
Simon Paul
NFL Correspondent
1:00 AM 25th January 2025
sports
NFL Conference Championships - Preview
American Football
![Photo: KeithJJ]()
Photo: KeithJJ
Last week’s divisional round had a bit of everything – multiple turnovers, dubious officiating, a surprise upset, the continued domination of the running game, snow games and a crucial dropped pass. It sets us up perfectly for the final four in the conference championship games. Both contests will take place back-to-back on Sunday evening into Monday morning, with the NFC championship game kicking off first at 8pm here in the UK.
The penultimate weekend of the NFL season features an all-NFC East clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders and a fourth postseason meeting between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the last five years. Super Bowl LIX, at the Superdome in New Orleans, and the opportunity to “hoist the Lombardi trophy,” is within touching distance for each of these franchises.
(6) Washington Commanders @ @ (2) Philadelphia Eagles (NFC)
The championship game in the NFC is a battle between two familiar NFC East rivals. As the Commanders travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles, there is a good omen for the victor; the last four times there has been a divisional matchup in a conference title game, the winner has gone on to win the Super Bowl.
The two games between Philadelphia and Washington in the regular season were close. In Week 11, the Eagles scored 20 straight points in the fourth quarter, including two Saquon Barkley touchdowns, in a 26-18 win. In Week 16, the Commanders trailed 27-14 in the fourth quarter before Jayden Daniels threw three touchdown passes, the last with just six seconds remaining, to take Washington to a remarkable 36-33 win.
Philly’s star man, running back Saquon Barkley, is having an incredible postseason to complement his 2,005 rushing yards in the regular season. He has run for a playoff-high 324 rushing yards and is averaging over six yards a carry. The Eagles rank as the number two rushing attack in the league and have averaged over 227 yards per game in the playoffs. Philadelphia’s rushing game strength goes directly up against one of Washington’s biggest weaknesses, but that vulnerability didn’t stop the Commanders from knocking off the hot favourite Detroit Lions, despite rushing for 201 yards last week.
The Eagles' passing game continued to struggle during their 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams last week. Philadelphia’s top two wideouts, A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith, combined for a paltry 35 yards from 11 targets. If the Eagles’ rushing game has a sub-par performance in this matchup, will they be able to kick start the air attack? Quarterback Jalen Hurts doesn’t appear to be fully fit and is only three weeks removed from a concussion that he suffered in that week 16 loss to Washington.
In contrast, Philadelphia’s defence is looking like the real deal and put in another strong showing against the Rams. I highlighted defensive tackle, Jalen Carter in last week’s preview and he was a constant menace in the divisional round and registered two sacks, the second one effectively sealed the victory in the final minute of the game. Worryingly for the Commanders, they will be missing guard Sam Cosmi through injury which will mean backup, Trent Scott, will be severely tested by Carter on the interior of Washington's offensive line.
Washington pulled off the surprise of last weekend by humbling the Detroit Lions 45-31 in their own backyard. Rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, continued to demonstrate a calmness and composure that is extraordinary for someone so early in his professional career. The weight of leading the franchise to its first NFC championship game in 33 years was not too great a burden for the young signal caller.
Daniels uses VR training as part of his game week preparation and claims this has helped him so much that everything slows down for him on gameday to make the right decisions. Daniels' next touchdown pass will give him the NFL rookie record with five in a postseason. The young QB will be hoping for a similar performance to last time out against the Eagles where he had five touchdown passes and 81 rushing yards. The Commanders running game also stepped up in the second half of last week’s game so Offensive Coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, will hope to be able to utilise the ground to open things up for Daniels down the field.
Head Coach Dan Quinn emphasised his and the Commanders ultra-aggressive approach to play calling by continually going for it on fourth down and succeeding last week. Quinn is a coach with a strong defensive background from his days on Seattle’s staff with the fabled “Legion of Boom” so will be keenly aware that Washington is giving up too much yardage in the playoffs for their success to be sustainable. The Commanders' will need to get to the physically compromised Hurts and prevent him from scrambling, whilst also trying to keep a lid on Barkley, which is easier said than done!
