NFL Championship Sunday gave us the drama that we wanted as four teams vied for two spots in next month’s Super Bowl.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson came up small in his team’s loss to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Patrick Mahomes continued his dominating ways in the NFL Playoffs for his Chiefs in the 17-10 road win.
In Northern California, the San Francisco 49ers overcame a brutal first half and 17-point deficit to punch their ticket to yet another Super Bowl via a 34-31 win.
For the second time in the past five years, San Francisco and Kansas City will go up against one another in the Super Bowl.
With that as a backdrop, we provide grades for all four teams that took part in NFL Championship Sunday.
Related: NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
Baltimore Ravens: F
Lamar Jackson is now 2-4 in his NFL Playoff career with six touchdown passes and six interceptions. It might now be time to change the narrative surrounding the likely NFL MVP after his stinker of a performance in the AFC Championship Game.
Jackson was a mistake waiting to happen. He lost a fumble in the first half after failing to recognize pressure. With Baltimore down 17-7 late in the fourth quarter, Jackson threw the ball into triple coverage in the end zone. It was picked off, taking points off the board and pretty much ending this game on a dime.
Jackson completed a mere 20-of-37 passes for 272 yards with one touchdown and two giveaways in yet another brutal postseason showing.
As a team, the Ravens just did not play their game during NFL Championship Sunday. That included three rush attempts from their running backs after the 5:36 mark in the first quarter. Whether it was Jackson struggling, the Ravens’ defense failing to step up against Patrick Mahomes or the coaching, Baltimore stunk up the joint at home in losing to the Chiefs. It’s that simple.
Related: Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson comes up empty again during NFL Championship Sunday
Kansas City Chiefs: A
For the fourth time in the past six years, the defending champion Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl. NFL Championship Sunday represented a return to their true colors as they defeated the Baltimore Ravens on the road by the score of 17-10.
Mahomes was absolutely brilliant, completing 30-of-39 passes for 241 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions. Travis Kelce caught all 11 of his targets for 116 yards with a touchdown. Marquez Valdes-Scantling made an absolutely huge catch in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Chiefs got to Lamar Jackson for four sacks. They forced two turnovers in the red zone and made opportunistic play after opportunistic play. Just a great showing from Andy Reid’s squad here. Simply sensational stuff.
Related: Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes again proves he’s the NFL’s gold standard
San Francisco 49ers: C+
A tale of two halves for the San Francisco 49ers. Kyle Shanahan’s team found itself down 27-10 at the half with their defense yielding 280 total yards and 18 first downs in those first two quarters. Brock Purdy looked to be completely out of his element missing open receivers and playing loose with the football. It was looking to be an absolute disaster class in front of the home fans inside Levi’s Stadium.
That’s when the NFC champs flipped a switch. San Francisco absolutely dominated in the second half with Purdy coming alive big time. He was a man on a mission, both through the air and on the ground.
The 49ers put up 277 total yards of offense in the second half. They held Detroit short on two huge fourth-down attempts while forcing a turnover that resulted in a touchdown.
It wasn’t pretty. San Francisco will need to clean some things up before Super Bowl LVIII against the Chiefs. But these 49ers came up clutch when it counted the most. Purdy came up clutch when it counted the most. It’s that simple.
Related: Top 10 players in Super Bowl LVIII between Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers
Detroit Lions: D
NFL Championship Sunday started out brilliantly for the upstart Lions. Dan Campbell’s squad opened up a 14-0 lead over the heavily favored 49ers on the road. They were up 27-10 at the half. It sure looked like Detroit was set to head to its first ever Super Bowl.
About that? The second half was an absolute disaster for this team. Its defense came up small. Dan Campbell’s decision to go for it on fourth down twice instead of kicking field goals loomed large in what ended up being a heartbreaking 34-31 loss to the 49ers.
Detroit’s entire offseason will be spent with Campbell being second guessed after some of his coaching decisions. Jared Goff’s inability to match Brock Purdy in the second half will also be a talking point. Sure, this one hurts. But the Lions are not going away. They will be in a Super Bowl with this current roster an coaching staff. You can take that to the bank.
Related: For Detroit Lions, epic collapse in NFC Championship Game represents more playoff misery