Both the NFC and AFC Championship games were played to determine the matchup for Super Bowl LVIII, and while many were expecting San Francisco 49ers vs. Baltimore Ravens, others, including Marshall Mathers were expecting the Detroit Lions vs. anybody.
Sunday’s games turned out to be shocking outcomes for just about everyone who watched them except maybe Kansas City Chiefs fans. The Chiefs were in Baltimore and it was clear from the start that their strategy was to fluster and get under the skin of Baltimore, and it worked.
The first half of the game Baltimore had trouble moving the ball despite scoring in the first quarter. By the second the Chiefs had taken a 10-point lead with Kansas City’s defense completely shutting down Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback (QB) Lamar Jackson.
Baltimore’s defense stepped up in the second half, however; the offense continued to struggle moving the ball. Jackson was a bit more productive in the second half despite his struggles on offense carrying the ball 8 times for 54 yards. The result was a single field goal in the second half that wasn’t nearly enough to win the game.
The NFC championship was a much more exciting game to watch as the Detroit Lions came out with a pur- pose, taking a 24-7 lead by the half. The San Francisco 49ers on the other hand were looking for answers; unable to get anything going other than Christian McCaffrey’s 2-yard run in the second quarter that put the 49ers only points on the board from the first half.
The second half was all 9ers where they scored 17 points in the third quarter tying the game at 24 apiece. San Francisco added 10 more in the fourth taking the lead 34-24. The Lions would add one more touchdown to pull within a field goal but it wasn’t enough to hold off San Francisco’s second half surge.
Now, San Francisco will face the Chiefs in Las Vegas on Sunday, February 11th at 4:30 p.m. MST. These two faced off back in 2020 for Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The 9ers lost 31-20 in that game and are looking to get revenge for that loss nearly four years ago.
In other sports the Denver Nuggets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks at Ball Arena on Monday night. The Bucks came to Denver under new head coach Doc Rivers after the team fired head coach Adrian Griffin last week.
The Bucks came out strong in the first 7 minutes of the game taking a commanding 20-8 lead over the defending champs. By the end of the 1st the Nuggets had pulled to within four points and eventually took the lead a few min- utes into the second quarter.
These two juggernauts battled it out for two and a half more quarters with the Nuggets coming out on top, 113-107. Nikola Jokic chalked up another triple double with 16 rebounds, 12 assists and 25 points.
The Colorado Avalanche are on a short break for the NHL All-Star week in Toronto with everything kicking off on All-Star Thursday (February 1, at 6 p.m.). The NHL All- Star Skills will be held on Friday at 7 p.m. a day ahead of the NHL All-Star game at Scotiabank Arena at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Avs will head to New York on Monday next week to face the Rangers and will remain on the road in New Jersey (vs. Devils, Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.), the Carolina’s (vs. Hurricanes, Thursday at 6 p.m.), Florida (vs. Panthers, Saturday, February 10th at 4 p.m.), D.C. (vs. Capitals, Tuesday, February 13 at 5 p.m.) and Tampa (vs. Lightning, Thursday February 15 at 5 p.m.) before returning home.
