Pigskin Inevitabilies

The question remains: Will Brock Purdy ever lose?

Yeah, probably next Sunday. 

But…

What if he doesn't?

One more question: Is it better to have lost in the playoffs than not to have been in the playoffs? 

Yes, I'm looking at you, Dallas Cowboys. You fooled me a week ago. You looked like legitimate Super Bowl contenders. It made me question everything. Thanks for returning something like karmic sanity to the pigskin universe. 

And you, Buffalo Bills. Maybe it's better this way. Did you seriously want to lose a fifth Super Bowl?

But enough of those losers, we're on to the conference championships! The top seeded Eagles and Chiefs took care of two teams that were legit just happy to be here - the Giants and Jaguars, respectively - leaving way too much chalk on the board for this chaos monkey's liking. 

So… 

Let's go!

The Ankle of Doom Bowl

I know Chiefs fans don't want to hear it, but a high ankle sprain ended the Patriots perfect season, once upon a time. 

Patrick Mahomes is a gamer for sure and I know there are plenty of pigskin touts who would back him, even at 75-80%, but… 

Did you see what the Bengals defense just did to Josh Allen?

I also get the feeling the Bengals are feeling it. They went to Buffalo, shrugged off the winter Buffalo weather, acted like they expected to kick ass and then did just that. 

Maybe Andy Reid is way smarter than he looks in that State Farm commercial. Maybe the Chiefs running game is as good as some national pigskin pundits and bobbleheads are saying it is. Maybe the Chiefs defense is better than the Bills and they can rattle Joe "Ice Cold" Burrow. Maybe Patrick Mahomes is a fast healer. Maybe…

Who would've thought a week ago that we'd be talking about everything needing to break right for the Chiefs to get the win?

Bengals 27, Chiefs 19

The Perfection Anomaly Bowl

Late round draft pick, ascends to the starting job due to injury, wins his first start and then just keeps winning. Sound familiar? We thought we'd never see another Tom Brady - yes, I know what I'm about to say is crazy and I should probably seek professional help - but what if he's already here and his name is Brock Purdy? 

Brock Purdy's improbable football journey has been a great story but it's also the classic small data sample. Recency bias. A football footnote waiting to happen. 

A movie script waiting to be optioned.

But (say it with me) this ain't no movie.

Philadelphia was the best team in the NFC over the regular season. 

Right now, the better team might well be the San Francisco 49ers.

Either way, it's close.

After watching similarly athletic QBs - Dak Prescott and Josh Allen - exit the playoffs already, this may be cold comfort to Eagles fans, but more often than not, winning in the NFL comes down simply to how well your QB plays and if Jalen Hurts plays well, this is where the carriage turns into a pumpkin and the horses turn into rats as big as horses for Brock Purdy's almost fairy tale rookie season.

Eagles 28, 49ers 27

Let's go!