Four teams are left in the hunt for the Super Bowl title that will be crowned in New Orleans on February 9th. Three of the teams we could have pretty much expected to be here when the season began, namely the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, a Philadelphia Eagles squad that participated in Super Bowl LVII two seasons ago, and the Buffalo Bills, a team that is always in the hunt but still looking for their first Super Bowl victory.
For most of the 2024 season the conversation was around the strength of the National Football Conference North Division. The two teams with the best won/loss records resided in this division, the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, and a third team that had legitimate hopes to go deep in the playoffs, the Green Bay Packers, also played out of the NFC North.
None of that trio of regular season success stories resulted in a postseason win. Green Bay was eliminated by double-digits in Philadelphia while the Vikings lost by an even more lopsided score to the Los Angeles Rams, 27-9. Then there was the Lions, one of the few teams in the NFL to have never participated in a Super Bowl; they opened this postseason with the number one seed in the NFC.
Their successful 2024 campaign was lost behind a barrage of turnovers, five, while the upstart Washington Commanders dominated the action in the Divisional Round as if they were the more experienced and poised team. Rookie Quarterback Jayden Daniels directed a mistake free attack that led his enthusiastic group to a two-touchdown victory over the upset Lions, 45-31.
So there is the fourth team to advance to the NFL Championship Week, the one we didn’t expect when the season opened, the Washington Commanders. Behind first-year head coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Daniels the Commanders are one of the final four in search of a Super Bowl win. Washington has advanced to an NFL Championship Game for the first time since 1991, a season that ended with a win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI. For the record, that was the Bills second of four straight Super Bowl losses.
Daniels becomes the third rookie quarterback since the American and National Football Leagues merged in 1970 to lead his team to an NFL Championship Game. In all, including Bo Nix this year and the two wins registered by Daniels, rookies are 12 and 17 in the Wild Card Round, 4 and 8 in the Divisional Round, and 0 and 3 in Championship Games.
In other words, Daniels is looking to accomplish something no rookie in NFL history has achieved … lead his team to a Super Bowl.
As stated earlier in this column, it was the NFC North that got most of the accolades during the regular season, but come playoff time, it is the NFC East that provides both teams with a chance to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX.
Next Sunday’s NFC Championship Game represents the third time this season these two teams have met. The Eagles took the first contest between Jalen Hurts and Daniels in November, 26-18. Five weeks ago, in their rematch, the Eagles jumped to an early lead before Hurts was knocked out of the game and replaced at quarterback by Kenny Pickett, who lost to Daniels and company by a final score of 36-33.
The Eagles and Commanders matchup opens the Championship Game competition on Sunday at 12 noon Pacific Time. The Commanders may not be who we expected to be here when the season began, but they certainly have earned their way into this game and the opportunity of having Daniels be the first rookie ever to lead his team to a Super Bowl.