Connect with us

NFL

Chiefs on cusp of NFL history, plus Eagles set NFC Championship game record and early odds for Super Bowl LIX

Chiefs on cusp of NFL history, plus Eagles set NFC Championship game record and early odds for Super Bowl LIX

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!Β 

The Bills and Chiefs gave us another playoff classic on Sunday night, and like all playoff classics involving the Bills and Chiefs, Buffalo did not win. And just for the record, it’s the Bills’ fault that the Chiefs have taken over the NFL. Back in 2017, the Bills traded out of the 10th spot in the NFL Draft and gave the pick to the Chiefs, who took Patrick Mahomes. So they dug their own grave here.Β 

For the third straight year, the Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl where they’ll be facing the Philadelphia Eagles, and no, you are not having dΓ©jΓ  vu. We did just have that same exact Super Bowl in February 2023. The Chiefs will now be looking to make NFL history by becoming the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls.Β 

Anyway, we’ll be taking an early look at the Super Bowl in today’s newsletter, but before we get to that, we’ll be breaking down what happened in the AFC Championship and NFC title game.Β 

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do isΒ click here.Β 

1. Breaking down the AFC and NFC championship gamesΒ 

USATSI

Since there were only two games over the weekend, we thought it would make sense to at least take a brief look at what happened in each game, so that’s what we’re going to do

Here’s a quick look at each game:Β 

Eagles 55-23 over Commanders

  • Eagles run wild.Β If the Commanders wanted to have any chance of winning, they needed to stop Saquon Barkley and that definitely didn’t happen. On Philadelphia’s FIRST play from scrimmage, Barkley broke loose for a 60-yard touchdown on a day where he finished with 118 yards overall. Barkley and Jalen Hurts both ended up rushing for three touchdowns each. Overall, the Eagles scored seven times on the ground, tying an NFL playoff record that had stood since 1940. The Eagles rushed for 229 yards and are now 8-1 on the season when they rush for at least 200 yards in a game.Β 
  • Jalen Hurts plays one of his best games of the season.Β Going into Sunday, Hurts had only thrown for more than 200 yards ONCE in his past seven games, so no one really knew what to expect from him in the NFC title game. What the Eagles got was an impressive performance that helped carry them to the win. Hurts completed 20 of 28 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. His most impressive throw of the game came on a fourth-and-5 with just over two minutes left to play in the second quarter. On the play, Hurts threw a perfect pass to A.J. Brown for a 31-yard gain (YouΒ can see the play here). The Eagles eventually scored to take a 20-12 lead. If the Eagles hadn’t converted, the Commanders would have gotten the ball near midfield with two minutes to go until halftime in a 14-12 game.Β 
  • Commanders couldn’t hold on to the ball.Β The NFL might want to investigate to see if someone covered Washington’s footballs in butter, because they couldn’t hold on to the ball in this game. The Commanders lost three fumbles and the Eagles ended up getting 21 points off those three turnovers. The most painful turnover probably came from Jeremy McNichols, who fumbled a kickoff in the second quarter. That fumble allowed the Eagles to score two touchdowns in 95 seconds just before halftime, which turned a 14-12 game into a 27-12 game (The Commanders did get a field goal just before halftime to cut the score to 27-15 at the break).

Chiefs 32-29 over Bills

    • Patrick Mahomes continues to be a magician.Β One reason it’s so hard to stop the Chiefs offense is because the opposing defense has no idea who Patrick Mahomes is going to throw the ball to. Last week, DeAndre Hopkins, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown combined for exactly zero catches. This week, that trio combined for six receptions for 106 yards. Mahomes completed at least one pass to eight different receivers, including Samaje Perine, who made his ONLY catch of the game on third-and-9 with 1:05 left to play. Perine’s 17-yard catch sealed the win for Kansas City and it epitomized why the Chiefs are so tough to stop. Mahomes ended up going 18 of 26 for 245 yards and a touchdown, and not surprisingly, he was at his best during a fourth quarter where he went 6 of 8 for 96 yards. Β 
    • Bills forgot about their rushing attack.Β The Bills actually ran the ball well in this game with 147 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, but it’s almost like the rushing attack was an afterthought. In the first half, the Bills ran the ball just 11 times. In the third quarter, they got their offense going by running the ball on 15 of their 16 offensive plays for 86 yards, but that was the only time they consistently stuck with the run. James Cook was Buffalo’s best player not named Josh Allen, but offensive coordinator Joe Brady didn’t try to get him the ball on Buffalo’s final drive. Despite the fact that Cook totaled 134 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 touches, he didn’t get a single touch on Buffalo’s final possession. The other problem for the Bills is that they were stopped constantly in short-yardage situations. Josh Allen went just 2 of 5 on third or fourth down when the Bills needed one yard. After only getting stopped ONCE all year on a short-yardage QB sneaks, he got stopped three times by the Chiefs.Β 
    • Refs made a controversial call.Β This was a Chiefs game, so of course, there was a controversial call and this one came on a fourth down in the fourth quarter. On a fourth-and-1 from Kansas City’s 41-yard line, Allen tried to bulldoze his way for a first down and in a bizarre scene, one ref appeared to mark him short while another ref appeared to give him the first down (You can see that here). After a review of the play, the officiating crew ruled that Allen came up short. The Bills were leading 22-21 at that point, but five plays after the failed fourth down, the Chiefs would score a touchdown and take the lead. After the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott said he was pretty sure that Allen had gotten the first down.Β 

