Analysis
1/25/21
3 min min read
Conference Championship Game Notes
Some interesting nuggets from this weekend’s action:
Kansas City 38, Buffalo 24
Top Passers:
KC- P. Mahomes, 29-38, 8.6 ypa, 3:0 TD:INT
BUF- J. Allen, 28-48, 6.0 ypa, 2:1
Top Rushers:
KC- D. Williams, 13 carries, 4.0 ypa, 1 TD
BUF- J. Allen, 7 carries, 12.6 ypa, 0 TDs
Top Receivers:
KC- T. Hill, 9 catches, 19.1 yards per reception, 0 TD
BUF- C. Beasley, 7 catches, 12.6 yards per reception, 0 TDs
● Notable statlines that don’t appear above:
○ T. Kelce, 13 catches, 9.1 yards per reception, 2 TDs
○ C. Edwards-Helaire, 6 carries, 1.2 ypa, 1 TD
○ D. Singletary, 6 carries, 2.8 ypa, 0 TDs
● The Bills were held to 5 of 14 on third downs
● K.C. ranks 32nd in red-zone defense, but they held Buffalo to 2 of 5 in the red zone
● L’Jarius Sneed has four straight games with a sack, per CBS
● Kansas City came back from down double digits in all three of their playoff games last year; Buffalo took an early 9-0 lead in this game
● The Bills gave up 92 receptions to TEs in the regular season, most in the NFL. They were absolutely dominated by Kelce on Sunday
● Mahomes threw his 11th TD on a screen pass since 2018, four more than any other QB in that time (NextGenStats)
● Travis Kelce was targeted on 8 of first 17 passes
● Mahomes became the 12th QB to start his third consecutive conference championship game per CBS. He also becomes the only QB to complete this feat before the age of 26, per CBS
● Travis Kelce has joined Antonio Brown and Julian Edelman as the only players since at least 1950 with 10 consecutive games of 7-plus receptions (including playoffs) per NFL Research
● Kelce passed Rob Grownkowski for most receiving yards in a season, including playoffs
● Kelce is the first TE to have multiple playoff games with 10+ catches and 100+ yards in his career, per PFR
● Tyreek Hill is the third player since 2000 to have 160-plus receiving yards in a conference championship, per PFR
● Kelce and Hill are first duo in a postseason with two games of 100-plus receiving yards each
● With three passing TDs Sunday, Mahomes is up to 17 in the playoffs, one above Philip Rivers’ career total
● This was K.C.’s first win by more than a single possession since Nov. 1
● Patrick Mahomes will be the first quarterback in NFL history to start multiple Super Bowls at age 25 or younger per PFR
Tampa Bay 31, Green Bay 26
Top Passers:
TB- T. Brady, 20-36, 7.8 ypa, 3:3 TD:INT
GB- A. Rodgers, 33-48, 7.2 ypa, 3:1
Top Rushers:
TB- L. Fournette, 12 carries, 4.6 ypa, 1 TD
GB- A. Jones, 6 carries, 4.5 ypa, 0 TDs
Top Receivers:
TB- C. Godwin, 5 catches, 22.0 yards per reception, 0 TDs
GB- M. Valdes-Scantling, 4 catches, 28.8 yards per reception, 1 TD
● Tom Brady is now 10-4 in conference championship games. He has 32 postseason wins and 6 Super Bowl wins
● Mike Evans caught his 11th red-zone TD this season
● The Packers have given up a touchdown on their opponent’s first drive six times this year
● Aaron Rodgers was only sacked more than once in three games this season before Sunday, including four in Tampa in Week 6. The Bucs dropped him five times on Sunday.
● Half of Rodgers’ INTs this season came against the Buccaneers (3)
● Rodgers fell to 1-8 in his postseason career when trailing at halftime
● Shaq Barret tied Warren Sapp for the Buccaneers’ single-game postseason sack record (3). Sapp also did it at Lambeau Field, against Brett Favre and the Packers in a 1997 Divisional Playoff game
● Matt LaFleur is the second coach to lose in the conference championships in both of his first two seasons (along with Rex Ryan)