NFL Playoff Takeaways: Championship Round + Super Bowl Prediction

Photo from NBC Sports

It was a weekend full of teams beating themselves.

One in an obvious way, and one in just an infuriating way.

So let’s get the obvious one out of the way first.

Eagles defeat Commanders 55-23

Let’s not mess around here.

The Eagles are better than the Commanders at pretty much every position.

Because of that, the Commanders were going to have to be absolutely perfect if they wanted to win and head to the Super Bowl, and even then it may not be enough if the Eagles are on their A game.

Well, the Eagles were on their A game, and the Commanders were not.

Three costly fumbles all led to Eagles touchdowns for 21 easy Eagle points, as well as being aided by some poor tackling and personal foul penalties.

This felt like a house money game for Washington.

They were not expected to be here, and they were not expected to win, so no big deal.

But the way they continuously shot themselves in the foot has to leave a bit of a sting going into this offseason, even if the future is very bright.

Chiefs defeat Bills 32-29

Many may not think the Bills beat themselves.

After all, they were the ones who outgained the Chiefs and won the turnover battle.

But they still did, and they did so in a really infuriating way.

Let’s go back to the Eagles again.

A lot of people hate the tush push that the Eagles have legitimized as a good offensive strategy.

I don’t, personally.

The Eagles have the personnel to do it, it works, so why stop?

I do, however, have a big problem with it in certain situations.

I am a West Virginia football fan. I watched WVU try the tush push with their 5’11 tiny quarterback Garrett Greene, and watched them fail at it, a lot.

It was frustrating, and it’s not the cheat code play the Eagles make it out to be.

The Bills are usually very successful at it, but it became very clear after the third time they tried it and either got flat out stuffed, or just barely got the first down, that the Chiefs knew how to stop it.

And yet on 4th down and a 22-21 lead with a chance to get a touchdown and really get a stranglehold on the game, they lined up for the tush push again.

They got stuffed.*

*many, including myself, think that Allen got the first down, but in those giant piles of bodies the refs are going to make the wrong call sometimes. Don’t leave it in their hands.

The kicker is, Bills running back James Cook was averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

They overthought it.

They went with the “cheat code play” instead of a normal football play that had been working all night long.

They paid for it.

Sometimes, you should just go back to basics.

Super Bowl Prediction

The Chiefs are allowing about 150 rushing yards per game, and face an Eagles team with a dominant offensive line and a great run game.

The Chiefs have offensive line troubles, and the Eagles have the pass rushers who can get to Mahomes quick, as well as the secondary to blanket receivers and take away the short game.

All signs point directly towards an Eagles Super Bowl win.

Come on.

You think I’m that stupid?

The Chiefs win Super Bowl 59.