© Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The AFC and NFC Conference Championship matchups are set after the Divisional Round of the Playoffs and what emerged over the course of the weekend was a total statistical anomaly. Typically, teams that have more yards are more likely to win the game but the exact opposite was true in this round of the NFL Playoffs.
Saturday’s NFL Playoffs slate kicked off with the reigning SB champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting C.J. Stroud and the Texans. As a quick aside, I only just learned today that C.J. Stroud’s full name is Coleridge Bernard Stroud IV. Anyway… Travis Kelce caught 117 of Mahomes’ 177 passing yards and they were able to win the game despite the Texans out-gaining Kansas City with 336 total yards to KC’s 212 total yards.
Ultimately, Houston just couldn’t find the end zone and it cost them the game. Losing an NFL Playoffs game with more yards than your opponent has to sting but the Texans weren’t alone, the same scenario played out in every single game…
When the Washington Commanders traveled to Detroit to face the NFC’s #1 seeded Lions they went up against one of the loudest crowds in Detroit history. The two teams also combined for an NFL Playoffs record 42 points in the 2nd quarter alone.
In the end, Washington beat Detroit 45-31 but their 481 yards of total offense fell short of Detroit’s 521 yards. It was the Lions’ 5 turnovers that ultimately proved to be the nail in the coffin for Detroit’s Super Bowl hopes.
At this point, the weird pattern was emerging but by Sunday’s end it would be a total statistical anomaly. The LA Rams traveled to Philly in the snow to face the Eagles and came close with a chance to take the lead on a drive in the final minutes.
After the final whistle, Stafford and the Rams would lose 22-28 to the Philadelphia Eagles despite having 402 yards of total offense to Philly’s 350 yards. Philly had trouble putting up points in the middle of the game. The only points they had over the 2nd and 3rd quarters was a field goal. But they put up 13 in the 1st and 12 in the 4th to send the Rams packing… Despite having fewer overall yards.
In the final game of the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens traveled to frigid Buffalo to face Josh Allen and the Bills. This was the closest of any matchup of the weekend and going into the game the spread was just 1-point so the Bills winning by 2 shows just how close Vegas was to nailing the spread again.
Despite losing 25-27 to the Bills, Baltimore had 416 total yards to Buffalo’s 273. Baltimore was hit by the turnover bug like the Lions and 3 costly turnovers seemingly cost Lamar Jackson and the Ravens the game.
Shout out to Jay Cuda on X for noticing this statistical anomaly:
the divisional round of the nfl playoffs pic.twitter.com/PyFflcSr3q
— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) January 20, 2025
Jay is one of my favorite follows on X (née Twitter) over the years for graphics like that. And for graphics like this one which shows just how close the Bills vs Chiefs rivalry has been over the past decade in the AFC.
bills vs. chiefs, head to head over the last 10 years pic.twitter.com/4WT4ODvyRv
— Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) January 20, 2025
For anyone wondering, Patrick Mahomes has been with the Chiefs for 8 of those 10 seasons and Josh Allen has been with the Bills for 7. The AFC Championship looks to be the most fun matchup of next weekend’s NFL Playoffs with the Eagles-Commanders game being an extension of the regular season… Both games will be equally difficult to predict, however, as Washington got the better of Philly a few weeks ago when Jalen Hurts was out.