Let’s get this out of the way quickly: Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs again benefited from questionable calls from the officials.
It’s unfortunate that a league worth billions of dollars can’t get a better system for determining a first down. Heck, they can’t even figure out something as simple as making roughing the passer penalties reviewable.
Maybe it’s because I’m a boxing fan, but I’ve accepted the reality that NFL referees are going to get in the way of most games, similar to boxing judges who tend to be the story of most championship fights due to heinous scorecards. It’s just part of the sport. I’m not saying it’s right, but knocking out the champ to be the champ is a good motto to accept under these circumstances, especially for teams playing against the Chiefs.
Even with the multiple questionable calls that went against them, the Buffalo Bills still had in an ideal situation to knock out the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions at their house, but blew their opportunity. Bills quarterback Josh Allen failed to move the ball with a three-point deficit despite having three timeouts and more than three minutes left in regulation. The Chiefs won 32–29 and are one win away from becoming the first team in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid also missed his opportunity after dropping Allen’s heave on fourth-and-5 with two minutes left on the clock. It was a tough play to make, but the Chiefs’ defense applied the pressure to make it a difficult pass for Allen to complete.
On the other side, the Bills’ defense struggled to contain Patrick Mahomes, who made it work with rookie receiver Xavier Worthy and veteran running back Kareem Hunt. Bills coach Sean McDermott at least had a productive game plan to slow down Travis Kelce, who was held to two catches for 19 yards.
The Bills had many opportunities to overcome the poor officiating decision, just like most teams have had when playing the Chiefs this season. They either beat themselves, didn’t step up when it mattered most or thought about the officials too much.
Perhaps the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the mindset of needing to knock out the Chiefs after falling short against them in the Super Bowl two years ago. Now the two teams will clash in New Orleans for a Super Bowl rematch. The Eagles could have a better team this time around after leaning on Saquon Barkley to beat the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers during an epic run to the Super Bowl. Philadelphia dominated Washington, 55–23, in the NFC title game.
Here’s what else we learned during championship Sunday.
Teams continue to look foolish for not hiring Spagnuolo as HC
Those who are tired of seeing the Chiefs in the Super Bowl should direct their frustrations to the teams that continue to pass on Steve Spagnuolo for their head coaching vacancies.
The Las Vegas Raiders have hired four head coaches since Spagnuolo advanced to his first of five Super Bowls with the Chiefs as the defensive coordinator. But, hey, at least the Raiders requested an interview with Spagnuolo during this hiring cycle. Baby steps. The Denver Broncos have hired three head coaches and the Los Angeles Chargers two since Spagnuolo landed in Kansas City in 2019.
It boggles the mind that a divisional rival won’t even seriously consider taking a pivotal piece of what has made the Chiefs successful the past six years. The Raiders have tried on multiple occasions to recreate the Patriot way, hiring Josh McDaniels and making Tom Brady a minority owner. The Chargers hired a defensive minded coach in 2021 because Brandon Staley helped the Los Angeles Rams get to the divisional round for one season. The Broncos just ended an eight-year playoff drought. You can keep going on like this for nearly every team that has had head coaching vacancies the past few seasons.
But why waste time examining why no one will hire arguably the greatest defensive coordinator in NFL history? Yes, it’s fair to say that with all the success he’s had in Kansas City and with the New York Giants. Bill Belichick couldn’t get a job last year because he was supposedly too old and wanted too much power. A year later, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave up plenty of power for Liam Coen and the Raiders just hired 73-year-old Pete Carroll.
Until we get answers for why Spagnuolo can’t get a head coach job during a Netflix Chiefs dynasty documentary, please put more focus into what he’s doing on the field, because he’s a big reason why the Chiefs continue to win playoff games (more so than the bad officials).
With Mahomes on the sideline, Spagnuolo and his Chiefs defense had a critical matchup against Allen and his Bills offense to protect a three-point lead with under four minutes left in regulation. Buffalo didn’t even get into Kansas City territory and Allen threw a prayer downfield after seeing Spagnuolo send the house on fourth-and-5.
Maybe the New Orleans Saints do the Chiefs haters a favor and hire Spagnuolo during the Super Bowl bye week. Not likely, though, for whatever foolish reasons.
Bills should seriously consider parting with McDermott
The Bills have reached a point where they need to seriously consider firing McDermott for failing to get over the postseason wall that has a Chiefs logo painted on it. Last year, the Bills altered their roster after trading wide receiver Stefon Diggs, but the results were still the same—a postseason loss to the Chiefs.
