Football Information
2022
Post Season
Conference
English
For decades, NFL franchises and individual
players have forged and solidified their legacies during conference
championship games. How will history remember the events and contributors this
week?
Sunday features the AFC and NFC Championship
Games presented by Intuit TurboTax. Will someone unexpectedly rise to the
occasion with a clutch performance that sends his team to Super Bowl LVII? Will
a savvy superstar write another chapter in playoff lore? Or, how about Choice C:
All of the above?
Regardless, no one is questioning the
quality of the league’s championship-game field. There are no lightning-in-a-bottle
teams this season. In fact, this marks the first time ever that all four finalists
have had at least 14 wins, including playoffs.
And in the decade ahead, NFL fans can look
forward to an exciting future. The four individuals expected to start under
center this week – Cincinnati’s JOE
BURROW, Philadelphia’s JALEN HURTS,
Kansas City’s PATRICK MAHOMES and
San Francisco’s BROCK PURDY –
represent the youngest group of conference championship quarterbacks since conference
championship play began in 1970, averaging 25 years and 98 days old on Sunday. Previously,
the youngest quartet was the 1996 conference championships, when the four
starters averaged 25 years and 231 days.
The
NFL’s Championship Game schedule:
Sunday, January 29
|
NFC | San Francisco 49ers (15-4) at Philadelphia Eagles (15-3) | 3:00 PM ET | FOX, FOX Deportes |
AFC | Cincinnati Bengals (14-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (15-3) | 6:30 PM ET | CBS, Paramount+ |
The
Starting 11 entering the 2022 Championship Games…
1. BURROW-MAHOMES, EPISODE IV: This week, JOE BURROW and PATRICK
MAHOMES are expected to meet for the fourth time when the CINCINNATI BENGALS (14-4) visit the KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (15-3) on Sunday
night (6:30 PM ET, CBS, Paramount+). The last time two quarterbacks started
consecutive championship games against each other before either reached his
28th birthday? It was 1986-87, when Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHN ELWAY guided the Broncos over BERNIE KOSAR and the Cleveland Browns
to back-to-back Super Bowl berths.
- Mahomes
has led the Chiefs to five consecutive conference championship games. Since the
1970 merger, the only other quarterbacks to start five straight conference
title games are TOM BRADY (five from
2003-07 and eight from 2011-18) and Pro Football Hall of Famer KEN STABLER (five from 1973-77).
Mahomes is the first to accomplish the feat prior to his 28th birthday.
- Prior
to Burrow’s arrival, Mahomes and the Chiefs registered a 45-10 win over
Cincinnati in 2018. But Burrow has had the Chiefs’ number since he entered the
league. Mahomes has made 92 NFL starts, including postseason. He’s 1-3 (.250)
against the Bengals and 72-16 (.818) against the rest of the league. Mahomes
has never lost to any other franchise more than two consecutive times.
- Burrow
in three career starts against Kansas City, including playoffs, is 3-0 with 982
passing yards, eight touchdown passes, one interception and a 121.0 passer
rating. Burrow is also 3-0 overall in road playoff games.
- Burrow
is expected to become the first quarterback selected No. 1 overall to start two
championship games in his first three NFL seasons. He also can join RUSSELL WILSON as one of two
quarterbacks ever to win six postseason games in his first three NFL seasons.
- Last
week, Burrow improved to 5-1 as a starting quarterback in the postseason. Prior
to drafting him first overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Bengals had five total
postseason victories as a franchise.
2. NUMBERS OF THE WEEK – DEFENSE STILL WINS
CHAMPIONSHIPS:
- 0 – The
number of 100-yard rushers allowed by SAN
FRANCISCO this season. The 49ers haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher since JUSTIN FIELDS (103), Oct. 31, 2021. And
since DEMECO RYANS replaced ROBERT SALEH as defensive coordinator in
2021, his unit has allowed just two 100-yard rushers in 39 games, including playoffs.
- 1 –
The number of combined 100-yard rushers (zero), 300-yard passers (zero) and
100-yard receivers (one) allowed by the four victorious defenses during the
Divisional Round.
- 3 – The
number of final-four teams that ranked among the league’s leaders in points
allowed per game during the regular season: SAN FRANCISCO (16.3, first), CINCINNATI
(20.1, tied for fifth) and PHILADELPHIA
(20.2, tied for seventh).
