And so it has come down to the two best teams in the NFC battling it out for the right to go to the Super Bowl. Seattle and Philadelphia were the top two clubs in the conference all season long and proved that their regular season record was no fluke. Seattle got here by dispatching their NFC West Divisional rival, the Los Angeles Rams, for the third time this year and then easily pushed aside the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, 34-20, last week. The Eagles earned the conference's top seed and had to duplicate the Seahawks' accomplishment by shrinking the Giants and their highly praised running game, 34-7, for the third time!

   Seattle powered their way here using their tried and true formula for victory. They got a stellar game out of HB Kenneth Walker III who rushed 27 times for 146 yards, an excellent outing from QB Geno Smith and his receivers, and another solid defensive effort that held the NFC's top TD thrower, QB Baker Mayfield, to a miserable 57% completion rate and harrassed him all game long with 5 sacks and an interception. Smith benefitted from some outstanding efforts out of his receiving corps. WRs Tyler Lockett and DJ Metcalf had spectacular days combining for 10 receptions, 218 yards, and 4 touchdowns! Metcalf would haul in one pass, trample several Buccaneer defenders, and high step it into the endzone putting a punctuation mark on the complete domination of Tampa Bay. LB Tyrel Dodson had 2.5 sacks crashing up the middle out of the Storm Blitz as the Bucs seemingly could not get the ball out quick enough to avoid the hits.

   The Eagles utterly dismantled the Giants in the second half as they broke open a close, 14-6, halftime score. Philly would shutout New York in the second half and score 20 unanswered points to roll to the win. The familiarity the Eagles had, by playing New York twice during the regular season, really paid dividends. The Giants could not get their running game going at all (37-89-2.4 YPC) and, despite that fact, remained loyal to their game plan. QB Daniel Jones would complete 13 of 19 pass attempts, get sacked just twice, and finish with a 101.1 QBR, but he only threw for a mere 112 yards! Those numbers can be excused, at least a little, by the fact the game was close until the final frame and there was no real reason for the G-Men to abandon a strategy that had worked so well for them for much of the season. Perhaps, though, an even bigger story had to be the performance of star back Saquon Barkley who slashed and gashed his way to 215 yards and 4 touchdowns on 27 carries! After having posted a season high of just 92 yards over the first 16 games of the regular season, Barkley has now recored back-to-back 100+ yard efforts including a 125 yard game against Dallas in Week 18! 

Final Analysis: This one will probably get down to which team can do the better job at stopping the running game. Seattle has been a bit vulnerable to the run and the emergence of Barkley has to be a major concern. Walker is a stud, but the Eagles shut down the Giants' top rated run game and should be able to hold Walker in check. That means Geno Smith will need to play well. If he can get the type of game out of Metcalf and Lockett that they had last week, though, that is a very real possibility.  Just feel Philly will be able to push the Seahawks into situations that will not work in Seattle's favor. Philadelphia 26-19.  

SUNDAY 6:40 PM: AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (12-7) AT BALTIMORE RAVENS (14-4)

   Any doubt that the Chiefs were low-balling their regular season were dismissed last week. Taking a page out of legendary Country Western singer, George Jones, pundits have now dubbed KC Head Coach Jason Hogan as "Possum Jas"! For the second consecutive playoff game, KC would find ways to get some big plays on offense and ride a defense that takes the ball away. The Kansas City D would get two interceptions, 7 sacks, and two fumbles off Colt QB Richardson, and get a third fumble from WR Michael Pittman to set up the offense. Only one of the three fumbles would be recovered by the Chiefs, but the defense set the tone all game long in the driving snow and never let Indianapolis get going. In their two playoff games, thus far, Kansas City has outscored its opponents by a whopping 74-25 margin and have won the turnover battle with a stunning 6 takeways compared to just 1 giveaway! Baltimore had little trouble putting away the upstart Buffalo Bills, 37-9. The Ravens' defense was terrific holding Buffalo QB Josh Allen to an incredible 39.4% completion rate!  That number was an astonishing 17.1% below his season low! Meanwhile, QB Lamar Jackson riddled the Buffalo secondary for 411 yards and 4 touchdowns.

   The Chiefs also got some help from their special teams as Xavier Worthy would take a punt and race 68 yards to paydirt! The team's pass rushing, combined with an improved run defense, has really perked up the team in a big way. The D has, then, set up QB Patrick Mahomes' passing and HB Isaiah Pacheco's running. If KC gets a lead on teams, it is becoming increasingly difficult to come back on them as the defense shuts the door. Baltimore will need to either get KC down early, or at least keep the game close, if they wish to win this one. The two teams did meet in week 1 of the regular season with the Ravens hanging on for a, 26-23, win. Neither team could run the ball at all and the Baltimore defense would sack Mahomes 11 times. Pacheco, though, has rushed for over 100 yards in five of his last ten games and has run for 327 yards over his last three games (109 YPG).

   Final Analysis: The Ravens must keep Pacheco in check or risk getting caught in between a rock and a hard place. The Chiefs can yield prolific sack numbers to Mahomes if they cannot run the ball well, but have shown explosiveness when they have been able to maintain offensive balance. In addition, the Ravens cannot allow the turnover to bite them in the manner the prior two KC playoff opponents have been. Should be a close game, but Baltimore has not had a top notch running game this season and that means Jackson will likely have to carry the banner. If KC can get Pacheco going, it could be a long day for the Ravens' defense, but that is a big if indeed. A classic maybe?  Kansas City 27-24.