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Andy Richardson

A Day of Football

In some respects, we should have all seen it coming. I guess most of us knew the Patriots were going back to the Super Bowl, no shock there. But the Eagles weren't favored in either playoff game; the popular belief was that no Carson Wentz meant no Super Bowl. And that was really wrong.

The mistake was overlooking the fact that Wentz wasn't the whole story with the Eagles having the league's best record during the season. It's a really, good, deep team. It has me believing that maybe they can win their first Super Bowl two weeks from now. They don't have the advantage at quarterback (or on offense in general) or in experience, particularly on the sidelines. But they have the better defense. Maybe that will be enough.

Patriots 24, Jaguars 20. A lot to say about what was a really good football game. Where to start. OK, first, what an impressive game by Blake Bortles. The guy played great. Made throws all day long, and very nearly pulled off a monumental upset in Foxborough that has eluded a lot of other quarterbacks over the years. Barely missed Leonard Fournette on a play that might have won it. Threw a beautiful fourth-down pass that would have won it but for a great defensive play. Guy played big. Maybe somebody in the Jacksonville braintrust is thinking, quarterback play is the only reason we weren't in the Super Bowl. But I say no. This team could have won yesterday, with Bortles, but for a play or two, and I don't see much fault in Bortles for not making them.

A critical play that stands out was shortly before halftime, Jaguars up 14-3. Bortles and Marcedes Lewis seemingly converted a third and long that would have at worst enabled Jacksonville to kick a field goal before the half and go up 17-3 at the break. Hell, even if they screwed up that they'd have gone into the break up 14-3. But the Jaguars snapped it a half-second late, the play was erased, and they had to punt. New England scored before the half to make it 14-10. Huge. (And yeah, they then got a little conservative by taking a knee with 50 seconds left rather than trying to move into field goal range.)

Side note: what a game and season for Josh Lambo. Why, why did the Chargers cut him at the start of the season? Might have been the Chargers in that game yesterday. Bizarre.

Full credit to Tom Brady, who made all the throws. That was a great defense he faced that played great, and he lost his best receiver in the first half. I don't particularly care for the guy and think not enough is made about how favorable things have always been for him (did you know he's lost his last three road playoff games and four of five?). But he's great, and if he didn't step up with some huge drives and throws yesterday, the Patriots would be sitting home. Extra mention for Danny Amendola. That was some kind of amazing work on the winning touchdown grab.

Eagles 38, Vikings 7. I'm pretty sure I said something stupid last week like "the only stunning thing that could happen in this matchup would be a blowout." So naturally we got a blowout, the third straight in NFC Championship games, made even more surprising by the fact that Minnesota had everything working on its opening drive, surgically marching down the field for an easy touchdown that was the only points they'd score all game. It was all Eagles after that.

The big story was that the supposed weak link of this matchup -- Nick Foles -- had the game of his life. (And this is a guy who once threw 7 TDs in a game.) When Xavier Rhodes was sidelined, he immediately threw up a perfect bomb to Alshon Jeffery. And this was shortly after throwing up a perfect bomb to Torrey Smith that could have been caught (defender did a good job breaking it up). And Foles kept on doing it until the game was over. What can you say? The guy played great against a great defense. Killed it out there.

Another tough championship game loss for the Vikings. That it came just a week after one of the greatest wins in franchise history -- well, that's the NFL. A reminder that you really have to enjoy the wins, because the next loss that makes you feel the complete opposite is just around the corner.

If Case Keenum made himself some money last week, he cost himself some this week. But I"m not going to be too harsh on him. The Pick Six, which was huge, was because he got hit while throwing it. Adam Thielen came into the game banged-up, and Stefon Diggs took an early shot that might have affected him, too. The way the Eagles played yesterday on both sides of the ball, I don't know what quarterback was going to beat them. I believe they'd have clobbered the Saints, too. One takeaway from yesterday is that, gee, the Falcons were pretty good.

The matchup is set. Patriots-Eagles. I think the Eagles are better than when these teams met in the Super Bowl a dozenish years ago, and the Patriots aren't as good defensively. The line opened with New England favored by 6, and it seems to be 5 1/2 this morning. My kneejerk thought is that the Eagles can win.

We'll spend the next two weeks looking at it and seeing if they can.

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