On Sunday, NFL fans around the world were treated to two highly anticipated and exciting Conference Championship games. The NFC presented the Philadelphia Eagles, led by star running back Saquon Barkley, and the underdog Washington Commanders, quarterbacked by Rookie of the Year candidate Jayden Daniels. The Commanders have been an interesting story since the beginning of the season; just last year, they underwent a head coach, quarterback and ownership change. Nobody expected anything out of the Washington Commanders for this season, a team who hadn’t made the playoffs since the 2020 season entering this year. Yet, the heroics of sensational rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels carried this seemingly damaged franchise all the way to a conference championship date with their division rivals. To simply describe Jayden Daniel’s rookie campaign as incredible would be an understatement. Once in a blue moon will you see a rookie quarterback finish top five in QBR and top ten in passing touchdowns with an additional 891 yards rushing, all while leading his team within one game of the promised land. However, Daniels wasn’t the only one with a historic season. Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards, just 100 away from tying the all-time record for rushing yards in a season. Barkley’s historic season carried over to the postseason, rushing for 119 yards against the Packers and 205 yards against the Rams.
Regarding the game itself, the number two-seeded Eagles enjoyed their home-field advantage. Quarterback Jalen Hurts had an efficient 20/28 passing day, with 246 yards and a touchdown. Barkley showcased more of his unreal talent, amassing 118 yards on the ground with three touchdowns. In terms of stats, the game wasn’t extremely lopsided, however, the key difference between the two teams were turnovers. Washington fell victim to three fumbles and a Jayden Daniels interception, while the Eagles turned the ball over zero times. The Eagles pulled away in the second half outscoring the Commanders 28-8 and ultimately securing a Super Bowl berth by a score of 55-23.
The AFC displayed two familiar foes, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. These two teams have met quite a bit in the playoffs the last few years with the Chiefs winning every single playoff matchup. The Bills haven’t made the Super bowl since 1993, while Kansas City has won two straight and is looking to complete a three-peat.
This game certainly lived up to the hype. Buffalo QB Josh Allen finished the game with 237 yards and two touchdowns, with one of those touchdowns being a 34 yard strike to Mack Hollins to pull the Bills within one possession at halftime. Buffalo would end up taking a 22-21 lead after James Cook plowed his way into the end zone from one yard out. Patrick Mahomes, however, displayed some of his signature “Mahomes magic” in the second half; he ran for a touchdown from 10 yards out to give the Chiefs the lead early in the fourth quarter. After Buffalo responded with a touchdown of their own, Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field, setting up a chip shot game-sealing field goal for Harrison Butker.
Super Bowl 59 will feature the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. These two teams recently met in Super Bowl 57 with the Chiefs beating the Eagles 38-35.