And then there were two…

After a grueling 18-week regular season and three weeks of playoffs, the two teams left standing to battle it out in the Super Bowl are the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs certainly are no surprise since they will have been there five of out of the last six times when they face the Eagles in New Orleans a week from Sunday.

But there were questions about KC because they escaped with close-call victories practically every week and never looked liked a dominant force.

Yet the way they won, including the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills, is precisely what champions need to be.

As for the Eagles, they turned around a woeful beginning and steamrolled the rest of the way with a recipe that has never failed football teams of any level in the sport.

Running the ball and playing brilliant defense.

There’s a lesson here about reacting too early in a season about a team’s chances.

Philly was 2-2 before they decided on their formula for success.

Their only defeat the rest of the way was to the Washington Commanders who they vanquished by 32 points in the NFC title matchup.

A word about the losers in the NFL’s conference championship battles.

There can be no more of a sharp contrast between the Commanders and the Bills who came within one game of getting to the big show.

Washington was one of the big losers in the league a year ago. They won only 4 games and were plagued by many years of feeble ownership by Dan Snyder who had only six playoff
appearances and two playoff wins during his 24 years owning the club.

A toxic culture in the workplace and other improprieties forced Snyder to sell the team.

The new hierarchy brought in former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and they drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels of LSU with their first draft pick.

The two were magical in their first season.  The Commanders went 12-5 and earned a playoff spot. Daniels, showing a poise that went beyond reason, played like the Rookie of the Year he will easily become when the season awards are revealed.

Daniels’ playoff run was remarkable. After leading the Commanders to a road victory at division champion Tampa Bay, he shredded the defense of the top-seeded Lions who were the favorites to finally get to a Super Bowl that has eluded them forever.

In his third road start in post-season, Daniels once again performed like a seasoned veteran against the Eagles. The problem was, the team, as a whole, were not up to the challenge, turning the ball over four times and losing their composure with near fights and costly major penalties. All of that helped the Eagles score 55 points, the most ever scored in a conference title game.

But Washington has a future. They have a young franchise quarterback, and valuable playoff experience to be a force in the league.

For the Bills, who lost another playoff nail-biter to the Chiefs, it was pure heartbreak.

The look on the face of their superb QB, Josh Allen, told the story.

The teams have clashed in the playoffs four times in the past five years and KC has come out on top each time.

The Bills have been knocking at the door perennially since Allen came on the scene but they can’t push through. You would naturally wonder how many more chances they have to break through, eventually the window closes. But as long as they have a healthy Josh Allen they have that possibility. But it doesn’t look promising at this point.

The AFC final, pitting Allen and the Bills, against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs was Super Bowl worthy. Two great quarterbacks leading their teams.

Back and forth it went, with KC holding a 3-point lead with 3:33remaining and Buffalo with the ball.

The Bills quest to hang in ended a 4th down Chiefs blitz that forced Allen to scamper, then hurry his throw that fell incomplete to Dalton Kincaid, a tight end. Kincaid had a chance to make a catch inches from the ground. He didn’t. It was a rushed play created by the Kansas City defense which defined the 2024 version of the Chiefs.

Playing without super big-names on attack and coming up with the big plays at the big moments for the defense, the Chiefs were able to find a way to win throughout the season. When you continually have to scramble to come out ahead, it becomes a way of life for a team’s success. The Kansas City Chiefs mastered that art in spades.

And while the talk will go on for awhile as to whether Josh Allen or the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson as to who is the league’s Most Valuable Player, let’s not forget a man named Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback of these Chiefs through these amazing years, who is the pivotal figure in the Chiefs bid to become the first team in history to capture three consecutive Super Bowl championships.

While we’re on the subject of who is Most Valuable, has anyone considered Saquon Barkley? The MVP award usually goes to a quarterback, but Barkley may be the reason the Philadelphia Eagles have a chance to win it all against the team they lost to a couple of years ago.

The first time he touched the ball last Sunday, Barkley ran 60 yards for a touchdown that put the Eagles ahead for good. He wound up with 118 yards and 3 touchdowns. It’s what the ex-Giant has done all year. He became only the ninth player in NFL history to exceed 2,000 yards rushing for a season. He needed only 101 yards to break the all-time record set by the Rams Eric Dickerson but was rested by head coach Nick Sirianni in the final game with nothing at stake for the Eagles. It was the right move. Records are nice, but Super Bowl rings are better. Had Barkley been injured in that final game, the Eagles title  chances would have gone down the drain.

The New York Giants are getting considerable heat for letting Barkley go, especially to a rival team in their own division. But they couldn’t agree on contract terms and Barkley eventually signed with Philly. The fact is, the Giants were not going to be playoff contenders even with Barkley having the season he had. That wouldn’t have been likely considering the numerous problems the team had this year.

It’s just coincidental Saquon Barkley had a monstrous campaign.

In many ways the Giants are taking an unfair rap.

Along with the running ability of QB Jalen Hurts who played one of his best games amid injury concerns to his left leg, the Eagles are always a threat because of those two, and their defense, the best in the league.

The Super Bowl matchup shapes up as a great one on paper.

There are two obvious issues that will be talked about for the next two weeks, and will not vary.

How will the Chiefs deal with Saquon Barkley and the dual threat of Jalen Hurts?

How will the Eagles solve the perplexing problem of a quarterback who seems to always have the answer: Patrick Mahomes?

More on the big one, as well as my assessment of Tom Brady’s first year in a broadcast booth, next time we meet.