Conference Championship Games did not Disappoint

Conference Championship games are not always super exciting.   This year they were both exciting.   For the first time ever both games went to over time.  There were blown call.  Great plays.  Interesting bounces and fun football the whole game.   Never mind that I picked both games incorrectly.  At least they were close like I though they would be. But that is a hollow victory.  I would rather have picked the correct teams to win.  Other than the games being very exciting.  The Conference Championship games demonstrated just how bad the NFL Overtime rules really are.

Hopefully having both games demonstrate just how bad overtime is will lead to changes being made for overtime.  There is no reason that both teams should not have the opportunity to possess the ball in overtime.  How crazy is that.   It happens all the time in overtime.  Yet the NFL has not fixed the issue yet.  The other problem was a few specifically one significant blown calls.  Blown calls that change the outcome of the game.

Rams 26 – Saints 23 in OT

This game started out to be a blow out.  The Saints were doing pretty much what ever they wanted to.  After the first quarter they were up 13 – 0.   They should have been up 21 – 0. For some reason they were doing some strange things when they were getting into the Red Zone.  I am a huge fan of Taysom Hill.  He is a very versatile player that can many things on the field.  He can be a running back a receiver and in limited rolls a quarterback.  I do not think that in the biggest game of the season while you are in the red zone is the right time to take the ball out of your Hall of Fame  quarterback.

With Drew Brees you are better off putting the ball in his hands and let him take his shot.  Than you are to try and run some kind of trick play.  First off they are going to be looking for it when you put Hill at quarterback and put Brees out wide.   The other reason is there is a reason that Brees is your stater and Hill is your backup.   Brees is the better quarterback.  I am not saying there is no situation to do this.  I am saying in this game it was a confusing choice to make.

Throughout the game.  It seemed like Sean Payton was trying to out smart rather than out coach the Rams staff.   Sometimes when you try to get to creative you end up hurting your self.  The Saints were in the driver seat early in this game.  They failed to pull away and allowed the Rams to get back in this game.  That eventually cost them dearly.

Yes the Saints had many opportunities to win this game.   They had break downs of defense and on offense.  I am not one to usually put a win or a loss on one play.  In this game though.  The Pass Interference that was not called.  Not only did Nickell Robey-Coleman  commit pass interference against Tommylee Lewis he also hit him helmet to helmet.   Two calles that could have been made.  That were not.   If that is called.  It gives the Saints a first down in the red zone.  The Saints would have had an opportunity to score a touchdown or run the clock down and attempt a short field goal.  As it was they had to kick a field goal with 1:41 left on the clock.  Giving the Rams time to tie the game and take it into overtime.

The Saints were not able to recover from that call.  They had opportunities to win after that.  The Saints won the toss in OT.  They got the ball first but could not do anything.  So the Rams were able to go down.  Kick a 57 yard field goal and win the game.  I get the argument. But really.  If that penalty is called.  The game is over and the Saints win.   There is a petition going around for a redo.  Not going to happen.  There is some crazy story about how the commissioner can reverse the game due to the unfair nature.  Also not going to happen.  Every team gets screwed by a bad call.  Unfortunately for the Saints it happened in the NFC Championship game.

Patriots 37 Chiefs 31 In OT

This game started very similar to the game these two teams played earlier in the season.   The Patriots jumped out to an early lead.  The Chiefs come storming back to tie the game.  The Patriots win.   This time they did not win with a field goal as time expired.  It went to overtime but the Patriots scored a touchdown the first series of overtime to win the game.

All year long I have been saying don’t count the Patriots out.   What did I do with my picks?  I counted them out.  They came back to remind us all who the Patriots really are.  They have done something that has never been done in the NFL.  Something that will probably never be done again.

This game Started out with the Patriots having their way with the Chiefs.  The thing that made it interesting is that Brady did not have his best game.  He actually had a below average game.  He threw two interceptions.  Only had one touchdown pass.  Had a rating of 77.1.   He did throw for 348 yards so it was not all bad.   On the other side Mahomes threw for three touchdowns no interceptions and a rating of 117.0.  He is the real deal.  In this case it just was not enough.

At half time the score was 14 – 0 Patriots.  The Patriots are deadly when having a two possession lead at half.  The Chiefs said we don’t care about that.  They scored 31 second half points.  Unfortunately for them the Patriots scored 17 second half points to take it to over time.  In the over time the Patriots won the toss.  Took the ball and scored a touchdown.  Game Over.

This game was not nearly as controversial as the first game.  There were some phantom penalties.  A face mask called against the Chiefs when no one actually touched Brady’s face mask.  But nothing as crazy as blatant pass interference that was not called.

The conference championship games are behind us now.  It seems like we ended up pretty close to what people thought was going to happen when the season started.  The first few weeks of the season the Rams were being put in the Super Bowl.   The Patriots you can’t count out till they lose.