Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL, picking out his takeaways for each game as well as his Player of the Week; Watch Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas live on Sky Sports NFL, with coverage from 10pm on Sunday February 11
Tuesday 30 January 2024 19:02, UK
We now know the line-up for Super Bowl LVIII and it will be a repeat of the final four years ago in Miami, just before the world was locked down for a couple of years. This is going to be a fascinating battle between these two teams in Las Vegas. First, Conference Championship Weekend...
Let's start with the Kansas City Chiefs. And the biggest takeaway is that they find a way. How many times this season did we talk on Sky Sports about how lost the Chiefs looked? They were a shadow of their former selves, they had lost four from six in the period between the end of November and Christmas Day and they looked in a world of trouble and were nowhere near the best team in the NFL.
Here they are, ready for a fourth Super Bowl in five seasons. They find a way with players you wouldn't expect. Charles Omenihu had a forced fumble, Marquez Valdes-Scantling with the game-sealing catch down the middle of the field.
The wide receivers that had been an absolute thorn in Patrick Mahomes' side for most of the season, one of them comes up big to send the team to the Super Bowl.
That's what great teams do. The Chiefs are built a different way now. They lean heavily on one of the best defenses in the NFL and find a way to get the job done. That's what dynasty teams do. That's what the Chiefs are.
Leading the way on that front are Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. It must be the playoffs because they are making plays again. Kelce was looking every bit his 34 years of age for a lot of the regular season, but he has come alive with 23 catches in the postseason and become the go-to guy once again for Mahomes.
Their connection is incredible. Mahomes has tidied up his game, he is playing very sensible football and not taking risks with the ball and knowing the Chiefs can win a different way with that defense.
No need to turn the ball over, no need to take too many gambles. And Mahomes always has that ability to extend a play like he did on a key third down in the first half, extend the play to find Kelce having also found Kelce on fourth-and-two.
They are the driving force of an offense that is not brilliant, and didn't score a point in the second half, but is good enough to win and good enough to win it all when it has that defense on the other side.
Baltimore must be so disappointed with the way they bowed out. Just one offensive touchdown on the day.
Time and time again they had chances in the second half. Their defense stood up tall but they couldn't get that ball over the line, Zay Flowers especially with his fumble over the goalline.
I don't think they could get Lamar going and it was really confusing to me that their leading running back had three carries. I don't think their running backs had more than six all day which is incredible to me.
There was no balance and they couldn't find a rhythm. They were beaten physically but also more mentally. Spagnuolo took away the passing lanes, so they lost the Xs and Os battle there, and they lost their heads with silly penalties.
Flowers had a taunting penalty, Kyle Van Noy headbutts somebody, Jadeveon Clowney with a late hit on Mahomes, Roquan Smith going across the line of scrimmage to stop the clock but smashing into somebody for a 15-yard penalty.
I thought the Ravens lost their heads as the game slipped away from them.
For the second week in a row the 49ers had to dig deep and I'm talking really deep against the Detroit Lions. They were 24-7 down at the half, and thankfully they listened to Journey during the half-time show and didn't stop believing, and they came back.
They are not normally a team known for coming back, so I think that was significant. Brock Purdy put the team on his shoulders, had some big throws but also some very big runs which you don't always associate with Brock Purdy, who rushed for 48 yards including a 21-yard scramble.
Christian McCaffrey was a big part of their comeback, he had 90 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and the defense just refused to let Detroit run over them anymore.
Detroit had close to 150 on the ground in the first half and ended with 182, so they really shut down that side of the ball.
It was a complete comeback and it was one that was pressure-packed. I think it said a lot about Brock Purdy and a lot about Kyle Shanahan.
I think you can criticise Dan Campbell for not taking a field goal to tie the game at 27 apiece, to roll the dice on fourth down. He had a couple of fourth-down gambles that failed, a run near the end which cost them a timeout and meant they had to try an onside kick instead of trying to force the 49ers into a three-and-out.
There are a few things like that, but that is just dwelling on small details at the end of what has been a great season. The Lions showed in that first half they can go toe-to-toe with the best in the NFL, they are one of the best in the NFL but just got pegged back by a very good San Francisco team.
There's no shame in that. Dan Campbell said it will be very hard for his team to get back to this stage, I would respectfully disagree. I think Detroit will be in the playoff picture for years to come. This is not a setback, this is the starting point.
Kelce had 11 catches, 116 yards and a touchdown. I think you go back to that word 'trust' and he showed everything Mahomes needed to trust him, he always has.
He was very productive at the times he was needed and the touchdown was just spectacular. The ball placement from Mahomes to Kelce, the way these two are on the same wavelength is truly historic.
We get distracted now when we talk about Kelce by his famous entourage. Let's put the spotlight back on the player. He is one of the greatest tight ends we've ever seen in this game.
I'm going to go with the Marquez Valdes-Scantling catch for 32 yards at the end of the Chiefs' win over the Ravens to send Kansas City to the Super Bowl.
It's third-and-nine with two minutes left, and you are potentially giving the ball back to Lamar Jackson one more time. Baltimore marched up and down but just couldn't finish in the second half, so there's a real danger here that a game that was dead and buried was going to come alive again and the Ravens would threaten to score.
What do you do if you're Andy Reid? You put it in the hands of Patrick Mahomes, but surely you are going to Travis Kelce - unless that is what the Ravens are expecting. It's all about trust with these Chiefs. How Mahomes felt that was the best option is beyond me, but Valdes-Scantling made the catch and sent his team to the Super Bowl.
It was a reminder that it takes everyone on a team.
I don't think there's a player or coach under more pressure in this playoff series than Kyle Shanahan. He's got one of the best rosters, if not the best roster in the NFL, he lost the Super Bowl to the Chiefs four years ago, he as a play-caller got questioned in Atlanta's blown lead against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
There are a lot of eyes on Kyle Shanahan when it comes to pressure moments and in-game decisions. His team were down 24-7 and scored the next 27 points, he didn't blink and dialled up a very good game plan, got the ball to his playmakers. A nod to Kyle Shanahan, who did really well when his team had their back to the wall.
Now we prepare for Super Bowl LVIII. There will be lots of talk before the game in Las Vegas, and why not?
This is filled with storylines. The top one for me is the fact that we will see a quarterback who was drafted with the last pick, and whose name nobody knew until last December, taking on the greatest passer of his generation in Patrick Mahomes. That is a great starting point. How the Chiefs find themselves on offense against a good San Francisco defense will be key. Can Purdy and all those weapons on the 49ers offense break down what has been a stout Steve Spagnuolo defense?
I believe there is nothing between these teams. I think the better roster belongs to San Francisco, but the best player in the NFL belongs to Kansas City. That's a great leveller. I think the 49ers have opened as a slight favourite, but this is a coin-flip game.
A really good contest beckons. Whey they met four years ago the Niners let by 10 with seven minutes left, and suddenly took three body blows and lost by 11. They will be out for revenge. We are going to have a really exciting Super Bowl.
Join us from 10pm live in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Christian Wilkins of the Miami Dolphins and Phoebe Schecter in the studio. It's going to be a fun night. Let's end a great season together.
