The 2024 NFL season began last September and will conclude with the crowning of the winner of Super Bowl LIX on February 9 next month. 32 teams were vying to reach to the playoffs and attempt to unseat the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. All that remains are the Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills, Washington Commanders, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kansas City will attempt to become the first team in Super Bowl history to win three consecutive Super Bowls as a “three-peat” has never been accomplished. Standing in the Chiefs way are the Bills. On the other side in the NFC, the Eagles will try to get back to the big dance which would be their first Super Bowl appearance since they lost to the Chiefs in 2022. For Washington, they have not reached the Super Bowl since they became champions in 1991.
The Buffalo Bills? They were in every Super Bowl from the 1990 season through 1993. The problem is, they lost every one of those four championship games. Of course, most fans know about Scott Norwood and how he muffed a winning field goal attempt preventing Buffalo from winning their first ever Lombardi Trophy. Since then, they have only been in one AFC championship game and that was in the 2020 season when they were defeated by these same Chiefs 38-24 and they will play again this Sunday.
As for the divisional round of the playoffs that brought us to the final four teams, I had predicted Kansas City would mow down the Houston Texans, but the game resulted in a much closer score than I had it (37-12). But with Patrick Mahomes undefeated in divisional playoff games, this one was a no-brainer.
I don’t think anyone but Commanders fans predicted they would go into Detroit and knock off the two loss Lions but that’s exactly what they did. I had the Lions winning by 14 (31-17) and instead, rookie Jayden Daniels and his offense put up 45 points on what was thought to be a stingy Detroit defense. The Lions are one of four teams never to have reached a Super Bowl (Browns, Jaguars, Texans the other three) and with this loss and last season’s playoff loss, their window may have closed on ever getting there.
I came close on the final Eagles/Rams game (my pick was 28-22 Philadelphia) and the Rams failed to get Matthew Stafford and his team back to the Super Bowl a game they won in Stafford’s first season in Los Angeles in 2021. We may very well may have seen the last of Stafford who is contemplating retirement.
The final game of last weekend had Baltimore playing in Buffalo and it was probably the best game of the day. It came down to Baltimore having a last minute shot to tie the game at 27 but tight end Mark Andrews dropped a two point conversation attempt when the ball hit him right in the hands but he muffed it. Buffalo moves on by a score of 27-25.
So now we have just four teams with a shot at the championship to be held in New Orleans this year and the four quarterbacks playing in the title games are outstanding players. Here’s how I see them playing out:
Washington at Philadelphia: These two teams know each other extremely well simply because they share the NFC East. They split during the regular season with the Eagles winning game the first game 26-19 in Philly and then the Commanders storming back in game number 15 winning in a shootout 36-33. Jayden Daniels is playing out of his mind and trying to become the first rookie quarterback in history to reach a Super Bowl. But Saquon Barkley is playing on another planet right now and will be a Commanders problem. I just can’t see Washington continuing this ride especially in hostile Philadelphia. Eagles 28 / Commanders 21
Buffalo at Kansas City: When the Chiefs beat up on my Steelers, I said no one is beating them. But losing their season finale with nothing on the line then barely getting by the Texans made me think differently. Josh Allen has been playing at an M.V.P. level all season and he is very determined to get past Kansas City and provide the city of Buffalo with that elusive Lombardi Trophy. Patrick Mahomes may be the best quarterback in history when all is said and done but he’s not quite as great this season as he was in the past. Bills 30 / Chiefs 27
Regular Season Picks
Week 1: 12/15
Week 2: 8/16
Week 3: 8/16
Week 4: 11/16
Week 5: 7/14
Week 6: 9/14
Week 7: 9/15
Week 8: 11/16
Week 9: 10/15
Week 10: 5/14
Week 11: 11/14
Week 12: 7/13
Week 13: 13/16
Week 14: 8/12
Week 15: 8/16
Week 16: 12/16
Week 17: 12/16
Week 18: 10/16
Postseason Picks
Wild Card Round: 4/6
Divisional Round: 2/4
Conference Championships: TBD
