And then there were two! After an exciting weekend of conference championships last weekend, the Super Bowl is set as the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
To get her, the Chiefs took down the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in the AFC Championship. Patrick Mahomes threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns in the win, while Marquez Valdez-Scantling had six receptions for 116 yards and a score.
In the NFC, Philadelphia steamrolled the San Francisco 49ers 31-7. Most of Philadelphia’s damage came on the ground. Miles Sanders had two rushing touchdowns, while Jalen Hurts and Boston Scott had a rushing touchdown each.
While we can wet our appetites with the Pro Bowl this weekend, the Super Bowl is set for February 12. While we countdown the days, let’s take a look at some of the other stories from around the league.
News On 49ers’ Quarterbacks
Part of the storyline in the San Francisco 49ers loss last weekend was the injury concerns at quarterback. Starter Brock Purdy was knocked out of the game early, and even though he returned after backup Josh Johnson got injured, it was evident there was something wrong.
Earlier this week, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reported first that Purdy has a torn UCL in his throwing shoulder, an injury that will likely sideline the rookie for at least six months.
Purdy was considered “Mr. Irrelevant” this season, as he was the last pick of last year’s draft, but he played a pivotal role in getting the 49ers to the NFC Championship. In parts of nine games during the regular season, he threw for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns, and just four interceptions.
The quarterback position was a bit of a revolving door due to injuries this year for San Francisco as both Trey Lance (fractured fibula) and Jimmy Garoppolo (broken foot) both were shelved early in the year.
Speaking of Garoppolo, head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed in an interview this week that he does not really see an avenue in which Garoppolo would return to San Francisco next year.
Garoppolo had been part of trade conversations last year as well before reaching an agreement for his return. It does not appear that will happen again this season, despite the fact that he threw for 2,437 yards, 16 touchdowns, and four interceptions in parts of 11 games.
Tom Brady Retires…Again
Arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game has decided to hang up his cleats…again. Tom Brady announced this week that he would be calling it a career after having just finished his 23rd season in the NFL.
Of course, some may take this with a grain of salt after he made the same announcement last year, but there certainly seemed to be a stronger sense of finality in this announcement.
The now 45-year-old Brady broke into the league in 2000, with his first full season under center coming in 2001. In that span, Brady set the record for career passing yards (89,214), passing touchdowns (649), and a myriad of other records as well.
Brady also won the Super Bowl seven times and was Super Bowl MVP five times. He was the regular season MVP three times in his career.
This season, Brady threw for 4,694 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. With that production, there was bound to be a lot of interest if he decided to return, but he will now likely turn to his 10-year agreement with FOX as a television game analyst.
Pair Of Head Coaching Hires
This week also saw a couple notable head coaching vacancies get filled as both the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans found their guys.
For Denver, they are bringing in Sean Payton to be the next coach. The former New Orleans Saints coach was still under contract, so the Broncos have also agreed to trade a first-round pick (2023) and a second-round pick (2024) for the rights to Payton and a third-round pick (2024).
Elsewhere, the Houston Texans agreed to a deal with DeMeco Ryans to become the team’s next head coach. It is a six year contract for Ryans, who returns to the Texans, where he played from 2006 to 2011 as a defensive linebacker.
