It’s hard not to get excited about the quarterback matchup waiting for us in Super Bowl LV.
On one side, Tom Brady – the best to ever play the position – will suit up for his first NFL title game without Bill Belichick, and he’ll do it for a Buccaneers team that will become the first team to ever compete for the Lombardi Trophy on home turf.
On the other, Patrick Mahomes – the heir apparent – who after a week of major question marks guided the defending-champion Chiefs to one their most impressive wins of the season and now gets a chance to become the first quarterback to lead his team to back-to-back titles since … Tom Brady.
It’s a matchup we’ll have plenty of time to break down over the next two weeks, so let’s dive into the takeaways from another eventful Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL.
CHIEFS’ DYNAMIC WEAPONS SIMPLY TOO MUCH TO HANDLE
This is far from a new take, but it’s one that’s hard to ignore after an offensive game like the one the Chiefs put together on Sunday in their 38-24 win over the Bills.
How are opponents supposed to stop this Kansas City team? Outside of Jon Gruden’s Raiders in Week 5 of this season, no team has had an answer to that question against these full-strength Chiefs.
That Oct. 11 loss to Vegas is the only one the Chiefs have suffered with Patrick Mahomes starting under centre over the last 14 months.
And on Sunday evening, the reasons why were fully on display.
Kansas City had 94% DVOA for the game tonight. By far their best game of the year. Their best offensive performance and second-best defensive performance behind Week 3 against Baltimore.
Not only are the Chiefs coached by one of the greatest offensive minds in league history in Andy Reid, and quarterbacked by the best player in the game in Patrick Mahomes (who put on a show against Buffalo), but the supporting cast is just ridiculous.
Travis Kelce set yet another record with his 13 catches, the most in a conference championship in the Super Bowl era. The All-Pro tight end had 118 yards and two touchdowns to go along with those 13 catches.
Tyreek Hill didn’t find the end zone against the Bills, but Cheetah did rack up 172 receiving yards on nine catches, including a blazing 71-yard run that set up K.C.’s fourth touchdown of the day to make it 31-15.
Throw in some big-time plays from Mecole Hardman, who more than made up for his first-quarter muffed punt with a touchdown and a 21.5-MPH run for 50 yards, plus rushing scores from Darrel Williams and rookie Clyde-Edwards Helaire, and this Chiefs offence somehow feels more menacing than last season’s edition.
It makes for a fascinating matchup in 13 days against a Buccaneers defence that did real damage against Aaron Rodgers in the NFC title game.
Also, shoutout to Steve Spagnuolo and the Chiefs defence, which smothered a Bills offence that, despite its struggles over the last two weeks, was one of the most dangerous in the league this season.
Speaking of the Bills offence …
SETTLING FOR FIELD GOALS JUST WON’T CUT IT
It was a tough night for the Buffalo Bills.
Not only was it nearly impossible to slow down Patrick Mahomes – the Bills defence forced just one punt, and it came on K.C.’s first drive – but Josh Allen and the Buffalo offence just wasn’t good enough.
Allen missed throws, the rhythm of the offence felt off (similar to last week against Baltimore) and, as a result, a unit that shredded opposing defences consistently over the final weeks of the regular season struggled to put any significant drives together when it mattered.
A gifted first-and-goal opportunity from Mecole Hardman gave the Bills an early 9-0 lead, but the score was deceiving of the actual success Buffalo was having offensively: in their first five possessions, the Bills accumulated just 88 yards on 25 plays – 42 of which came on the 10-play opening drive that ended in a field goal, a precursor of what was to come.
The Bills were finally able to manufacture a prolonged drive late in the second quarter, putting together 12 plays for 73 yards to get to the Chiefs’ two-yard line. But, trailing 21-12 with time expiring in the half and K.C. set to start the third quarter with the ball, the Bills choose to kick a field goal on fourth down rather than go for the touchdown.
Then, after holding the Chiefs to just three points on the opening drive of the second half, Buffalo put together another promising drive – 10 plays for 67 yards – which again led the Bills inside K.C.’s 10-yard line. Again down to a fourth-and-short inside the Chiefs’ 10, trailing by 12 with the most potent of offences on the opposite sideline, the Bills decided against going for six and once again settled for a chip-shot Tyler Bass field goal.
