SPECIAL COLLABORATION
It’s hard to sum up a game as spectacular as the one that pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in just a few words. We had one of the best games in history, whether in the regular season or in the playoffs. But for sure, with the stakes of a one-night stand, it was absolutely captivating to watch from start to finish.
The Chiefs won the game and fully deserved it, but in fact no one deserved to lose this game, and that’s why I want to particularly highlight the performance of Josh Allen and everything he did for his team despite the defeat.
All season, the team has been said to be running at Josh Allen’s pace, and Allen did exactly what was needed to give his team a win on Sunday. He was almost perfect. When his team needed him in the fourth quarter, he played as well if not better than any other quarterback I’ve seen in the last few years in the NFL. He threw lasers, he saw everything on the field, he was able to escape with his legs and run to get first plays. It was really, really spectacular. This guy is a star and the Bills are very lucky to have him. Delivering such a masterpiece in a time of such intense pressure, no one can doubt that he is most certainly capable of delivering them a Super Bowl title. Unfortunately, they came up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bills remain a damn good team that has had a great season and has one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL for the next 10 years, so in my opinion, the future is bright in Buffalo.
The Bengals can count themselves lucky
The Cincinnati Bengals signed a historic victory this weekend by winning their first road playoff game against the Tennessee Titans. A match they won despite losing the trench warfare on both sides. It’s rather rare to be dominated like this in football and win despite everything.
ContentId(3.1400570):NFL : Bengals 19 – Titans 16 (Football)
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The Titans’ defensive front demolished the Bengals’ offensive line in a way that has rarely been seen. Nine quarterback sacks is a record in a playoff game. Joe Burrow and the Bengals were under constant pressure. What was also worrying on their side with the offensive line is that we managed to inflict all that on them with only four players under pressure. We didn’t even need to blitz and we still managed to get to the young quarterback.
It’s something that will have to be corrected for the rest of the Bengals, but what remains impressive is the passion and resilience that Burrow has shown. We call him “Joe Cool” and once again he showed us why. We hit him non-stop, but he resisted and he was still able to get up each time to finish the game with 348 yards and very important passes late in the game.
It’s good to have ‘Joe Cool’, he’s amazing as a quarterback and the team advances to the conference final, but I have a lot of doubts that the Bengals will advance to the next round if the line the offense delivers such an uninspiring performance next week.
Aaron Rodgers fell short against the Niners
There’s been a lot of talk about special teams being a big reason the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers with two blocked kicks, including one returned for a touchdown. But what grabs my attention above all is the fact that Aaron Rodgers did not deliver the goods.
ContentId(3.1400569):NFL : 49ers 13 – Packers 10 (Football)
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Tipped as the league’s MVP in the regular season, Rodgers has accustomed us to carrying his team on his shoulders if necessary, regardless of who his receivers were and who were in the backfield. But in the last game, when we expected him to be at his best, he just didn’t deliver. And he wouldn’t have needed to do much considering the Niners’ meager 13-point tally. Yes, he was under pressure and he was bothered, but he only seemed to have eyes for two players: Aaron Jones and Davante Adams. In fact, 21 of his attempted passes were directed at them.
I don’t know what happened, I really have a hard time explaining why he didn’t perform against the Niners. Racking up regular season wins is all well and good, but Rodgers’ legacy will forever be tainted by his lackluster playoff performances over the past decade. This most recent release will be on display as evidence for a long time to come.
Key additions propelled the Rams
We could talk about several things in the game that the Los Angeles Rams won at the expense of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, such as the spectacular comeback of the Buccs, if not the near collapse of the Rams late in the game or even the inspirational performance of Cooper Kupp. But what caught my attention the most was the fact that the new acquisitions made in the off-season and regular season to take the Rams to the next level paid off.
ContentId(3.1400613):NFL : Rams 30 – Buccaneers 27 (football)
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First, Matthew Stafford. Former quarterback Jared Goff was said to have been limiting the team for years, so a big trade was made with the Detroit Lions to get Stafford. The least we can say is that despite a rocky regular season during which he led the NFL with 17 interceptions, Stafford was really good in the last two playoff games. Sunday, against the Bucs, he completed 28 of his 38 passes for 366 yards. But above all, he delivered the goods when his team needed him late in the game. Once again, he protected the ball, and that is above all what we asked of him.
Another important addition is that of Odell Beckham Jr. Many assumed that he was a problem case with the Browns, that he was slowing down Baker Mayfield and that there was not much room for him. However, by coming with the Rams, the more the campaign progressed, the better it worked. The trend continued in the playoffs. He’s really an interesting addition as the No. 2 receiver behind Kupp. He made big catches in opportune moments to add momentum to the offense and maybe even free up Kupp to be even more effective. This is quite an addition from the organization.
I’ll finish with Von Miller, who we acquired from the Denver Broncos. He too was constantly in the backfield, and he destroyed left tackle Donovan Smith for much of the game. He had a quarterback sack, but the stats don’t show how dominant he was because he forced Tom Brady to rush a lot of passes and a lot of gestures. He was a terror defensively.
Here are three acquisitions that in my opinion made a big difference and that could still seriously help the team for the rest of its elimination journey.
* Interview by Audrey Roy