We’ve got more takeaways from the Chiefs’ win, and you can check those out here. We’ve also got some takeaways from Philadelphia’s win over the Commanders, and you can read those here.Β 

2. 13 crazy stats from the conference title games

Every Sunday night I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday that email always includes some amazingly wild facts about the games that were just played.Β 

With that in mind, here are 13 crazy facts from the conference title games:Β 

  1. Chiefs can make history.Β The Chiefs will have a chance to become the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a row. No team with back-to-back Super Bowl wins has ever even made it to the Super Bowl, so Kansas City made history just by winning the AFC title game. The Chiefs are the fourth team to make it to three straight Super Bowls, joining the Dolphins (1971-73), Bills (1990-93) and Patriots (2016-18).
  2. Mahomes passes Montana.Β Patrick Mahomes picked up his 17th career postseason win, which moves him past Joe Montana for the second-most all-time. Mahomes now only trails Tom Brady, who won 35 playoff games in his career. Mahomes also joins Brady and John Elway as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to make it to five Super Bowls
  3. Big Red catches Don Shula.Β Andy Reid is headed to the Super Bowl for the sixth time, which ties Don Shula for the second-most appearances in NFL history. Reid now trails only Bill Belichick, who got to the big game nine times as a head coach.
  4. Chiefs keep winning close games.Β The win over the Bills marked the 12th time that Kansas City has won a one-score game, which is a single-season record. They have also won the last 17 one-score games that they’ve played in, which is also an NFL record.
  5. Josh Allen can’t get over the Mahomes hump.Β The Bills quarterback is now 0-4 against Mahomes in the playoffs, which is now the NFL record for most losses against another QB without a single win. Allen also now holds the record for most career playoff wins (7) without making a Super Bowl start.
  6. Eagles score most points in conference title game history.Β With 55 points against the Commanders, the Eagles broke the record for most points in a conference title game. The previous high came during the 1990 season when the Bills beat the Raiders, 51-3, in the AFC title game.
  7. Eagles match rushing record.Β With seven rushing touchdowns against the Commanders, the Eagles matched the 1940 Chicago Bears for the most rushing touchdowns in a playoff game. The Bears got seven during a 73-0 win in the NFL title game that year. Coincidentally, Washington was the opponent in both games. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley became the first pair of teammates to each rush for three touchdowns in a playoff game.
  8. Eagles steamroll the competition.Β With 229 yards and seven rushing touchdowns against the Commanders, that means the Eagles now have 514 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in their past two games. That makes them the first team since the 1962 Packers to total 500 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in consecutive games. The Eagles now have 3,731 rushing yards on the season, which is the most by a team in a single season in NFL history (The record had been held by the 2024 Ravens, who rushed for 3,664 yards before being eliminated last week. The Ravens broke a record that had been held by the 1972 Dolphins).
  9. Hurts so good.Β Jalen Hurts is headed back to the Super Bowl after losing in his debut two years ago. That makes Hurts the first quarterback in 30 years to lose his Super Bowl debut and make it back to the big game. Over the past 30 years, there have been 19 quarterbacks who lost their first Super Bowl start and failed to make it back. YouΒ can check out the full list here.
  10. Nick Siranni joins exclusive club.Β The Eagles coach is now headed to the Super Bowl for the second time in his first four seasons, making him just the third coach in NFL history to pull off that feat. Sirianni joins Joe Gibbs (Washington) and Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh).
  11. Playoffs are proof that you need to win the turnover battle.Β Since the start of the 2023 season, NFL teams are 14-2 in the playoffs when they win the turnover battle. Unfortunately for the Bills, they were the losing team in both of those games, including Sunday night’s loss to the Chiefs. The Bills lose despite winning the turnover battle 1-0.
  12. Super Bowl deja vu.Β The Chiefs and Eagles played in Super Bowl LVII, which will make this the second-shortest span between Super Bowl rematches in NFL history. The only shorter span came in 1993 and 1994 when the Cowboys and Bills played each other in back-to-back seasons.
  13. Saquon Barkley on the cusp of history.Β If the Eagles running back gains just 30 yards in the Super Bowl, he’ll set the all-time record for most rushing yards in a season, including playoff games. The record is currently held by Terrell Davis, who rushed for 2,476 yards during the Broncos’ Super Bowl-winning season in 1998. Barkley can become the first player since Davis to win the regular-season rushing title and the Super Bowl in the same season

