NFL Championship Game Running Thread

[Chef2]

28-24 Chiefs
34-30 Lions

Both games will be “bangers” as the kids say.

 

[MileHigh]

AFC referee: Shawn Smith
NFC referee: Clete Blakeman

 

[Chef2]

My guess on Super Bowl R

Vinovich.

 

[Chef2]

I’d like to see the early game be Saturday Night.
Late game Sunday at 3:30 est.

 

[MileHigh]

I’d like to see the early game be Saturday Night.
Late game Sunday at 3:30 est.

Nah. No short week for conference title game. And 6:30 p.m. EST is a sweet spot. I'll give the NFL credit there for doing the Sunday doubleheaders in the divisional and conference championship games at 3 p.m. EST and 6:30 p.m. EST. It gives it flexibility since games don't start before noon local time. If these matchups were last year or next year, the early game would be in Santa Clara at noon PST and the late game in Baltimore at 6:30 p.m. EST.

In January 2009, NFC title game was in Arizona at 1 p.m. MST. In a dome. AFC title game was in bitter cold in Pittsburgh at 6:30 p.m. EST. Because, well, it's all about the fans.

 

[DanOregon]

I thought both games yesterday were interesting from the refs perspective - some challenging calls, expertly adjudicated and the games kept moving.

Niners 35-20
Ravens 31-17.

Of course, ask me after they submit the injury report. A lot of players hurt this weekend - on top of those already playing hurt. It must truly suck to work your ass off since you were a kid, be this close to playing in a Super Bowl, and be out this week and see a dude who is your back-up get the start (and having to root for him to do well in the hopes you will recover in time to play in Vegas).

I know they don't consider themselves rivals, but Harbaugh v. Reid is always a great coaching match-up worth watching. McVay-Shanahan is similar. That they have such a history and know each other/tendancies etc. so well makes you wonder if they ever overthink things.

 

[Songbird]

Rematch.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I'll be very surprised if the Lions win. No result in the AFC game would surprise me.

 

[Cosmo]

Was letting the other thread breathe for a day before starting this one, but ...

Sunday
Kansas City at Baltimore (-3.5/44.5), 3, CBS
Detroit at San Francisco (-7/50.5), 630, FOX

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I would certainly lay the points with the 49ers. I would take the Chiefs on the grounds of how many times are you ever going to get to bet Mahomes AND the points.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

49ers-Chiefs, with the winner getting eternal rights to the NIL of ol’ No. 16.

 

[Octave]

history rhymes and stuff

 

[Starman]

My hunch is that Niners-Lions will come down to a huge balls-out gamble by Campbell in the final minutes that either succeeds or fails spectacularly.
Just for fun, let's call it Lions 33-31. Mahomes makes a big play late for KC - 28-25.

 

[Cosmo]

Kind of wild that KC has made six straight AFCCG appearances on the heels of the Patriots appearing in the game seven straight times. No one else has appeared in more than four in a row. Longest NFC streak is four (Dallas twice).

 

[Batman]

Kind of wild that KC has made six straight AFCCG appearances on the heels of the Patriots appearing in the game seven straight times. No one else has appeared in more than four in a row. Longest NFC streak is four (Dallas twice).

Eagles went to four in a row as well, from 2001-04.
What's always been weird to me is how, since about 2000, it's felt like the NFC has a lot more parity from year to year than the AFC. Maybe it was just Patriots fatigue, but for the longest time it felt like we were stuck in a Patriots-Steelers-Ravens-Broncos circle jerk in the AFC championship game. Now the faces are finally changing, but the Chiefs have replaced the Patriots and the Bengals and Bills have filled the other spots in the circle.
The Packers and 49ers have played in 11 of the last 13 NFC championship games, but they've only faced each other once and it seems like that second spot has been more of a rotation than in the AFC. There's usually one team that seems to jump up out of nowhere to get this far (Bucs, Rams, Eagles, Lions the past four years).

Of course, then I looked at the actual numbers and there isn't much difference. Eleven NFC teams have reached the championship game since 2014. Thanks to the changing of the guard the past few years, the AFC has had 10. So maybe I'm just an idiot.

 

[MileHigh]

Eagles went to four in a row as well, from 2001-04.
What's always been weird to me is how, since about 2000, it's felt like the NFC has a lot more parity from year to year than the AFC. Maybe it was just Patriots fatigue, but for the longest time it felt like we were stuck in a Patriots-Steelers-Ravens-Broncos circle jerk in the AFC championship game. Now the faces are finally changing, but the Chiefs have replaced the Patriots and the Bengals and Bills have filled the other spots in the circle.
The Packers and 49ers have played in 11 of the last 13 NFC championship games, but they've only faced each other once and it seems like that second spot has been more of a rotation than in the AFC. There's usually one team that seems to jump up out of nowhere to get this far (Bucs, Rams, Eagles, Lions the past four years).

Of course, then I looked at the actual numbers and there isn't much difference. Eleven NFC teams have reached the championship game since 2014. Thanks to the changing of the guard the past few years, the AFC has had 10. So maybe I'm just an idiot.

Since 2000. AFC, 13 of the 16 teams have gotten to the AFC title game (Browns, Texans, Dolphins).

13 (1): Patriots
6 (2): Chiefs, Steelers
5 (1): Ravens
4 (1): Colts
3 (1): Broncos
2 (4): Bengals, Jets, Raiders, Titans
1 (3): Bills, Chargers, Jaguars

NFC, 14 of the 16 teams have gotten to the NFC title game (Cowboys, Commanders)

7 (2): 49ers, Eagles
6 (1): Packers
3 (7): Falcons, Giants, Panthers, Rams, Saints, Seahawks, Vikings
2 (3): Bears, Buccaneers, Cardinals
1 (1): Lions

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

history rhymes and stuff

And they only fell short once under Schottenheimer. I wonder if they (and he) finally would have broken thru from '07-09. Had to have a betetr shot than Norv (to be fair, Norv won three playoff games...and also lost to the dogass Jets as the no. 1 seed in '09)

 

[Octave]

byh-

The 2006-09 Chargers also had a chucklehead quarterback who had a penchant for the dumb play.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

byh-

The 2006-09 Chargers also had a chucklehead quarterback who had a penchant for the dumb play.

There's an extra layer of melancholy to Marty's series of near-misses b/c he seemed like a really decent guy, the type of guy who used to be able to be a head football coach in the NFL. (His rough final few years certainly add to the melancholy)

I remember Washington having a press conference a day or two after 9/11 and he was teary-eyed saying that he, like everyone else in the room, just wanted to get home and be with his family. He always had good teams and it seems like most of the playoff near-misses were just awful luck (I was a kid or in college for most of these so it's possible there were coaching snafus I missed/don't remember). The Drive, The Fumble, running into the Bills' AFC dynasty with the Chiefs, Steve Bono stinking and Lin Elliott missing three FGs, Elvis Grbac being Elvis Grbac with a 13-win team. Maybe the blown lead against the Patriots in '06 was his doing, but as you noted, the QB didn't do **** in that game.

 

[Octave]

I was always a Marty fan. Anyone who can pilot Steve DeBerg to plural playoff appearances (and Dave Krieg for another) can coach a little bit.
Even though DeBerg was along for the ride most of the time (along with Marty's Pleistocene-era offenses).