Participants,

Well, 3 of the 4 favored teams won last weekend, setting the stage for the Conference Championship Games this Sunday afternoon and evening.  Questions loom for those 2 games and we will get to that later in the week.  For now, here are the Divisional Round and HSBT Updates from last weekend:

Kansas City Chiefs 27, Jacksonville Jags 20
While the Chiefs literally limped to victory in this game, the bigger question will be the status of the injured right ankle of Chiefs QB Mahomes.  KC was dominating in this game, as TE Travis Kelce was catching 15 passes (most of them on critical 3^rd down plays).  Jags QB Trevor Lawrence didn’t hold up well in Arrowhead and had a few costly mistakes.  That 98-yard TD drive by the Chiefs, engineered by backup QB Chad Henne, was a signal that this game is officially over.

HSBT Update
HenricoFiveOh and Greg the Great (bottom feeders during the Super Wild Card Round) came to life with 65 points each to lead the way.

Philadelphia Eagles 38, New York Flag Football Giants 7
A lame showing by the underdog Giants, as the Eagles D put the hammer on the Giants offense all night long.  The Eagles ran and passed at will, and QB Hurts showed that his injured arm was just fine.  These Eagles are for real and these Giants aren’t yet.

HSBT Update
HenricoFiveOh continued his Saturday winning ways with 121 points (even though his variance was 20) and JTB secured the 1^st goose-egg of the weekend.

Cincinnati Bengals 27, Buffalo Bills 10
Perfect Buffalo Bills weather, Damar in the house, Bills Mafia in the stands.  What could go wrong?  After it was over, what went right?  Not much.  The underdog Bengals started out hot and never let up.  They controlled both lines of scrimmage, even with 3 backups on the offensive line.  Bills QB Josh Allen never really got going and the offense was out of sync all day.  Credit the Bengals for a dominating victory.  The AFC Championship Game will not be held in Atlanta.

HSBT Update
Pete the Terp picked the Bengals to win (as did JTB) and walked away with 119 points.  Meanwhile, Buffalo Bill and Comeback Kid posted matching goose-eggs.

San Francisco 49ers 19, Dallas Cowboys 12
Was that the strangest catch ever by 49ers TE George Kittle?  Was that the strangest last play of the game ever by the Cowboys – RB Zeke Elliott snapping the ball and getting pancaked?  Dallas K Brett Maher misses yet another extra point (but luckily for him it didn’t matter.)  Either the defenses were that good or the offenses were that average.  We’ll find out about the 49ers next weekend.

HSBT Update
Pete the Terp again takes the Sunday honors with 121 points, while Buffalo Bill pops out another goose-egg.

HSBT Standings
A lead change has taken place with only 3 games to go!  The unmentioned 2023 Winner has played steadily throughout the playoffs and has been rewarded with 410 points.  The lead is super-thin and more than half the points are up for grabs, from a historical perspective.

• 2023 Winner – 410 points and not planning to slip out of the lead going forward
• Pete the Terp – 393 points and the closest wannabe
• Comeback Kid and HenricoFiveOh – 364 points and the 1^st ever tie for points this deep in the playoffs
• JTB – 335 points after a solid weekend showing, but that goose-egg didn’t help
• Buffalo Bill – 275 points, with 2 games of 37 points and 2 games of 37 less points last weekend
• Greg the Great – 237 points and that weekend in western New York did not provide him much benefit in the HSBT

Unfortunately, Pete the Terp also did not submit his Super Bowl Bonus pick and will not be in the hunt for those additional 100 points.  Nor will those who picked the Bills.  Only Comeback Kid (he picked KC to win it all) and JTB (he picked Cincy to win it all) have a shot at those points.

As is customary, The Commish will publish his analysis and predictions for the Conference Championship Games later this week.

Until then, I remain

The Commish