Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
I should probably stop making bold statements in this column, because every time I do, the worst outcome happens. Or maybe, if things are guaranteed to go wrong, I should direct my bold statements only at the Chiefs.
0. The Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are going to win the Super Bowl. There is no way this team could possibly lose to the Bills at home, and there’s no way they won’t steamroll whoever the NFC sends their way. In all seriousness, this Chiefs team is not built to keep up with the Bills. Their defense has been solid all year, and their offense gets it done when they need to, but their only real loss this year was to the Bills for a reason. This column will continue to feature the Kansas City Chiefs at rank 0 since the NFL appears to currently be rigged for the Chiefs to win it all. I will continue to refuse to have them take up a spot on the list of best teams in the league until they — by some miracle — don’t win a Super Bowl.
3. The Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia took care of business against the Rams, but I don’t know how I feel about their chances against Washington. Yes, Saquon Barkley can easily go off for multiple long touchdown runs, but right now it feels like that’s all the depth this offense has. Jalen Hurts hasn’t had to pass the ball, and when he did against the Rams, it wasn’t pretty, throwing only for 128 total yards. That said, this performance was also the result of the Rams defensive line getting to Jalen Hurts for seven sacks on the day. When Jalen Hurts has time — which he has had in the Eagles’ other matchups against the Commanders this year — he has played very well. If the Eagles are able to establish the run game early and force Washington to play defense more aggressively, all over their read option and play action plays suddenly become a lot more potent. If they aren’t, or if Jalen Hurts’ injury that he sustained against the Rams is still impacting his mobility, this team is going to have to hope their defense is able to slow Washington down.
2. The Washington Commanders
The Commanders played perfectly against the Lions. Their offense continued to be explosive and fast-paced due to Kliff Kingsbury’s major focus on no-huddle offense, and the defense has continued to maximize their opportunities at turnovers. While I highly doubt the Eagles will gift-wrap five turnovers for this Commanders team, I also have a hard time believing that this defense won’t force the Eagles into a few mistakes. But as much as I love this Commanders defense, I don’t really think they’re going to make too much of an impact on the game. They don’t really have the traits of a defense able to stop Saquon Barkley or the Eagles’ fourth down play calls like the Tush Push mostly in part due to their lack of size and strength on the defensive line. If they can even slow the Eagles run game down, that’ll be a solid outing for this unit. What the Commanders are going to be depending on to win is Jayden Daniels to guide the offense perfectly, not turning the ball over and running up the score with every possession they get. Because the one thing the Eagles team isn’t built to do is to score constantly, they rely on long drives and the occasional Saquon Barkley 70 yard touchdown run. But the Commanders have shown the ability to play offense at whatever pace they need to, and that gives me confidence that they can outduel the Eagles on Sunday.
1. The Buffalo Bills
In the three playoff meetings between the Josh Allen led-Bills and the Patrick Mahomes led-Chiefs, the Bills have lost every time. Historically, the Bills have never lost four important playoff games in a row. The Bills had better be hoping the Eagles are able to beat the Commanders on Sunday, as the Eagles are the only team the Bills didn’t lose to in their four straight Super Bowl losses in the 90’s. The difference between that cursed team and this Bills team is that they have all the tools to beat the depleted Chiefs roster and advance to the Super Bowl. The Bills defense in their first matchup against the Chiefs held Travis Kelce to two catches for only eight yards. And when Kelce hasn’t been moving the ball on offense, no one — outside the refs — has stepped up to keep the offense on the field. The Chiefs struggled mightily to score the points they did in that game, and I think that will be the case again in the AFC championship. Josh Allen has also fully accepted that he doesn’t have to launch the ball downfield for 90 yards every time it’s snapped to him, and he has also managed to cut down on his turnover habit that he has historically struggled with. This offense is also full of depth and doesn’t struggle when their number one option is covered, opting for an offense that runs through every player on the team instead of one or two ball-dominant players. This approach has worked, and combined with a stout defense I have full faith in this Bills team to go out and win on Sunday against the Chiefs.
.jpg)
