Each week of the NFL season brings a host of new questions…and answers some old ones, too. Let’s review what we learned in the conference championships…and what we’ll wonder about in the Super Bowl.
ANSWER: Patrick Mahomes is inevitable
You knew how this was always going to end, didn’t you? It didn’t matter if the Bills took a three-point lead in the second quarter, or a one-point lead in the third, or tied the game in the fourth, you always knew the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes were going to have the ball in hand, at the end of the match. And you just as surely knew as the sun would come up that Mahomes would be working the field and the clock, finding open men like the Chiefs had 14 players on the field, running the clock as if he could actually make the clock run faster. That’s the dark magic and inevitability of these Chiefs, they will always be in the hunt and they will always be the last team standing.
There is a negative reaction to the reaction against the Chiefs, that we shouldn’t be sick of this team because we are witnessing one of the NFL’s great dynasties at the height of its power. But that’s the thing about dynasties: They’re nice for fans of the team and for historians, but for fans of the other 31 teams, they’re a frustrating obstacle. And for the main dynasty rivals, it’s hell that lasts for years.
Which brings us to Josh Allen, the most sympathetic figure in all of the Chiefs’ current dominance. Allen is a transcendent quarterback, capable of making plays that stun the imagination and redefine the boundaries of what is possible at the position. And yet, again and again, he comes up against this unstoppable juggernaut. Every loss takes another bite out of his career, and every loss brings a whole new wave of “Can he do it?” » questions and criticism.
Allen was more than good enough to beat just about any other team in the NFL on Sunday night — 237 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions — but “good enough” isn’t good enough to beat Kansas City. And now Allen must wonder if he is the Charles Barkley of his era, an overmatched talent who has the misfortune of being born into an era where the generation’s greatest talents are in charge.
The consoling phrase in times like this is always: “He’ll get another chance.” » And it’s true, Allen will get at least a half-dozen more chances. But so does Mahomes. And that’s the problem for Buffalo…and Baltimore…and Pittsburgh…and everyone else who has the misfortune of playing in the Mahomes era.
ASK: Can Dalton Kincaid and Mark Andrews ever recover from these playoffs?
For a team game, NFL football certainly comes down to plenty of individual moments of agony. A kicker missing a field goal is kind of the norm for this scenario, but now we have two great hypotheticals with tight ends missing what should have been routine catches. Baltimore’s Mark Andrews had the most glaring drop, a potential two-point conversion that likely would have forced overtime. This week, it was Dalton Kincaid’s turn; a pass that would have kept the Bills’ final drive alive slipped past his forearms:
Granted, it was a tough catch to make under any circumstances, and Buffalo still needed to score at least one field goal to tie the game. (And Bills fans know all too well what would have happened if Mahomes had gotten the ball with time remaining.)
But still…it was a catchable ball, and that means it will be playing on the minds of Bills fans (and Kincaid himself) come September. “Right now, it obviously hurts a lot, and it’s going to last for a while, but eventually you have to move on,” Kincaid said after the game. “And I hope you grow from this, and I believe you will, but for now, it’s going to hurt a lot.”
Buffalo fans may not be happy with that answer, but it’s all they have to survive until next season.
ANSWER: The Philadelphia Eagles are fully operational
If the Chiefs hadn’t been doing what they’re doing, all the talk after conference championship weekend would be focused on the Eagles’ stellar run this season. Winners of 15 of their last 16 games, the Eagles flew (sorry) under the league’s radar for much of the season while the Lions and Vikings attracted attention. But those two teams are gone now, and what’s left is Philadelphia’s ravenous band of malcontents, a defense capable of swallowing planets, and an offense capable of notching runs of 50-plus yards at a moment’s notice.
Plus, Philly knows how to play the mind game. A key stat in Sunday’s decimation of the Commanders: Washington committed four turnovers, and Philadelphia turned each of them into a touchdown, a psychologically grueling strategy. This is a team that understands the value of every try, every move, every point in an overall game plan. They will have their challenges against Kansas City, the toughest psychologically team in the NFL, but Philadelphia will be a better matchup for the Chiefs than any other team in the NFC.
ASK: What’s next for commanders?
Many dreams ended prematurely during the NFL playoffs. The Lions, Vikings and Ravens, in particular – as well as the Bills, of course – were already checking hotel room prices in New Orleans before cold hard reality shut them down and forced them into the offseason. Washington, however, is a team that is entering the offseason with more optimism than frustration. That’s what happens when you exceed your expected season by a good six wins and when your season ends in the conference championship rather than a mathematical elimination before Thanksgiving.
Washington didn’t look good on Sunday. Those four turnovers that turned into touchdowns…that’s the worst possible outcome of an interception or fumble, devastating to the psyche of a young team. Jayden Daniels can do it all, but he can’t do it all, and against a defense as formidable as Philly, there wasn’t much he could do.
Yet Washington was the epitome of “house money” this season. The perfect encapsulation of this: a beautifully timed investigative report from ESPN on Saturday that torched former owner Dan Snyder. Commanders fans got a brief return to the misery they endured for a quarter of a century…and then were able to refocus on their wonderful new team. Washington has learned many lessons this season, but the first and most important is that greatness is within their reach after all.
ANSWER: Referees will always push you overboard
The final conspiracy of the Bills’ 2024 season came when Dalton Kincaid missed, when Jim Nantz said there was a flag and CBS showed the yellow flag graphic…only for there to be no flag after all. Bills fans on was a flag, only it was recovered once Kincaid fumbled the pass.
Look, you can’t really blame Bills fans — or anyone else, really — for distrusting the referees when the Chiefs are involved. We got another questionable, much more tangible decision when the referees ruled that Buffalo hadn’t gained the necessary inch for a first down in the fourth quarter, a decision that directly led to Kansas City regaining momentum and ultimately , to the game and to the conference championship.
Combine all of that with the weird timing of the NFC Championship, when the officials specifically said they might award the Eagles a touchdown, and you have an NFL fan base buzzing with every official’s call.
Not that it matters to the bosses:
Bravo to @BuffaloBills .. hell of a battle.
The rest of you can take all this “referee” talk and kick it. We are in business‼️
– Drue Tranquill (@DTranquill) January 27, 2025
Good luck to the referees in this year’s Super Bowl. You are going to be monitored more closely than the advertisements.
ASK: So who will win the Super Bowl?
Under normal circumstances, we’d say the Eagles are in double digits. But these are not normal circumstances and, one way or another, bosses always seem to find a way. We’ll save our formal prediction for later, but for now…maybe don’t bet the mortgage on Birds fans, Eagles fans, no matter how good you feel right now.