–The big winners of the conference games were Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy. The losers were Lamar Jackson and two coaches, Todd Monken, offensive coordinator of the Ravens and Dan Campbell, head coach of the Lions.
–Mahomes was the underdog in his first road conference title game and led the Chiefs on touchdown drives on his first two possessions. The Ravens defense then held him to a field goal the rest of the game but since the Ravens were struggling on offense, he was content to play conservatively the rest of the game and avoid turnovers or mistakes that could have jumpstarted the Ravens offense. The result is he earned his fourth Super Bowl berth in the last five years.
–Lamar Jackson was aiming for his first Super Bowl appearance but is now 2-4 in the playoffs as he only put seven points on the board. Jackson didnt play well as he threw an interception in end zone into triple coverage and was a victim of a strip sack. It didn’t help that Zay Flowers fumbled on the one-yard line. But Monken got away from the run game and put too much emphasis on Jackson throwing. And Jackson didn’t seem to look for running lanes, either. It was a frustrating end to an MVP season for Jackson and raises questions about whether he will figure out a watch to play in the playoffs like he does in regular season.
–Brock Purdy is often called a game manager, but he led the 49ers to the best comeback in conference title game history after the 49ers trailed the Lions 24-7 at halftime. Purdy lacks some of the physical skills of the top quarterbacks but his abilityto not get rattled when team gets off to a bad start is the reason why he is in the Super Bowl in his second season.
–The Detroit Lions had the biggest meltdown in conference history against the 49ers. They made a lot of mistakes in the second half with dropped passes and a key fumble and were unlucky when a pass bounced off the helmet of a Detroit player and turned into a 49ers touchdown. But Campbell must take his share of the blame for passing up two field goals, one which would have given the Lions a 17-point lead in the third quarter after the 49ers had cut the deficit to 14 and one that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter and running the ball on third and goal and then burning a timeout. Campbell is noted for his aggressive style but it backfired on him this time.
VITO'S VIEWS 