So, this past weekend were the NFC and AFC championship games. I’m going to start with the 49ers playing at Philly against the Eagles. I’ll disclose I am an Eagles fan, but will provide you an un-biased story.
This was unfortunately a 1-sided game due to Brock Purdy being injured just over halfway through the 1st quarter. It appeared to be an arm or elbow injury and was never officially ruled out. That would bring in the 49ers 4th QB of the year Josh Johnson.
The 49ers first QB Trey Lance was injured in their home opener week 2. He suffered a fractured fibula and some ligament damage. According to an article on MSN, he expects to be 100% during the off-season. Jimmy Garoppolo came in to finish that game and led the team to a 27-7 victory. Jimmy G lasted until week 13 then went down with a broken foot. Enter Brock Purdy, who led the 49ers undefeated to finish the season and even lead the team to the NFC championship.
With Brock Purdy appearing to not be able to throw the ball on the sideline, Josh Johnson was going to finish the game. In the 2nd half, Josh Johnson appeared as though he was going to make a game of it. Then, in a similar hit to Brock Purdy, Josh Johnson was sacked and caused a concussion.
The emergency QB’s were fullback Kyle Juszczyk and running back Christian McCafferty. The 49ers opted to put Brock Purdy back in the game. He ended up completing 2 more passes, albeit the ugliest 2 yard passes ever seem. But once it was clear Purdy couldn’t throw, The Eagles just played the rush and shut them down.
The Eagles side was what we’ve been seeing all year from them. Granted, the long pass to wide receiver Devonta Smith early in the game was a drop and not a catch. Credit to Devonta Smith for calling a hurry up indicating they needed to do a quick play to avoid the instant replay. But besides that, the Eagles scored 3 more times and the 49ers could barely score once with a 100% Brock Purdy.
So, love them or hate them, the Eagles are going back to the Superbowl to play the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bengals at the Chiefs game was more exciting and have the haters and trolls going crazy. This game came all the way down to the last 1st down and was as exciting as most of the playoffs have been. The Chiefs ended up prevailing 23-20, but depending on what you read and who you talk to, it’s covered in controversy.
Most of the hate comes at plays on the final drive. A play in which Mahomes was hit as he threw throwing off the trajectory of the ball, comparing it to a penalty against the 49ers earlier in which Brock Purdy threw the ball at the ground to try and avoid the sack.
The other was the last play before the Chiefs kicked the game winning field goal. The play in question was Patrick Mahomes scrambling, gaining a first down and putting them in long field goal range. But, at the end of the play Joseph Ossai pushed Mahomes who already had 2 feet out of bounds causing a late hit penalty resulting in an easy field goal to win the game.
The complaint is that the Chiefs offensive line was holding the Bengals, which would’ve resulted in off-setting penalties. After watching the play several times, I don’t see holding. The refs in my opinion called both games very well.
Here’s a look at an episode of Mayhemtainment discussing both football games, including a clip of the play in question.
There are many reasons the Bengals lost and none of them are the ref’s fault. Joe Burrow has 2 interceptions and a QB rating of 76.1, while Mahomes had no interceptions, 2 touchdowns and a QB rating of 113. Defensive penalties also contributed to the Bengals loss, getting called for multiple penalties on the Chiefs final drive of the game.
The people complaining and spinning conspiracy theories are just mad the game didn’t go the way they wanted. Or they’re not football fans to begin with. Complaining and spending time about these games that were clean, is just a waste of time and energy.
I hope you enjoyed this article, please check out all my work and media outlets.
Johnathan D. Edmonds
Twitter: JD@MayhemPres
The Boiling Point Podcast:
JDEDESIGNz:
Mayhem Media:
Comments