By Tim Peterson
Did anybody really think Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t play for Kansas City in the AFC Championship game against Buffalo on Sunday? The way he ran up the tunnel last week after a quick check up he was ready to return then.
Unless he was on his death bed he was going to be out there. Even then the Chiefs doctors would have cleared him. And with Mahomes out there the Chiefs win. Yes it’s that simple. Josh Allen will make a big play or two and I do like Stefon Diggs, but it wont be enough. Travis Kelce and Tyrek Hill are key factors as well but they’re key factors because of Mahomes. He gets them the ball. I won’t pick a score…this isn’t “Game Night”… but the Chiefs win by 10.
In the NFC I don’t see Aaron Rodgers losing at home. Not because of the fans, there will only be several thousand in attendance, but because of the weather. Some say it doesn’t matter, but it does. Green Bay is used to…well…Green Bay. They practice in it every day. They play in it every season. The only ones that will be frozen in the tundra will be Tampa Bay. The running game is working too with Aaron Jones. Yes I know the Packers lost to the Bucs 38-10 back on October. Different time, different place, different game.
Rodgers and oh yeah, did I mention Davante Adams? Yeah those two guys get it done. Packers by two touchdowns.
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Mathew Stafford’s availability puts a new spin on things. Now that’s a nice fit for the Rams. They should still take a swing at Deshaun Watson but if that doesn’t work out…and there’s a good chance it won’t…they should turn their eyes to Stafford. I wonder if it will help that Stafford and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw are tight? Maybe they should give Clayton a call to do a little recruiting.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since Kobe Bryant died. As tragic as it was, I’m not going to say Kobe was my favorite Laker of all time. No that would be Magic or “Big Game” James Worthy or even Coop…yeah I was a big “Showtime” Lakers guy. Even way back in the day I loved watching Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. Anybody else remember Gail Goodrich?
That being said I was watching some of Kobe’s biggest moments on Spectrum Sports net the other night as they celebrated his life and one moment did stand out – Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals.
Bryant missed Game 3 with an ankle injury suffered in Game 2 and the Pacers won to cut the Lakers series lead to 2-1. Kobe came out in Game 4 and had trouble getting started on a still sore ankle. The game, close the entire way, went into overtime and then Shaquille O’Neal fouled out mid way through the OT. Kobe then tells Shaq “Don’t worry I got it” and does exactly that by knocking down the next three shots and leading the Lakers to the win and ultimately the NBA title, the first championship for Shaq and Kobe. O’Neal had 36 points but Bryant had 28 on 14 of 27 from the field, and took over down the stretch…all on a bad ankle. Hall of Fame player, amazing career, but that moment, to me, stood out.
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I’m hearing that the El Monte Unified High School District won’t be the last district to cancel Fall sports. “August 2021! August 2021! seems to be the rallying cry.
That’s my principle.
I can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40 or on Facebook.
Tom Brady couldn’t have planned it any better. He left New England after all those seasons playing for Bill Belichick and made it right back to the Super Bowl with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers did just enough on defense to score a 31-26 victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game today. They pretty much stopped the Packers’ running attack and they were also able to slow down Aaron Rodgers some. Green Bay settled for field goals a couple of times after getting into the red zone.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur made two big mistakes late in the game.
First, LaFleur settled for a field goal on 4th-and-goal at the 8-yard line instead of going for a touchdown, which could’ve been followed by a game-tying two-point conversion. That came with just over two minutes left.
Then, after getting the field goal to narrow the Buccaneers’ lead to 31-26, he had the Packers kick the ball deep instead of trying an onside kick.
Green Bay never got the ball back.