- 3 – The
number of final-four teams that ranked among the league’s leaders in total
yards allowed per game during the regular season: SAN FRANCISCO (300.6, first), PHILADELPHIA
(301.5, second) and KANSAS CITY (328.2,
11th).
- 10 – CINCINNATI’s
points allowed in last week’s win, the Bills’ fewest points scored since Dec.
6, 2021.
- 20 –
The number of SAN FRANCISCO interceptions
during the regular season, tied for the league lead. PHILADELPHIA had 17, tied for fourth.
- 30 –
The number of takeaways recorded by SAN
FRANCISCO during the regular season, tied for second in the NFL. PHILADELPHIA had 27, tied for fourth.
The 49ers’ plus-13 takeaway ratio led the league while the Eagles (plus-eight)
ranked third.
- 70 – The
franchise-record number of sacks by PHILADELPHIA
during the regular season, first in the league and tied for third in NFL
history. KANSAS CITY (55) ranked
second in the NFL this year.
3. CHAMPIONSHIP CITIES: PHILADELPHIA and KANSAS CITY are no stranger to hosting
conference championship games. This week marks the sixth time the Eagles have
hosted a championship game, tied with Miami for fifth in the league since the
1970 merger. Only Pittsburgh (11), San Francisco (10), New England (eight) and
Denver (seven) have more. Kansas City, meanwhile, is tied for seventh with
five, including this week.
4. SPOTLIGHT – INDIVIDUAL MATCHUP: When SAN FRANCISCO (15-4) and PHILADELPHIA
(15-3) decide the NFC champion at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday (3:00 PM
ET, FOX, FOX Deportes), the starting quarterbacks are expected to make history.
The 49ers’ BROCK PURDY (23) and the
Eagles’ JALEN HURTS (24) will become
the first pair of starting quarterbacks in a conference championship game under
age 25.
- The
poised young passers actually squared off in a Big 12 thriller in Norman, Okla.,
during the 2019 season. A true sophomore, Purdy led Iowa State to 20
fourth-quarter points before Hurts and Oklahoma held off the Cyclones, 42-41.
Hurts totaled 341 yards (273 passing, 68 rushing) and five touchdowns (three
passing, two rushing) while Purdy threw for 282 yards and five touchdowns, and
added 55 rushing yards and a touchdown.
5. SPOTLIGHT – TEAM MATCHUP: Don’t expect a lot of yards in Sunday’s
NFC Championship. That’s because during the regular season the 49ers (300.6
yards allowed per game) and Eagles (301.5) finished first and second,
respectively, among NFL defenses. Sunday marks just the third time the NFL’s
top two defenses in yards allowed have clashed in a conference championship
game, the first since Pittsburgh beat Baltimore, 23-14, in the 2008 AFC title
game. The only other instance since the 1970 merger was Dallas’ 28-0 victory
over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1978 NFC Championship Game.
- San
Francisco defensive coordinator DEMECO
RYANS finished his playing career with the Eagles. Philadelphia acquired
Ryans in a 2012 trade that involved three draft choices, one of which the
Eagles used to select quarterback NICK
FOLES.
- Philadelphia’s
32 rushing touchdowns in 2022 tied for the second-most ever in a single season,
trailing only Pittsburgh’s 33 in 1976. On five occasions this season, including
last week’s playoff win, an Eagles player has reached 100 rushing yards. San
Francisco hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 32 straight games, including
playoffs.
- The
NFC West has represented the conference in three of the past four Super Bowls,
and six of the last 10 dating to San Francisco’s berth in Super Bowl XLVII
against Baltimore.
- San
Francisco started TREY LANCE, JIMMY GAROPPOLO and BROCK PURDY this year. With a win on
Sunday, the 49ers would be the first team to start three quarterbacks during a
regular season and advance to a Super Bowl since the 2016 New England Patriots
(TOM BRADY, JACOBY BRISSETT and Garoppolo).
6. STREAK SPEAK: Including SAN FRANCISCO (12 straight wins) and CINCINNATI (10) this week, 14 teams since the 1970 merger have entered
a conference championship game on winning streaks of at least 10 games. However,
this is only the second time two teams entered conference championship week on
winning streaks of at least 10 games. It last happened in 1976, when both the
Oakland Raiders (11) and Pittsburgh Steelers (10) did it.
- Including
postseason games, the 49ers (12) are bringing the NFL’s longest winning streak
into a conference championship game since New England entered the 2007 AFC
title contest with 17 straight wins.
