AFC and NFC championship previews: Key players, matchups for Commanders-Eagles, Chiefs-Bills
Sunday, 3 p.m. EST, Fox
BetMGM NFL Odds: Eagles by 6
Eagles players to watch: RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley finished with a club-record 2,005 rushing yards in the regular season, 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984. Philadelphia’s star running back was held out of the team’s meaningless regular-season finale against the Giants as a precaution by coach Nick Sirianni. Barkley ran for 119 yards in his return to the field against the Packers in the opening round of the playoffs before following it up with a franchise playoff record of 205 rushing yards against the Rams on Sunday. He’ll be even more important with quarterback Jalen Hurts’ leg banged up, although the QB appears set to play
Commanders player to watch: QB Jayden Daniels. The rookie quarterback lit up the Eagles defense in the previous matchup in late December, accounting for 339 yards between nine carries and 24 completions. The No. 2 overall pick out of LSU passed for 299 yards and two TDs and ran for 51 yards in the win at Detroit on Saturday night.
Key matchup: Washington’s defense against Barkley. The Commanders were 30th in the regular season defending the run, allowing an average of 137.5 yards per game. That doesn’t bode well for stopping Barkley. In the regular season, Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000-plus yards, helping the Eagles average 179.3 yards on the ground, good for second in the league. And he has continued rolling in the playoffs, breaking Steve van Buren’s franchise record for rushing yards in a playoff game by running all over the Rams. The second of Barkley’s two rushing TDs against Los Angeles, a 78-yard scamper through the snow, instantly became one of the highlights of the season and one of the best plays in recent Eagles history.
Sunday, 6:30 p.m. EST, CBS/Paramount+
BetMGM NFL odds: Chiefs by 1 1/2.
Bills player to watch: Josh Allen is enjoying his most efficient season, and the Buffalo quarterback has a track record of raising his level of play in the playoffs. He’s 7-5 in the postseason with a franchise-record 23 touchdowns passing against just four interceptions, and his seven TDs rushing in the postseason are tied for second on the NFL list among QBs, one behind Steve Young. In three playoff losses to Kansas City, Allen is a combined 81 of 126 for 802 yards with seven TDs passing, two rushing and just one interception.
Chiefs player to watch: Patrick Mahomes moved into a tie with Joe Montana for the second-most playoff wins as a starting quarterback in the divisional round against Houston. But while Montana was 16-7 for his career, the Chiefs' two-time NFL MVP is 16-3, and two of the three losses came in overtime in the AFC championship game while the other came in the Super Bowl — the only Super Bowl he's lost in four tries.
Key matchup: The Chiefs defensive front against Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who beat them both rushing and passing in a loss in Buffalo in November. Allen threw for 262 yards and a touchdown in that game while running 12 times for 55 yards and another score — a 26-yard TD run with 2:17 left that sealed the 30-21 victory for the Bills.