The regular season contests between these two points to a high scoring shootout on Sunday. When it comes to this stage of the season, teams rely on their top names to come up big when it matters most. Philly has the better players on both sides of the ball and even allowing for some more Daniels heroics
I am picking the Eagles to come through in a one score game.
(2) Buffalo Bills @ (1) Kansas City Chiefs (AFC)
Sunday night’s headline act features the Bills visiting Arrowhead to take on the Chiefs. Josh Allen and co have known all season long that the route to the Super Bowl would likely mean a postseason visit to Kansas City. In the most recent clash between these two heavyweights in week 11, Buffalo put in a strong performance with a 30-21 at Orchard Park, Wester New York. However, as noted in last week’s preview, the playoffs is where the Chiefs excel. Patrick Mahomes boasts a 3-0 postseason record over Allen, including a 27-24 win in last season’s divisional round. This will be the second time in four years that the two teams have met in the AFC title game.
![Photo: WikiImages]()
Photo: WikiImages
What more can be said about Patrick Mahomes? He is the engine that drives the Kansas City Chiefs’ relentless winning train. He is the definition of clutch with a unique ability to perform a piece of magic in key moments of the biggest games. The stats are staggering: the Chiefs have won 16 straight one-score games dating back to last season; Mahomes has a 108.6 passer rating in the playoffs; nine AFC West division titles in a row; seven straight AFC title games (one behind the New England Patriots record); four Superbowl appearances (winning three), and 15-3 in the playoffs since he became a starter in 2018.
Kansas City was made to work hard for their 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans last week. In the first half the Texans were able to apply pressure to and sack Mahomes, with Joe Thuney playing out of position at left tackle regularly exposed. The Chiefs improved as the game progressed and Travis Kelce capitalised on the space available in the middle of Houston’s defence to post a season high 117yds receiving and a touchdown. Kelce made history with his performance by passing Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice for the most 100-yard receiving games in NFL postseason history with nine. The upturn in Kelce’s performance is an ominous sign for the Bills.
The Chief’s defence under the direction of defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, put on another masterclass of building a defensive gameplan last week and the Chiefs have improved on this side of the ball all season. Spagnuolo has again constructed one of the most formidable units in the league. The Chiefs allowed 19.2 points per game in 2024, No. 4 in the NFL and since the start of the 2023 season, Kansas City has the No. 1 scoring and total defence in the league. In last week’s game, the Chiefs sacked Houston’s QB, C.J. Stroud eight times. Greek born, George Karlaftis led the pass rush with three sacks and expect more of the same from him and elite defensive tackle, Chris Jones, this weekend.
Buffalo has one of the most explosive offenses in the league, led by MVP contender, Josh Allen. Allen finished the regular season with 42 total touchdowns in 2024, joining Aaron Rodgers as the only players with 40 or more total touchdowns in at least five NFL seasons. The Bills receiver by committee approach has resulted in a league-high eight players with multiple touchdowns in 2024. Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid and rookie Keon Coleman are Buffalo’s primary threats through the air. The offense is well balanced with running back, James Cook, rushing for 1009 yards in the regular season and a joint league high of 16 touchdowns.
The Bills’ defence performed well in last week’s win over the Baltimore Ravens. They did a decent job in limiting one of the best running games in the league by restricting Derrick Henry to just 84yds. Buffalo’s defence also helped them win the all-important turnover battle by forcing two fumbles and one interception. Allen had his best year avoiding turnovers, and Buffalo tied for the fewest (8) in any season since 1990. It will be a significant if they can have similar success this week as Patrick Mahomes has been pristine in protecting the ball in recent playoff outings. If the Bills can find a way to win that battle this week, it will give them a great chance of winning this one.
The Bills will also need to find a way to apply pressure to Mahomes in the same way Houston did last week to have a real shot at winning this one. Big games will be needed from the likes of Ed Oliver, Gregory Rosseau and veteran Von Miller.
This should be a close matchup and great entertainment with two of the league’s best under centre and could come down to the final possession and which team has the ball. I would love to see Buffalo make it to their first Super Bowl since 1994, for their long suffering fans, but it is hard to see past the playoff pedigree of the Chiefs.
I am taking Kansas City by a field goal and to continue their pursuit of a historic three-peat.