- KANSAS
CITY (2018-22) will become just the third team to play in five consecutive
conference championships since 1970. The New England Patriots (eight straight
from 2011-18) and the Oakland Raiders (five from 1973-77) also accomplished the
feat.
7. DID YOU KNOW?: All-Pro brothers JASON and TRAVIS KELCE aren’t
taking anything for granted this week, but should they each win their
respective championship games, they’ll accomplish something no other family has
done. They’ll become the first set of brothers to play on opposite teams in the
same Super Bowl.
8. UNDER-THE-RADAR STORYLINE: Bengals head coach ZAC TAYLOR has a lot of ANDY REID in his coaching DNA. Taylor’s
father-in-law, MIKE SHERMAN, coached
with Reid in Green Bay from 1997-98 under MIKE
HOLMGREN. Holmgren, Reid and Sherman, as well as MIKE SHANAHAN, point to Pro Football Hall of Famer BILL WALSH as a mentor. Walsh learned
much of his coaching prowess from the founder of the Cincinnati Bengals, Pro
Football Hall of Famer PAUL BROWN.
- Taylor
is 5-1 as a head coach in the postseason. His .833 postseason winning
percentage ranks second in NFL history behind Pro Football Hall of Famer VINCE LOMBARDI (.900, 9-1) among
coaches with a minimum of six games coached.
- Taylor
is only the 13th head coach in NFL history to win at least five of his first
six postseason games, the first since MIKE
TOMLIN. Should he win Sunday, he would join BILL BELICHICK and MIKE
SHANAHAN as well as Pro Football Hall of Famers TOM FLORES, JOE GIBBS, JIMMY JOHNSON, VINCE LOMBARDI
and BILL WALSH as the only head
coaches in NFL history to win at least six of their first seven postseason
games.
- Taylor
is only the third coach ever – joining Pro Football Hall of Famers TOM LANDRY and CHUCK NOLL – to guide a team to multiple conference championship
games after winning six-or-fewer games over his first two seasons with the same
team. Taylor was 6-25-1 from 2019-20 with the Bengals.
- Four
coaches in NFL history have reached two Super Bowls after winning no more than
two games in their first season with the same team: Pro Football Hall of Famers
JIMMY JOHNSON, TOM LANDRY, CHUCK NOLL
and BILL WALSH. Taylor was 2-14 in
his first season with Cincinnati (2019) before leading the Bengals to Super
Bowl LVI.
9. TREND TIME: Over the last nine postseasons
(2013-21), home teams are 14-4 in conference championship games. The Bengals
(last season at Kansas City) have one of those four victories.
10. THIS
WEEK IN NFL HISTORY:
Jan. 25, 1998 (25 years ago) – In Super Bowl XXXII, TERRELL DAVIS overcomes debilitating migraines to rush for 157
yards and a Super Bowl-record three touchdowns to lead the Broncos to their
first NFL crown, snapping the NFC’s streak of Super Bowl victories at 13. Late
in the third quarter, with the Broncos and defending champion Packers tied,
17-17, Denver faces a third-and-6 from the Packers’ 12-yard line. Without a
better option, a 37-year-old JOHN ELWAY
leaves the pocket and dives for a first down, turned by three Green Bay defenders
into a spinning helicopter. Inspired by Elway’s desire at a pivotal moment,
Davis finds the end zone two plays later. After Green Bay knots the game at 24
early in the fourth quarter, Elway connects with fullback HOWARD GRIFFITH on a key 23-yard pass that sets up Davis’ go-ahead
touchdown with 1:45 remaining. BRETT
FAVRE guides the Packers into Broncos territory but linebacker JOHN MOBLEY bats away Favre’s
fourth-down pass in the waning seconds to secure a 31-24 victory. Afterward, owner PAT BOWLEN, one of six future Pro
Football Hall of Famers from that Broncos team, hands Elway the Vince Lombardi
Trophy and declares, “This one’s for John!”
11. AND
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
The Bengals and Chiefs are playing in a conference championship for the second
straight year, something rare in NFL history. Since the 1970 merger, the same two
teams have met in consecutive conference championships on only six occasions.
Dallas defeated San Francisco in both 1970 and ‘71, the Steelers took two of
three from the Raiders (1974-76), the Steelers captured two straight over the
Houston Oilers from 1978-79, the Broncos edged the Cleveland Browns in
consecutive thrillers (1986-87), Dallas took two of three from San Francisco
(1992-94) and the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots split two straight
AFC title games from 2011-12.