If you see any other fun facts,Β feel free to tweet them at me.Β 

3. Early odds for Super Bowl LIX: Chiefs open as the favorite

When it comes to the Super Bowl, the oddsmakers never waste any time getting the first point spread out. As soon as the clock hit zero in the Chiefs’ win over the Bills, oddsmakers around the country released their opening point spread for the game.Β 

Let’s take a look at where things currently stand (via DraftKings)

Super Bowl LIX — Sunday, Feb. 11 in New Orleans
(1) Chiefs vs. (2) Eagles, 6:30 p.m. ET (Fox)
Current line:Β Chiefs (-1.5)

The Super Bowl will be on Fox, which I’m only noting because Fox also had the Super Bowl two years ago when the Chiefs and Eagles first met. This marks the first time that a network has gotten the same matchup in back-to-back Super Bowls since NBC got Cowboys-Bills in 1993 and 1994.Β 

Here are a few notes on the game:Β 

  • This game will mark the ninth time in NFL history that we’re getting a Super Bowl rematch. These two teams met just two years ago in Super Bowl LVII, which is a game that the Chiefs won 38-35. The Eagles were actually leading in that game 24-14 at halftime before getting outscored 24-11 in the second half.
  • One big storyline to watch is the fact that the Chiefs can become the first team in NFL history to win THREE Super Bowls in a row. Although the Patriots won three Super Bowls in a four-year span to kickstart their dynasty, they never won three in a row. Speaking of the Patriots, the Chiefs have won nine straight postseason games and if they win one more, they’ll tied the Patriots’ all-time record for longest winning streak in the postseason.Β 
  • This will be the sixth Super Bowl for Andy Reid, who is now tied with Don Shula for the second-most Super Bowl appearances in NFL history, trailing only Bill Belichick (9). Reid, who got fired by the Eagles in 2012, has faced his former team a total of five times since taking the Chiefs’ coaching job in 2013 and he’s gone 4-1 in those games.Β 
  • This will mark the second time that each team has played a Super Bowl in New Orleans. The Chiefs’ first Super Bowl win came in New Orleans when they beat the Vikings in Super Bowl IV. As for the Eagles, their first appearance in the big game came in New Orleans in a loss to the Raiders in Super Bowl LV.Β 
  • If the Chiefs are going to win their third straight Super Bowl, they’re likely going to need more magic from Patrick Mahomes. The Eagles gave up the fewest passing yards per game, fewest total yards per game and second-fewest points per game in 2024, so Mahomes is going to have his hands full with one of the best defenses in the NFL. That’s one reason why this point spread is likely so close.Β 

For a closer look at the early odds, be sure to check out our full story here.Β 

4. NFL Draft order is almost set: Top 30 teams locked in

With the Bills and Commanders now done for the season, that means we just took two steps closer to finalizing the NFL Draft order for 2025.Β 

With that in mind, here is the official order for the top 30 spots in the draft:Β 

1. Titans (3-14)
2. Browns (3-14)
3. Giants (3-14)
4. Patriots (4-13)
5. Jaguars (4-13)
6. Raiders (4-13)
7. Panthers (5-12)
8. Jets (5-12)
9. Saints (5-12)Β 
10. Bears (5-12)
11. 49ers (6-11)Β 
12. Cowboys (7-10)
13. Dolphins (8-9)
14. Colts (8-9)
15. FalconsΒ  (8-9)
16. Cardinals (8-9)Β 
17. Bengals (9-8)
18. Seahawks (10-7)
19. Buccaneers (10-7)
20. Broncos (10-7)
21. Steelers (10-7)
22. Chargers (11-6)
23. Packers (11-6)
24. Vikings (14-3)
25. Texans (10-7)
26. Rams (10-7)
27. Ravens (12-5)
28. Lions (15-2)
29. Commanders (12-5)
30. Bills (13-4)

