Participants,

Copying some familiar scripts from last weekend’s Divisional Round games, we had 2 fairly close games that resulted in 2 old-time SB participants making the final road trip of the season to Miami for Super Bowl LIV in a little less than 2 weeks.  And – we now have a new leader in the quest for the HSBT Championship, who has to hold on for 1 more game before claiming his 6th trophy!  Let’s review yesterday’s games:

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Kansas City Chiefs 35, Tennessee Titans 24
It started out as a very nervous repeat from last week for the Chiefs and their faithful followers, as they found themselves once again trailing by double digits early in the 2nd quarter.  Could this be the start of an upset?  But, as we saw last weekend, the Chiefs offense proved once again to be unstoppable when they wanted to be.  QB Mahomes launched missiles all over the field in an aerial attack that would have made the Department of Defense smile.  And, speaking of defense, holding Titans RB Derrick Henry to under 100 rushing yards (69) clearly changed Tennessee’s offensive approach.  Forced to pass, Titans QB Ryan Tannehill was not able to keep up with the relentless KC defense.  How fast are those elusive Kansas City WR’s?  They oughta have speed limiters in their shoes…  The Chiefs are off to the SB for the 1st time in 50 years, where they hope to repeat on their success, when they defeated the Vikes for their only SB Trophy.  Comeback complete for the 2nd weekend in a row.

In the HSBT, 2020 Winner started to make his customary move and earned 146 points, with a game variance of 2.  The pressure is starting to mount…  Pete the Terp submitted his picks on time, too.

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
San Francisco 49ers 37, Green Bay Sent Packing 20
Up 27-0 at the half, we thought this was over, but never count out Green Bay QB Rodgers.  A mini comeback started to mount, but was neutralized by the smothering 49er D.  SF QB Jimmy Garoppolo had to toss only 8 passes, as RB Mostert made the mostest of his day with a record-setting performance of 4 TD’s and 220 yards.  A thorough trouncing in the Bay Area in the nightcap game.  The Cheeseheads are beginning to smell like limberger, as the comeback attempt was thwarted…  Can the 49ers make it Lombardi Trophy #6 and tie the Patriots (they’re not playing in the Super Bowl?) and Steelers for the most?  We’ll find out in a couple of weeks.

In HSBT action, here comes Comeback Kid!  With a game variance of 2, he tallied a personal record 290 points (and 403 for the weekend) and now has the insurmountable lead of 42 points (over Buffalo Bill), as we head into the final game of the year.  His average variance of 3.0 for the 2 Conference Championships is 2nd best of all-time (Pete the Terp had a variance of 2.5, with a zero variance game, in 2012).

With only the Super Bowl game remaining, here is where the HSBT stands:

• Comeback Kid (563 points) – a very impressive weekend and sitting in an unfamiliar place (the last time he held the lead with 1 game to go was 2005), as he looks to capture his first trophy in 6 years
• Buffalo Bill (521) – a decent weekend, but trending in the wrong direction if he wants to capture his 4th trophy
• 2020 Winner (427) – keeping pace with the leaders, and firing on all cylinders as he seeks his 7th trophy
• Greg the Great (356) – a pretty good weekend, too, but needs to nail it in the SB if he wants to hold the trophy for the 7th time
• HenricoFiveOh (330) – 2nd lowest point total for the weekend puts him in a familiar place of making a very interesting SB game pick if he wants to hold the trophy for another year
• JTB (219) – really needed to make a statement over the weekend, but all we heard was “that goose-egg in the Pack loss to SF really hurt”  Look out for this SB pick!
• Pete the Terp (291) – still suffering from the sting of the Ravens loss and his penalty from the prior weekend, he’ll need a pick similar to “SF 55, KC 54” to claim his 3rd trophy.  Not out of the question, but probably out of the question…

My team will be making the journey to Miami later this week in preparation for our final analysis and game predictions, which will be shared later next week.  Mathematically, everyone is still in the hunt for the trophy, so begin making your plans!

Until then, enjoy the winter, and I am

THE Commish