On the next drive, the Chiefs drove 75 yards in just over two minutes to stretch their lead to 16. Josh Allen threw an interception on the Bills’ ensuing possession, and the game was essentially in the bag.
Against a team as deadly as the Chiefs, field goals deep in enemy territory won’t cut it – especially when the team settling for those three-point kicks is led by a quarterback in Josh Allen who had been a killer inside the opposing 20 and was facing the league’s worst red-zone defence.
The future is bright in Buffalo because of what the team has built on offence, but on Sunday it was the decision against trusting those players that likely decided the Bills’ fate.
BRADY BAILED OUT BY BUCS DEFENCE AFTER RARE PLAYOFF MISTAKES
The first 37 minutes the NFC title game in Green Bay couldn’t have gone any better for Tom Brady.
By the time the Buccaneers scored their fourth touchdown of the game early in third quarter to extend the lead over the Packers to 28-10, the 43-year-old future Hall of Famer had three touchdown passes – giving him 80 total in his post-season career, 35 more than the next closest QBs – and had cemented himself as the Buccaneers’ leader in playoff touchdown passes in less than three games.
The Buccaneers were rolling and Brady was only further solidifying his legacy as the best playoff performer the sport has ever seen. And then he threw interceptions on three consecutive drives, an incredibly rare string of gaffes for the GOAT.
The mistakes allowed Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to claw back into a game they had trailed by 18 at one point — but fortunately for Brady, Tampa Bay’s stout defence stepped up.
Rodgers was able to take advantage of Brady’s first pick, turning it into six and cutting the Bucs’ lead to just five after a failed two-point conversion. But the other two interceptions were followed immediately by Green Bay three-and-outs, two drives in which the Packers recorded a combined minus-five yards.
Todd Bowles’s defence was also stellar inside its own 20 against one of the league’s top red-zone offences, twice holding the Packers to field goals from inside the 10-yard line – including the controversial three-point kick Matt LaFleur opted for late in the fourth quarter (more on that later …).
It’s another incredible performance from a Bucs defence that had done it to the Packers once before in 2020, and were really the only team to cause Rodgers serious problems at all during his MVP-calibre campaign.
Including Sunday, Rodgers threw six interceptions all season – three of them came in two games against the Bucs. Rodgers was sacked 25 times – nine of which came against the Bucs.
By no means should we take away from what Tom Brady has accomplished; 10 career Super Bowl appearances is a mind-blowing accomplishment.
But Brady and the Bucs wouldn’t have got that 31-26 win on Sunday without the play of that defence.
HEAD-SCRATCHING COACHING DECISION COSTS PACKERS
There are a lot of reasons the Packers lost Sunday’s NFC title game at Lambeau – a failure to capitalize on Tampa turnovers, committing their own costly turnovers and a very bad defensive call in a very big situation.
Despite all of that, Green Bay was in the game in the final minutes until an inexcusable call on fourth down deep in Buccaneers territory essentially sealed the Packers’ fate.
After an incomplete third-down pass to Davante Adams in the end zone, on which Aaron Rodgers appeared to pass up a chance to run in for a score, the Packers faced fourth-and-eight with 2:05 left in the game trailing by eight points.
Rather than trust the presumptive league MVP under centre and go for the touchdown in an attempt to tie the game, head coach Matt LaFleur elected to kick a field goal to move within five points and hope the Packers defence would get a stop to provide one last possession.
They didn’t.
Given the personnel the Packers boast and the situation the team found itself in, going for the touchdown was a no-brainer: trust Rodgers, Adams and one of the league’s best offensive lines to get the job done. And if they don’t? The Buccaneers take over deep in their own territory and Green Bay’s defence gets its chance to make a stand.
Three points made no difference.
It’s a decision LaFleur expressed some regret for post-game – “Any time it doesn’t work out, you always regret it” – but ultimately one he defended.
But it’s more than just a head-scratching call from LaFleur that robbed his team and its Hall of Fame quarterback a chance at the Super Bowl – it’s one that could define his career as Green Bay’s head coach.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
