Storylines for NFL’s final four will extend to Super Bowl
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By DERON SNYDER
In one corner, we have the grizzled, wise sages, a pair of passers who have been atop their profession for nearly two decades.
In the other corner, we have the budding, spry newcomers, two quarterbacks who had yet to reach kindergarten 20 years ago.
Will veterans Tom Brady and Drew Brees pass the torch in the NFL conference championship games on Sunday? Or will they make newcomers Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff wait a little longer to ascend?
We couldn’t ask for a better set of games to determine a Super Bowl that will be tantalizing either way. We can have the geezers in a New England-New Orleans contest featuring all-time greats. Or maybe we get the fresh princes in a Kanas City-Los Angeles tilt, highlighting the next wave. Or it might be a mix-and-match pairing, something old, something new.
This much seems clear: If points are your thing, you should prepare extra popcorn.
For the first time in NFL history, the league’s four highest-scoring teams have advanced to the conference championships. The Chiefs, Rams and Saints averaged 30-plus points per game, with Mahomes leading Kansas City to 35.3 per outing. Meanwhile, Brady piloted the Patriots to a 27.2 average, all while keeping his legendary chip on his shoulder.
“I know everyone thinks we suck and, you know, can’t win any games,” Brady said Sunday after New England demolished the Chargers to reach its eighth consecutive AFC title game. To reach his sixth Super Bowl, he only has to go through Mahomes, the 23-year-old MVP front-runner who threw 50 touchdown passes this season, just his second.
“We’ll see,” Brady said. “It’ll be fun.”
That’s a good description of what happened when the 41-year-old Brady squared off against the upstart in October and handed Kansas City its first loss. Mahomes passed for 352 yards and four touchdowns, but New England prevailed, 43-40, on a field goal as time expired.
On Sunday, Brady proved that he’s still not ready for pasture just yet, despite the hot takes from numerous pundits. “I just like winning,” he said after completing 34 of 44 passes for 343 yards.
The NFC title game features a rematch, too, likewise among the league’s most entertaining regular-season games. Brees made sure New Orleans kept the date by passing for 301 yards Sunday in the Saints’ comeback against Philadelphia. Brees – who celebrates his 40th birthday on Tuesday – was rusty at the start, having enjoyed a first-round bye after sitting out Week 17.
New Orleans put the Rams in their place in November, saddling them with their first loss of the season. Not surprisingly, the scoreboard got a workout in that game – 45-35 – as Brees passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns. Goff, his 24-year-old counterpart, passed for 391 yards and three touchdowns.
“You’ve got to score points to win,” Brees said Sunday after the Saints managed just 20 against the Eagles. “But you’ve got to stop people to win, too.”
In theory, that’s true. It’s also true that the Chiefs were 24th in scoring defense this season and the Rams weren’t much better (20th).
When those two met on Monday Night Football in November, they combined for 105 points. Even the defenses got in on the action, with the Rams’ D scoring two touchdowns to the Chiefs’ one. If Mahomes and Goff advance for a rematch in the Super Bowl, their respective punters might not see the field.
Storylines for the conference championship will meld seamlessly into the Super Bowl plot, built on the generational battle between the players under center.
(A sub-plot is 32-year-old Rams coach Sean McVay crashing the party with veterans Bill Belichick, 66, Andy Reid, 60, and Sean Payton, 55. Anyone associated with McVay already makes NFL teams dreamy-eyed; general managers won’t be able to contain themselves if McVay reaches the Super Bowl).
But no matter which teams win on Sunday, and on Feb. 3, the NFL’s final games of the season figure to be pleasing.
“Playoff football is what we all aspire to have the opportunity to play,” Brees said. “You look at both sides of the bracket, AFC and NFC, it’s the 1 and 2 seeds. So I think in many cases it’s probably the guys that everybody felt would be here for one reason or another.”
For Brees and Brady, it’s experience. For Mahomes and Goff, it’s potential. For offense-oriented fans, it’s glorious. For lovers of defense, it’s problematic.
But most of all – for those with no emotional or financial attachment to the proceedings – it’s plain wonderful. — Brooklyn-born and Howard-educated, Deron Snyder writes his award-winning column for The Washington Times on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Follow him on Twitter @DeronSnyder.
