the Chiefs survives this game as the same ole Browns gets sent back to the doghouse.

The Dawgs went out with a whimper.

 

THE GAMES

Tompa Bay Buccaneers   17

Green Bay Packers          13

It's the Battle of the Bays II. Tom Brady helped the Bucs get in their first NFC Championship game since 2002 where they later won Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders. They benefitted from a (possibly retiring) Drew Brees who looked shot when throwing the ball. His wife later revealed that he was playing through a torn rotator cuff and a torn fascia in his foot to go along with the 11 fractured ribs and collapsed lung from earlier in the season.

Now they're in a rematch of their Week 6 convincing win over the Packers. Since they won't have 10 days of rest like last time, they will be without WR Antonio Brown who has a knee injury. They will however have DT Vita Vea back from his Week 5 fractured ankle. Both teams are fairly even ranking wise with the Pack having the advantage offensively while the Bucs are better defensively. To win this game, they have to do what they did in the last meeting: force turnovers, harass Aaron Rodgers, stifle their run game and in return RUN THE BALL to keep Brady from having to air it out all game. Dirk Koetter wished he had a team like this when he was here.

Buffalo Bills               28

Kansas City Chiefs   20

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Mahomes cleared concussion protocol and will play this game. There was no way in hell the NFL would accept their biggest star today sitting out this game when he's on the cusp of going back-to-back in the Super Bowl. To hell with Brett Favre's warning, rub some dirt on it and get him back in the game! Even if you have to delay the game for a couple days. With him cleared, the Bills face a similar challenge as the Browns.

Like the NFC Championship game, these teams are fairly even as well in their rankings. They also played previously in Week 6 but the Chiefs won that game by a closer score of 26-17. Like the Browns, the Bills have to rely on their middle of the road defense to hold off Mahomes & Friends long enough for their offense to get some points on the board. Forcing turnovers and jumping to a big quick lead will cause KC to play out of rhythm due to their typical slow starts this season. The Raiders was able to beat them in a shootout. The Browns were close but they didn't have the offense to take advantage of the situation. The Bills have the offense but can the defense survive long enough to complete the strategy? We will see Sunday!

LAST WEEK  3-1

PLAYOFFS    6-4