The Divisional Round of the weekend not only left three games that were decided with a field goal and one more that, of course, is a “Classic”, but also caused that, for the first time in 12 seasons, neither Tom Brady neither Aaron Rodgers are present in any of the Conference Finals. What does this mean? It means that the NFL has new “bosses”.
The “GOAT” and the pin packers They belong to that generation of quarterbacks that came to the league in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which included the Manning (Peyton and Eli), to Ben Roethlisberger, to Drew Brees, to Philip Rivers.
After the defeats of the weekend, both did not announce their retirement –neither “Big Ben” did–, but it is a fact: sooner rather than later, this one will arrive. In the case of Roethlisberger, it was already taken for granted that the 2021 season marked his goodbye.
Things have changed in the Divisional Round. Today, out of four quarterbacks who will dispute with their respective teams the pass to the Superbowl, there are two under 27s, who represent the new blood as far as quarterbacks are concerned and, most importantly, they are already in the elite of the NFL.
One of them is patrick mahomes, who, without a doubt, is the leader of this new generation. At 26 years old, he will play his fourth Conference Final in a row with Kansas City and will seek to reach the superbowl for the third time in a row.
Mahomes already knows what it is to win the Vince Lombardi trophy, he did it in the LIV edition; however, last season, he and the chiefs they fell ugly before the Buccaneers Y Tom Brady, so he is thirsty for revenge to return to “Super Sunday” and get his second Super Bowl ring in what is his fifth season in the NFL.
But in order to do so, he will have to overcome Joe Burrow already a few Bengals hungry for glory and with a young talent led by him and the catcher Ja’marr Chase.
In just his second year as a pro, Burrow, 25, of LSU, has led Cincinnati to the Conference Finals, a stage they haven’t reached since the 1988 season. Also, in just a couple of seasons, the Bengals went from occupying the North basement of the AFC, with a record of 4-11-1, to be division champions with a record of 10-7.
On Saturday, Cincinnati accounted for Tennessee, the top seed in the American Conference, and now he is getting ready to give another surprise against the Chiefs, whom they defeated in the regular season with a great performance by Burrow.
In that Week 17 meeting, Cincinnati won 34-31 and Joe completed 30 of 39 passes for 446 yards and four passes. touch down.
But the upcoming “KC” “wars” don’t look right now to be against the Bengals. Although they are not in the Conference Final, Josh Allen and the Bills are called to be the great rival of the Chiefs in the AFC and star in a new rivalry like the one Brady and the Patriots had against Peyton Manning and the Colts
Last Sunday, buffalo trailed 33-29 with 1:05 on the clock and the 25-year-old Allen stood with personality on the Arrowhead Stadium. In 49 seconds, they turned the score around; however, Mahomes showed that 13 seconds is an eternity and chiefs They sent the game into overtime.
There, Kansas City won the toss and Allen couldn’t do anything. The Chiefs scored six and left the Bills stretched out. At the end of the game, Mahomes acknowledged that there are more games to come against Buffalo.
“We are going to play against this team many times, and the games will be like this. With that quarterback (Allen), with that team of coaches and with the players that they have, there are going to be a lot of battles. I’m glad I won this one,” he said.
Kansas City reached the Super Bowl last season, precisely, after beating the Bills on the Conference Final.
And as far as the coaches are concerned, there will also be a duel of youth against experience in the AFC, since Zack Taylor, at 38, will face Andy Reid, who at 63 wants another trip to “Super Sunday”
In the case of the NFC, the duel will be between two experienced coaches, but young in age: Sean McVay, who turned 36 yesterday, and in 2017 became the youngest head coach in NFL history, will face Kyle Shanahan (42). They both already know what it’s like to play a SB, but they lost it against the “established” Bill Belichick and Andy Reid.
One of them will be in Super Bowl LVI, the culmination of a season that is already a watershed in the history of the League.
You can also read: NFL Divisional Round, from power to power
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Young people, they are already the ‘bosses’ of the Divisional Round – Indigo Report