NFL play-offs conference finals — Super Bowl or bust!
Following the results of last weekend’s wildly exciting Divisional Round in the 2024/25 National Football League (NFL) postseason, the combatants for the Conference Championships this Sunday were decided. Of the four games played, three basically ran true to form, with the higher seeded teams emerging victorious: The Kansas City Chiefs bettered the Houston Texans 23-14, the Philadelphia Eagles outlasted the Los Angeles Rams 28-22, and the Buffalo Bills held on for a 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
However, the Washington Commanders, who entered last weekend as JustBet’s biggest NFL underdog, pulled off a mammoth upset against the Detroit Lions, winning 45-31. The Commanders, after qualifying for the playoffs as the sixth seed in the National Football Conference (NFC), outmaneuvered the third seeded Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round for their first playoff win since January 2016, then slayed the top seeded Lions last weekend to book their ticket to the NFC Conference Final for the first time since January 1992, the last year they made it to the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Bills 37-24.
Their reward is a visit to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday afternoon to tackle the second seeded Eagles, in an effort to book their ticket to Super Bowl LIX in Caesars Superdome, New Orleans. The Commanders are again the biggest JustBet NFL underdog this weekend, as they tackle the Eagles, who put on a show last week Sunday against the Rams, particularly running back Saquon Barkley, who had a 205-yard, two touchdown outing. These NFC North division rivals faced off twice this season, with Philadelphia winning 26-18 at home in Week 11 and Washington winning 36-33 at home in Week 16, however, Eagles’ quarterback (QB) Jalen Hurts suffered a concussion early in that game, and Kenny Pickett had to play the remainder. In those two games, Barkley was a force, rushing for 150 and 146 yards, respectively, and four total touchdowns.
The Commanders have been on a run of seven consecutive victories since the start of December, including the two upsets on the road in the playoffs, but the Eagles have won 10 of their 11 home games this season. Washington’s confidence is high, and QB Jayden Daniels is having the best rookie seasons one could dream of, but experience is on Philadelphia’s side in the most critical positions. The Eagles are at home and JustBet favourites, but so too were the Lions, and by an even wider margin. The season series is tied at 1-1, and both games were decided by one score. The call is hard to make but one thing is certain, the dual-threat capabilities of both Hurts and Daniels will be on full display this Sunday afternoon, in an AFC Conference decider that should not be missed.
In the American Football Conference (AFC), the renewal of a modern-day rivalry is on tap. The Bills, who survived a failed two-point attempt by the Ravens last Sunday night, are set to visit their playoff nemesis, the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, this Sunday evening and try to shake some ghosts. Buffalo was the only team to ‘truly’ beat Kansas City during the regular season – before the Chiefs rested their starters in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos and went down 38-0 — after a 30-21 score line, in Buffalo. In fact, the last three times the Bills have travelled to Kansas City in the regular season, they have emerged victorious, but in the postseason, they are 0-3 in their last three tries against the Chiefs.
At the end of the 2020/23 season, in the AFC Conference Final, Buffalo suffered a 24-38 loss at the hands of Kansas City, then a year later, the Bills squandered a three-point lead at the end of regulation and ended up losing 36-42 in overtime. Then there was last season, when Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide right, with 1:43 remaining in the game, resulting in a 24-27 loss to the visiting Chiefs, in the AFC Divisional Round.
Yes, the Bills did beat the Chiefs last November, to hand them their first loss of the season, but they also beat the Chiefs in the regular season in 2021 and 2023, and ended up being eliminated by Kansas City, who is now making their seventh-straight trip to the AFC Conference Final, winning four of the previous six. The Bills will be playing to not only shake the ghosts of recent playoffs past but to also book their ticket to the franchise’s first Super Bowl berth since 1994, where they achieved the distinction of being the only team to advance to four consecutive Super Bowls (from 1991 to 1994), but also the unenviable distinction of losing all four of them.
The Chiefs, having cemented their modern-day dynasty, after appearing in four of the last five Super Bowls, and winning three — LIV (2020), LVII (2023), and LVIII (2024) — are looking to achieve what no other has done before, a coveted three-peat. Standing in their way this weekend are the Bills, led by QB Josh Allen, who has rewritten the history books this season. Allen has his personal demons to exorcise as he has been front and center in this postseason slump against the Chiefs, and in particular QB Patrick Mahomes.
Unlike the other three teams that made it to the Conference Finals, Buffalo has never won a Super Bowl trophy, and the only way to have a shot at that target this year is to leave Kansas City with a win. JustBet is favouring the Chiefs to advance along with the Eagles, to set up a rematch of the Super Bowl two years ago — Super Bowl LVII, February 12, 2023 — where the Chiefs won 38-35, to start this run to three.
Sunday will be more than just about football. It will be about legacy, about breaking protracted cycles, about setting new ceilings, and breaking new ground. Depending on what happens, the NFL could have its first rookie QB starting in a Super Bowl, the potential of the very first three-peat champion or the breaking of a 30-year Super Bowl appearance drought. Things are all set for two highly anticipated games on Sunday and the stakes cannot get any higher……Are you ready for some football?
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