Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes dominated the sports news this week. Would Mahomes recover from his concussion sustained in last week’s game against the Cleveland Browns? Well, yes.
The AFC Championship game features the two youngest quarterbacks to face each other in the key game: Mahomes is 25 and Bills QB Josh Allen is 24. The Bills are four point underdogs.
Over in the NFC Championship game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, we have some of the oldest QBs in the NFL: Tom Brady is 43, Aaron Rodgers is 37. The Packers are favored by 3 1/2 points. I’ll go with the team that plays its home games on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Who will you be rooting for today?
I’ll be rooting for the Bills and the Packers—although in both games, the point spread is pretty narrow, so a missed field goal or point-after could make all the difference.
Now that the Saints’ season is over, we’re hearing that, in addition to eleven fractured ribs and a punctured lung, QB Drew Brees also sustained rotator cuff damage when he was sacked in what I’m assuming will be considered a career-ending injury. I said I thought he returned too soon from the DL and the amount of interceptions he threw after his return proves that.
Deb, even a casual football fan could see Drew Brees wasn’t “right” in that game against the Bucs. I can’t believe Brees still wanted to play after sustaining 11 fractured ribs and a punctured lung…and a rotator cuff injury. Brees is headed for the NFL Hall of Fame.
Not having a dog in either of these fights I’m just hoping to see two good games, and I think there’s a good chance of that. My sporadic regular season football watching is mostly determined by what the networks choose to give me, and that makes the Bills an outlier, since I saw them only once before the post season. Which team I’m pulling for is likely to be a mid-game decision, and may change during the course of the games. If I were betting, which I’m not, my standard rule is to go with the home team unless there’s some compelling reason not to, so I’m picking the Pack and the Chiefs.
Michael, according to our Weather-Guessers, both the games in Green Bay and Kansas City won’t be affected (much) by weather. With Covid-19 restrictions in place, crowd size will be diminished. I’m not sure “Home Field Advantage” is what it once was in the Age of Coronavirus.
I’m rooting for the Packers and Chiefs, though I wouldn’t be sorry if the Bills win.
Agree with Deb, Brees came back too soon. Hopefully the same isn’t true of Mahomes.
I’ll probably have on both games, a first for me in years to watch entire games When the chargers (judas’s per my fav local sportswriter) left, I found myself watching a lot less
Maggie, the Big Question in the Bills vs. Chiefs game is: how healthy is Patrick Mahomes?
Go, Bills! A lot depends not just on Mahomes’s ability to suit up, but if Mahomes is his usual self (which, one could argue, he hasn’t been for much of the season, judging by the number of games the powerful Chiefs won by four points or less), or if the Bills defense can get to him.
I’m expecting the Packers to prevail over the overachieving Bucs.
Oh, and Go, Bills!
Jeff, Go Bills indeed! The Chiefs have some other players like Sammy Watkins who are nursing injures, too. The Bills are relatively healthy.
Go Bills. They have earned it.
Patti, thanks for the Good Vibes. The Bills will need them today in what is shaping up as a tight game with the Chiefs.
Packers all the way. I like Mahomes, and think he’ll play well, but the Bill’s defense is their real strength and could win the game for Allen.
Rick, you can’t ever count Tom Brady out. Your incisive analysis of the Bills underrated Defensive is spot on!
I must admit I am enjoying the Tom Brady show more than I expected to. The end of the half was a DISASTER for the Packers. Letting Miller get behind you with 6 seconds left should NEVER happen, let alone in the Championship Game. Enforgiveable.
Jeff, Tom Brady certainly knows how to win. Now Brady’s headed for his 10TH Super Bowl!
Unforgivable.
Jeff, what’s unforgivable is the Bills Offense which decided not to show up today. The only way you have a chance against Mahomes and the Chiefs is to keep scoring with them. If you fall behind, like the Bills did, you’re toast.