The draft order will be finalized after the Eagles face the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. If you want to take a look at the needs for each team in the top 30,Β we’ve got that here.Β 

The 2025 NFL Draft will be coming at you in April from Green Bay, so the cheeseheads will definitely be excited when the Packers go on the clock at 23rd overall.Β 

5. Cowboys hire Brian Schottenheimer: Five things to know

The award for most bizarre hire of the 2025 coaching cycle definitely goes to the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones waited until almost 10 p.m. ET on Friday night to announce the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer. It almost seemed like that he was hoping that no one would notice, but we noticed, Jerry, and we’re going to talk about it today.Β 

Here’s everything you need to know about the hiring:Β 

  • Schottenheimer is a first-time head coach.Β The 51-year-old Schottenheimer has been coaching in the NFL since 2001, but he’s never been a head coach. During that 24-season span, he’s served as an offensive coordinator for four different teams, including the Jets, Rams, Seahawks and Cowboys. Jones loves to hire from within, so in that sense, the Schottenheimer hiring kind of makes sense since he had been on the Cowboys coaching staff since 2022. This is the first time since 2000 that Jones has hired a coach who had ZERO head-coaching experience. Back then, he hired Dave Campo and that ended up being a disaster with Campo going 15-33 over three seasons.Β 
  • Cowboys interviewed multiple former head coaches. Before hiring Schottenheimer, Jones talked to Deion Sanders, but the Colorado coach never had a formal interview. The only three candidates who were formally interviewed by Jones were Leslie Frazier, Robert Saleh and Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Both Saleh and Frazier are former NFL head coaches. As for Moore, he’s in his first season as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator and he’s probably enjoying his job since the Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl.Β 
  • Brian is the son of Marty Schottenheimer. Marty is one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. He coached four teams — Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington, San Diego — and went to the playoffs in 18 of his 21 seasons as a head coach. Schottenheimer finished his career with 200 wins, which is the eighth-highest total in NFL history. The elder Schottenheimer died in 2021 at the age of 77. Β 
  • Several Cowboys players are against the hiring.Β Both Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant have come out against the hiring. The two guys don’t necessarily have an issue with Schottenheimer, they just think Jones could have picked a better candidate. Irvin wanted to see the Cowboys hire Deion Sanders while Bryant wanted to see them hire Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. You can check out their thoughts on the situation here. Β 
  • Schottenheimer has a tall task in front of him. The Cowboys haven’t been to the NFC title game since 1995, which is the longest conference title drought in the NFC. It will now be up to Schottenheimer to end that drought. Schottenheimer is getting a four-year deal and Jones rarely fires a head coach during the middle of his contract, so it seems like Schottenheimer will get the full four seasons to lead the Cowboys to the promised land. Β Β 

Schottenheimer did add some experience to his coaching staff on Monday with the hiring of former Bears coach Matt Eberflus as his defensive coordinator.Β 

You can check out our full story on Schottenheimer’s hiring here.Β 

6. Extra points: Bears hire one of the youngest offensive coordinators in NFL history

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.Β 

  • Bears hire 28-year-old offensive coordinator.Β New Bears coach Ben Johnson hired both of his coordinators over the weekend. The Bears’ offensive coordinator will be 28-year-old Declan Doyle, who’s coming over from Denver’s coaching staff. Doyle is the youngest coordinator to be hired since 2014 when Sean McVay got promoted to the OC job in Washington at age 27. At defensive coordinator, the Bears have hired former Saints coach Dennis Allen. You can read more about those two hirings here.Β 
  • Seahawks hire a new offensive coordinator. After just one season in New Orleans, Klint Kubiak is headed to Seattle to be the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. This will mark the third OC job for the 37-year-old Kubiak, who also served as the offensive coordinator for the Vikings (2021) and Saints (2024).Β 
  • Jets hire a general manager.Β The Jets finally have a general manager. The team hired former Broncos assistant general manager Darren Mougey over the weekend. The 39-year-old had been with the Broncos since being hired as a scouting intern in 2012. One of the first big decisions he’ll have to make in New York is whether to keep Aaron Rodgers. You can read more about Mougey’s hiring here.Β 
  • NFL will likely expand replay assist. One major change could be coming to the NFL’s replay assist rule: The league will likely make quarterback slides a reviewable play. This means that if a player gets flagged for unnecessary roughness on a play that involves a QB slide, the NFL can step in and overturn the flag if replay shows that the player shouldn’t have been penalized. You can read more about this possible rule change here.Β 

Go to Source
Author: John Breech
January 27, 2025 | 2:20 pm

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

More in NFL