We don’t need too much of an introduction for this week’s edition of Par Talk. The Farmer’s Insurance Open delivered one of the worst leaderboards we’ve seen in quite a while, LIV Golf continues to do business while the PGA Tour continues to be addicted to sitting still, and someone tracked down the Saudi’s jet in New York.
Thankfully we have a revamped version of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to look forward to this week as the Tour’s schedule goes from 0 to 100 over the next few weeks.
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Deebo Samuel got the latest laugh in his ongoing feud with Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Samuel’s San Francisco 49ers did the unthinkable on Sunday night, erasing a 17-point deficit to claim a 34—31 comeback win over the Detroit Lions in the NFC championship game, securing a berth in Super Bowl LVIII in the process.
During the game, C.J. Gardner-Johnson went viral—and was then roasted for—waving goodbye to 49ers fans in the second quarter before San Francisco stormed back.
Welcome to 2024 NFL championship weekend here at The MMQB. Below are links to everything Albert Breer wrote over the weekend, plus more from our staff.
Inside Patrick Mahomes’s Biggest Play in the AFC Championship
The Chiefs came up with the eventual dagger at the team hotel on Saturday night.
Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports
Albert Breer talks to Andy Reid, Matt Nagy and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to break down the game-winning play.
Despite being one of the most respected color commentators in the NFL right now, Greg Olsen could be demoted from the Fox’s top broadcast team next season when Tom Brady joins the network.
Last February, it was reported that Olsen would move to Fox’s No. 2 team and take a big salary cut when Brady joins the Fox crew for the 2024 NFL season.
Brady is expected to take Olsen’s place along play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. The seven-time Super Bowl champion signed a 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox in 2022 before he announced his retirement from the NFL on Feb. 1, 2023.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Field goal or go for it? That defined the game, and here’s what the numbers say.
The Detroit Lions found themselves with an impossible decision with 7:32 left in the NFC Championship Game. Early excitement and promise was replaced with a nightmarish fever dream, as a combination of skill and luck cracked open the door for the San Fransisco 49ers. They kicked it down in the third quarter, surging into the lead after being down by 17 points at halftime.
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I want to thank my local Mexican restaurant’s $10 burrito (with guacamole!) for greatly enhancing my football-watching experience.
In today’s SI:AM:
💪 The Chiefs lean on their defense
🦁 The Lions’ gamble
💰 Early Super Bowl odds
If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe to receive SI:AM in your inbox every weekday.
On first and second down, Andy Reid played it by the book.
An Isiah Pacheco run up the middle, stuffed for a one-yard loss, forcing the Baltimore Ravens to burn their second timeout. Pacheco again, off right tackle, for two yards, making Baltimore spend its final timeout. And with 2:19 left in the AFC championship, Reid’s all-universe quarterback trotted back to the sideline, with a set of directions for the coaches.
Put the ball in my hands, Patrick Mahomes told them.
To the untrained ear, that might’ve sounded like simple bravado from a superstar. In this case, it was more than that.
It’s safe to say Stephen A. Smith wasn’t impressed with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s performance in Sunday’s AFC title game.
Jackson did throw for 272 yards and rushed for another 54, but the Ravens’ offense mustered just 10 total points in the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Jackson fumbled in the first half and threw a costly red zone interception in the second half, key mistakes that stopped Baltimore from breaking through offensively.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Defenses and defensive coordinators get paid too
Ahead of Super Bowl LIII, Bill Belichick and Brian Flores had a task to complete.
That task? Crafting a defensive game plan that would give the New England Patriots a chance to slow down the explosive Los Angeles Rams offense, a unit that ranked second in the NFL with an average of 32.9 points per game. That included slowing down Jared Goff, who threw for 32 touchdowns and ranked sixth in the NFL with an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of 7.69 that season.
Few former coaches know the pain of just missing out on a trip to the Super Bowl than former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan. That made him the perfect person to contextualize the Detroit Lions’ brutal NFC championship game loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday morning, Ryan called Detroit’s defeat “the most devastating loss of all time” and broke down how hard it is to process losing a game of that magnitude in such gut-wrenching fashion.
“I’ve lost three championship games,” Ryan said.