The best played game of the weekend turned on one play. Yes, we can talk about Dak's turnovers in a bit, but it turned on a broken play where Purdy was chased a bit and threw an ambitious seam ball to Kittle, who batted it to himself, bobbled it, and caught it for 25 yards. That plus four other catches totalling 95 yards, got hte 49ers moving. It opened Dallas up a bit. He was great all night as a blocker as well. On a day where Deebo and CMC were held down quite well by a game Dallas defense, Kittle was the best player on the field.
Runner-Up: Travis Kelce (TE, KC)
It was a banner weekend for tight-ends. Hayden Hurst had a great game, as did Dallas Goedert. But Travis Kelce was a monster, with 14 catches for 98 yards. Yes, most were short, but nearly all were successful in moving the chains and keeping the Chiefs in rhythm. So many on third down, or to get a 2nd or 3rd & manageable. The two TDs. He was just ever present. I'll talk in a bit about what the Jags failed at, but right now this is just a TE playing about as well as possible at that position (unless Kittle is playing it better....)
Goat of the Week: Buffalo Bills Defense
We'll talk about the Bills offense later, but man was that a disaster on defense. I've never seen a DL get pushed around so much, both in the run or pass. They just seemed stuck and slow. I get that Von Miller is missing, but the rush defense had stayed fairly good even post Von (unlike hte pass rush which fell off mightily). That should have been a better performance. The Bengals just tore them up. The secondary also had a bunch of miscommunications. The Bills are generally one of the better coached defensive units, but this was just a disaster. Giving up just 27 points was extremely flattering a total.
Runner-Up: Dak Prescott (QB, DAL)
One week you're the hero, the next week you're the goat. Thems the breaks. I think people should remember as they criticize Prescott today (fairly), that he was equally as magnificent last week. That too was a playoff game. In this one though, all the worst tendencies came out. The two picks are the headline, and they were both bad (even if the second was a bit unlucky with the deflection). But outside of those two throws he was a bit gun-shy. He was late on reading through his progressions. He tried fitting balls a bit too much. It was not the best day for Dak, admittedly against an excellent defense.
Surprise of the Week: Cincinnati Bengals OL
On the converse side, the Bengals OL was incredible. Especially needing to play three backups (granted, La'el Collins was bad this year, so that may be a neutral switch, if not a positive). They were just perfect in run blocking, totally exploting the light boxes they faced. They did a great job in pass coverage, especially up the middle, which without Von is usually the Bills relative strength. Burrow gets rid of the ball quickly, but in this one he didn't even need to with how well the Bengals OL just stoned the Bills.
Runner-Up:
Disappointment of the Week: Buffalo
I'll talk more about this later, but man that was a sullen loss. The whole team seemed off from the very first drive letting the Bengals right down, followed by Allen barely missing what could've been a huge shot play. The offense just seemd a step off all day, a few missed catches, a couple missed reads. The running game wasn't bad, but got 3-4 yards when the Bengals were getting 6-8. Nothing really worked. People will hammer them and cast doubt on their longer term outlook. I'll get into that later, but for this one game, it is fully deserved. Teams have laid an egg in the divisional round at home before (hell, I've seen my favorite team/player do it often). Sometimes it means nothing, like Pats losing in 2010 to the Jets and then running off eight straight AFC Title Game appearances. But other times its a harrowing sign of things to come. For what was such a promising season, and one where at the end of the day they went 14-4 (13-3 regular season) and were one of the best teams wire to wire, this is a rough one.
Runner-Up: The Overall Round
The divisional round is the best weekend in the NFL season, if not hte best full weekend of sports in the sports calendar in the US. But this year came up short. Granted, we just came off a season with teh best divisional round maybe ever, with three last-second FG games and the Bills-Chiefs epic last year. Also, this year's Wild Card round was sneakily excellent. But when the second most competitive game was the Chiefs beating the Jags 27-20 after leading basically wire to wire, we have a bit of an issue. The NFL never lets us down multiple years, and we are left with two mouth-watering Title Games, so all is not lost.
Team Performance of the Week: Philadelphia Eagles OL
The Bengals great OL performance was a surprise. The Eagles dominating with Kelce, Johnson & Co isn't a surprise. It is the norm. But even then they were exceptional in that game. The Giants DL is strong, and had a guy playing like a madman recently with Dexter Lawrence, and the Eagles just stonewalled them. Running lanes all over the place. All the time in the world for Hurts. Lane Johnson looked perfectly healthy coming back, and how Kelce is this good at his age is beyond all of us. Bless these boys, making OL cool again in the year 2023.
Runner-Up: Kansas City Chiefs running game
How did the Chiefs not lose a beat with two drives without Mahomes, and then with a gimpy Mahomes? Well, Kelce helped, but more than that the run game came to life. Pacheco was great. McKinnon was good. This OL continued its great play in recent weeks. The Chiefs quietly have become one of teh most efficient running teams. Often that is a sign of light boxes because of the superstar QB, but this was even when the QB wasn't his normal self.
Team Laydown of the Week: Giants DL
I hate doing related performance & laydown, because always one does begat the other, but I think its needed here. My word was the Giants DL nowhere to be seen. They had great success in the Week 18 game, but in this one went so quiet. Lawrence did nothing, neither did anyone else. Looking back, the second the Eagles cut through this DL like butter on that opening drive, we knew the game was over.
Runner-Up: Jaguars LBs
Like maybe try covering Kelce? Just not a great week for any of the Josh Allens. Not only did Kelce run free, but the running game for the Chiefs was given free reign to churn out yards and the blitzes that worked fairly well at times were completely missing as well. The Jags defense was given a tall task, made easier by Mahomes's injury, but their middle level proved wholly incapable of providing any resistence.
Storyline that will be Beat Into the Ground: Bengals own the Chiefs
The Bengals may beat the Chiefs, it might be more likely than not given Mahomes's ankle. But they're not going to win this time just because they've won three in a row. Let's take a look at the three games. The Chiefs had leads in all of them. Twice had two-touchdown leads (last year's regular season game, the AFC Title Game). Sure, it says something that they've blown these games, and the Bengals definitely don't fear the Chiefs. But this is not some Patriots beat Colts in mid-2000s stuff. These are just two teams that played three coin flips that came up heads each time. That happems all the damn time.
Storyline that Should be Beat Into the Ground: Let's Not Bury the Bills
Yes, the Bills missed a great opportunity this season, but a Bills team missing Von Miller, Micah Hyde (plus his replacement in Hamlin), Dequan James (their best run stuffer), are not as good as the Bengals. That has no bearing on 2023. The Bills will still be a great team. We've seen teams lose badly in the playoffs one year and be fine the next. If anything, this Bills last three years mirrors well my Colts from 2003-2005. First they lose on the road in the AFCCG; then lose in the divisional round to the same opponent the next year. Finally, they don't have to play that team, but a younger upstart beats them in 2005 in a suillen loss. Look up what happened in 2006 boys - things were fine. Yes, they need more reinforcements on the OL, but you have to think another year of experience for Shakiir, for Elam, for the young pass rushers. And finally Josh Allen is still incredible. There is still a future here.
