The Ravens lost their cool and their professionalism. The Lions were brought down by their head coach’s machismo and suspect math skills.
As a result, it’ll be the Chiefs and the 49ers squaring off in Super Bowl LVIII, with Kansas City making its fourth SB appearance in the past five seasons.
The NFL MVP is a regular-season award. Lamar Jackson will win it, and should win it. But he did not turn in an MVP performance Sunday as Baltimore hosted its first AFC Championship Game since 1971. While I marvel at his athleticism, I continue to question his ability to lead his team to the two or three consecutive playoff wins necessary to reach the Super Bowl. The issue is consistency against playoff-level defenses. Jackson’s style does not promote consistency.
Still, I don’t consider Jackson primarily responsible for the Ravens’ exit. That honor goes to Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken, whose earlier performance over the course of the season had been brilliant, building his offense on a bruising downhill running game while at the same time sharpening Jackson’s downfield passing reads and skills. But Monken inexplicably left that winning blueprint in his office. Raven running backs combined for six carries. Let that sink in. Six carries, in a game in which Baltimore never trailed by more than ten points. There was no reason for Monken to abandon the running game. But he barely visited it to begin with, instead calling 41 passing plays. That played right into the hands of Chiefs D.C. Steve Spagnuolo and his sophisticated blitz package that often confused Jackson. Yoo-hoo. You’d think John Harbaugh…or somebody…would have gotten in Monken’s ear at some point to remind him of his own genius. Instead, Monken reached for and donned the Dunce Cap. Go figure.
Not that other Ravens did not display substandard football IQs. Wide receiver Zae Flowers serially embarrassed himself, drawing a selfish taunting penalty, fumbling short of the goal line after recklessly extending the ball, and finally drawing his own blood by smashing his finger in frustration. Throw in some dirty shots in the pocket on Patrick Mahomes that rightly drew flags, and the Ravens finished the job of sealing their own demise.
This was the best Ravens team of the Jackson era, and everything was lined up perfectly for them. And still they didn’t get it done, making me question whether they ever will.
But I’m done questioning the Chiefs, even after watching them drop six regular season games and often appearing mediocre at best offensively. But as we prepare to flip the calendar to February, the Chiefs are now playing their best offensive ball of the season, despite continuing inconsistent productivity from their wide receivers. Of course, as soon as I note this, you’ll remind me of the marvelous deep-ball circus catch Marquez Valdes-Scantling made to seal the game.
The Chiefs are good-to-go as they pack for Vegas.
That was quite the rally by the 49ers in Santa Clara. Trailing by 17 at halftime, SF reeled off 27 unanswered points to end the Lions’ dream. Credit to the Niners, certainly, but that comeback would not have been possible without help from Detroit, whose offensive line and running backs had been dominant in the first half and appeared capable of driving the San Francisco defense into the Bay. But the Lions scored only seven points after halftime and lost by three. Three. Oh, that’s right. That’s how many points you get for a successful field goal, right?
OK. Let me first heap the obligatory praise on Dan Campbell. His Lions were the feel-good story of the season, and the way that team lifted up its city was inspiring. But there is simply no way to rationalize or justify D.C.’s fourth down stubbornness. Dude. You have a field goal kicker on your roster. Give him a chance to earn his money. And I completely reject Campbell’s postgame explanation that automatically going for it on fourth down is just “who we are.” If that’s true, then you’re not very bright. Your first strategic responsibility as a coach is to keep the game alive. Instead, Campbell snuffed it. More alarmingly, he later said he regretted nothing and would do it again. Meaning he will. Very likely with the same results.
I don’t get these one-size-fits-all, rigid fourth-down policies that more and more coaches seem to be adopting. “Go Fever” tragically got NASA into trouble more than once, as we’ve all been painfully reminded this week. Go Fever ended the Lions’ season.
Every game is different. Every opponent is different. Every stadium is different. Every circumstance is different.
Smart coaches make sure their fourth-down decisions are tailor-made, rather than just grabbing them off the rack.
There’s no much more to discuss leading up to SB LVIII. It’s a good thing we have two weeks.
Tuesday: I’ll pose a question. “Who was the best running quarterback on Championship Sunday?” And then I’ll answer that question.
See ya manana.
