Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games ? pic.twitter.com/ZC8Ts5dHqK
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 19, 2020
When I previewed the AFC Championship between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, I suggested that the Titans would be able to continue running at will, but that they would need the passing game to put up numbers as well.
And for awhile, the Titans were in control! The Titans scored the first ten points of the game at Kansas City, with Tennessee RB Derrick Henry following up a rare field goal drive by the Titans offense by scoring a direct snap TD run. Even though the Chiefs answered with a drive that ended in an 8-yard receiving TD for Kansas City WR Tyreek Hill, the Titans came right back down the field on their third drive by going the length of the field in 15 plays, culminating with a receiving TD to OT Dennis Kelly.
The Chiefs offense took over from there. The Titans allowed a total of 25 points to the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens. After facing a 17-7 deficit, the Chiefs scored 28 unanswered on the Titans, a run that featured five TD drives in six possessions. The run left Henry irrelevant, as he was held to seven rushing yards after halftime on three rushes (all in the third quarter). Tannehill was decent (21/31, 209 pass yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 108.1 passer rating), but he was sacked three times and led four scoreless drives that gained a total of two first downs while the Chiefs blew past them.
Mahomes did it all. He threw multiple red zone TD passes to Hill. He escaped porous tackling to score a rushing TD outside the red zone to erase Tennessee’s final lead right before halftime; Mahomes led the Chiefs with 53 rushing yards. The Chiefs were balanced just enough, as RB Damien Williams had a goal-to-goal rushing score and turned 22 touches into 89 total yards from scrimmage. Kansas City WR Sammy Watkins applied the dagger, scoring on a rainbow from Mahomes – a 60-yard TD that made all subsequent events irrelevant.
The NFC Championship wasn’t nearly as compelling. If anything, this game looked a lot like the last time the Green Bay Packers were in the NFC Championship – January 2017 at the Georgia Dome. Back then, current San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. Before 28-3, Shanahan’s offense was laying waste to the Packers in the 2016 NFC Championship. As 49ers head coach in the 2019 NFL season, Shanahan’s offense pulverized the Packers in a similar fashion.
Back in 2016, the Packers trailed the Falcons 24-0 at halftime of what would ultimately be a 44-21 Falcons win. In 2019, the 49ers led the Packers 27-0 at halftime behind three TD runs by RB Raheem Mostert. The Packers found some offense after halftime, going on three consecutive TD drives. But Mostert scored a fourth rushing TD in the third quarter to make the fourth quarter irrelevant, and he ultimately finished with 220 rushing yards.
San Francisco QB Jimmy Garoppolo only dropped back nine times, taking only one sack while the 49ers did not turn the ball over. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, lost a fumbled snap in the first half while throwing an INT in both halves. Rodgers also took three sacks and was fortunate not to lose two other fumbles.
The 49ers didn’t even need their receivers. WR Emmanuel Sanders didn’t catch his only target. TE George Kittle saw his only target with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter – of course, he caught the 3-yard pass and ran 16 yards for a first down. The most impressive part of the win for the 49ers outside of Mostert’s workhorse performance and Garoppolo avoiding turnovers was the fact that San Francisco’s offense didn’t have a single penalty.
Winning units:
KC pass offense (WR Tyreek Hill)SF offensive line (QB Jimmy Garoppolo)
I’ll be back after Super Bowl Opening Night for a preview of Super Bowl LIV. In the meantime, I’ll just remind the people that the last time the 49ers saw the Chiefs was Week 3, 2018 in Kansas City. The Chiefs won 38-27 as Patrick Mahomes had a flawless game (24/38, 314 pass yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 115.5 passer rating, only sacked twice), while Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a season-ended left ACL tear in the fourth quarter.
Also – both franchises were quarterbacked at one point by Joe Montana, Alex Smith, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac and Steve DeBerg…
Super Bowl time pic.twitter.com/FQKTo87NyB
— Law Murray ? (@LawMurrayTheNU) January 20, 2020