The NFL's top seeds took care of business Saturday: The Eagles reached the NFC championship game after pulling off their first three-game sweep of Big Blue while the Chiefs are in the AFC title game for the fifth consecutive year.
, the league's presumptive MVP for the 2022 season. Conversely, probable MVP runner-up Jalen Hurts, who missed a pair of late-season starts before returning in Week 18 with a tender throwing shoulder, appeared to recapture his mojo as theA healthy Hurts and mangled Mahomes – expect daily updates on his ankle for the next eight days – will doubtless dominate the subplots heading into the championship round on Jan.
29. But Saturday did offer a lot more to sift through than the obvious winners and losers: By prevailing, the top-seeded Chiefs and Eagles snapped a recent hex for top-seeded teams, which had lost four in a row entering Saturday's action – the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans both one-and-done in the divisional round last year. Still, no No. 1 seed has won the Super Bowl since Philadelphia did so five years ago and only one has played on Super Sunday since the NFL expanded to the 14-team postseason field starting in the 2020 season. Since the start of the 2018 campaign, top seeds are an aggregate 9-8.Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and Eagles C Jason Kelce, both perennial All-Pros who are among the best to ever play their respective positions, both emerged victorious ... leaving their extended family with a dilemma for next weekend, but the kind any parent would want to have. Travis Kelce finished the day with 14 receptions, two for touchdowns, and 98 receiving yards – extending his playoff record of games with at least 95 yards to seven. Jason Kelce anchored an offense that much more closely resembled the one that helped underpin a 13-1 start to the regular season. The Eagles finished with 416 yards, and Hurts was rarely touched in the pocket.The presumptive 2022 league MVP improved to 5-0 in divisional round games despite suffering an ankle injury that prevented him – against his wishes – from completing the first half while he underwent testing. Despite clearly being hindered physically, both from a mobility standpoint and mechanically when attempting some passes, Mahomes completed 22 of 30 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He's one win away from leading K.C. to a third Super Bowl appearance in four years.The 15-year veteran and longtime Chiefs QB2 has an 18-36 record as an NFL starter, mostly split between his time with the Miami Dolphins and Jaguars. But Henne's success as a reliever continues to be instrumental to Kansas City's playoff fortunes. Two years ago, Henne – to borrow some baseball parlance – got the save in a divisional round defeat of the Cleveland Browns after Mahomes suffered a concussion. Saturday, Henne got a hold when Mahomes missed a pair of second-quarter series. The second"possession" only required a half-ending kneel-down from Henne. But on the other, he led a 98-yard touchdown drive – the longest in Chiefs playoff history – capped by a 1-yard TD pass to Kelce.Hurts, TE Dallas Goedert – the duo hooked up for a 16-yard TD on the game's opening drive, and Philadelphia never looked back – All-Pro RT Lane Johnson, DE Josh Sweat and S C.J. Gardner-Johnson all appeared to be in midseason form after their collective array injuries contributed to Philadelphia's struggles over the past month. But this squad looks primed and ready as it prepares to host the Dallas Cowboys or San Francisco 49ers with a spot in Super Bowl 57 on the line.Though the Jags were the team that really needed to play keepaway Saturday, it was the Chiefs who dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for more than 35 minutes. Rookie RB Isiah Pacheco spearheaded a ground game that churned out 144 yards – emblematic of how the post-Tyreek Hill offense has evolved – on 30 attempts.If the Buffalo Bills beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon, the ATL will host the AFC title game – a scenario the NFL outlined weeks ago after Buffalo FS Damar Hamlin's on-field collapse at Cincinnati in Week 17. The subsequent cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game – which stripped Buffalo's inside track to win the top seed in the AFC playoff bracket – led the league to pick a neutral site if Chiefs and Bills were to meet in the postseason for the third straight year. The NFL announced Friday that more than 50,000 tickets have already been purchased for a potential game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.For the fifth consecutive season – coinciding with Mahomes' entire stint as the starter – Kansas City is through to the AFC championship game, the third time one team has managed such a streak. It will also be five in a row at Arrowhead Stadium ...The Eagles and Giants have been bitter rivals since 1933, but this was the first time Philadelphia managed a three-game sweep of New York in one season. The Iggles improved their playoff record against Big Blue to 3-2, Saturday marking Philly's third straight victory on that front.The Chiefs coach – formerly of the Eagles coincidentally – tied Hall of Famers Tom Landry and Don Shula for the second most playoff games coached with his 36th, trailing only Bill Belichick . With his 20th postseason win, Reid also tied Landry for the No. 2 spot, 11 behind Belichick. Finally, Reid also pulled even with Landry by taking a team into the conference title round for the 10th time – yes, only Belichick has accomplished that more times .The Eagles' Miles Sanders, who used to back up Saquon Barkley in Happy Valley, had a game-high 17 carries and 90 yards, spearheading a ground onslaught that averaged 6.1 yards in Philly's romp.With the Giants behind almost from the jump, Pro Bowler and former Nittany Lion Barkley only got nine carries and what could have been his final game for New York.Spanning his time at Cartersville High School, Clemson and the previous two weekends with Jacksonville, the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NFL draft entered the weekend with a 37-0 record in Saturday games. Make it 37-1.The Chiefs' perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle has now appeared in 13 playoff games ... with nary a sack. It's hardly the most accurate indicator of Jones' impact, yet still a statistical oddity given he had 15½ sacks during the 2022 regular season and has averaged 0.75 per game over the past five seasons.Saturday's pairing of Hurts and the Giants' Daniel Jones was the first matchup of two quarterbacks who'd rushed for at least 500 yards in the regular season – and in this case, each topped 700. But Hurts didn't have to run much, and Jones certainly didn't replicate his heroics from the wild-card ouster of the Minnesota Vikings.Good luck finding any"expert" who had Big Blue in the NFL's quarterfinal round back in July. Rookie boss Brian Daboll is certainly deserving of Coach of the Year consideration as he and first-year GM Joe Schoen extracted more from an average roster than just about anyone could have anticipated. But now that the curtain comes crashing down, hard decisions loom – namely how to navigate the looming free agent status of both Barkley and Jones. Should be a fascinating offseason, especially given Schoen, with more than $50 million in salary cap space, has the wherewithal to keep both if he so chooses.The sideline sticks used for measurements and denoting down and distance on every play suffered a broken chain at the 9:37 mark of the first quarter, forcing an"administrative stoppage." Eagles fans, naturally, booed lustily. The 1st down chains were broken, so officials brought out the backup chains, and it took just a little bit to unravel them 😅 Ready to go now!
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