Now all eyes will be on McDermott, even those of his players who might begin to wonder whether he has what it takes to make it to a Super Bowl. McDermott has seven playoff appearances since the Bills hired him in 2017, but zero AFC championships and four postseason losses to the Chiefs.
Sure, the Bills can run it back with McDermott and take their chances with an older Chiefs team that will have to deal with the fatigue of three consecutive trips to the Super Bowl. But Mahomes is in the midst of his prime, Spagnuolo probably isn’t going anywhere because of foolish reasons mentioned above and Kansas City has already shown it’s capable of retooling, evident from the Tyreek Hill trade.
It would be strange to let go of a coach who has had plenty of success in Buffalo, but McDermott hasn’t gotten the job done when it mattered most. Maybe it’s time the organization gets to see what Allen can do with a different coach. There are still many quality candidates out there such as Spagnuolo, Belichick, Mike McCarthy, Kliff Kingsbury, Brian Flores and Kellen Moore. Buffalo could also look at coaches from the college ranks.
Stop expecting Hurts, Sirianni to screw it up for the Eagles
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was quick to praise Jalen Hurts during the trophy presentation for the NFC championship. He clearly heard the criticism about his star signal-caller and had plenty of ammo for the doubters after Hurts’s four-touchdown performance.
It’s been ugly at times, but Sirianni is right about Hurts. All he’s done is win games since taking over as the team’s starter in 2021. Philadelphia has made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons and will now appear in a second Super Bowl with Hurts under center. With all the success, Sirianni could have easily let the Hurts doubters argue with a wall and not said anything.
But taking the high road isn’t Sirianni’s style and he wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to defend his quarterback. I still don’t understand why many Eagles fans wanted him gone at one point and football pundits were quick to bash him after every coaching decision that didn’t go his way the past two seasons. Dan Campbell, John Harbaugh, Kevin O’Connell and many other quality coaches haven’t been to one Super Bowl since Sirianni was hired in Philadelphia.
Hurts’s playoff results also apply to Sirianni because he was hired in 2021 after the team fired Doug Pederson, who set the bar high for Sirianni by delivering the first Super Bowl in Philadelphia back in ’17. Yes, Sirianni is still chasing Pederson because just getting to the big game twice isn’t the same as hoisting the Lombardi trophy, but Sirianni continues to put the team in positions to compete for Super Bowls. In a way, Sirianni and Hurts are similar. There could be ugly moments within games, but both often find ways to prevail.
Philadelphia entered the postseason with the best running back in the league and a championship-caliber defense, but there was a sense of “yeah, but Sirianni could find a way to screw it up.” Instead, Sirianni has had his team prepared throughout the playoffs, while coordinators Moore and Vic Fangio get the bulk of the praise.
The narrative then shifted toward Hurts being the weak link after two subpar playoff performances against the Rams and Packers. Hurts responded by picking apart the Commanders’ secondary and giving them fits with his mobility in the NFC title game.
Now it’s tough to find a weakness on this Eagles squad after Sirianni and Hurts played critical roles in helping them return to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.
Commanders need to pair Daniels with a star running back
The Commanders will likely take advantage of Jayden Daniels being on a rookie contract by making a few splash moves to maximize this Super Bowl window that not many in Washington saw coming this soon.
The front office can start by adding a star running back, one that can make defenses second-guess themselves and not worry about Daniels as much as the Eagles did Sunday. Daniels didn’t have many answers against a talented secondary that was ready for the quick passes and a group of linebackers and pass rushers that kept the rookie sensation in the pocket.
It was as if the Eagles’ defense was content with allowing Daniels to make some plays in the passing game as long as it didn't come via the deep ball. It also didn’t help the Commanders that they didn’t receive many contributions from running backs Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr., giving the Eagles’ defensive backs no incentives to leave the pass catchers. Daniels contributed 48 of the Commanders’ 99 rushing yards.
If Daniels had a Barkley or Derrick Henry in the backfield, defenses would need to account for more on the field. Elite running backs will now be hard to find after a comeback season for the position, but the Commanders should prioritize finding one in the draft to help Daniels, who did plenty in his rookie season with a thin roster that was formed to help ignite the rebuild in Washington.
Not many saw this success coming in Year 1 of a new regime, but now they need to go all in to give Daniels more help on the field.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as What We Learned in Conference Championships: Steve Spagnuolo Should Be a Head Coach.