NFL 2025 NFC, AFC Championship Game Takeaways Before Eagles vs. Chiefs Super Bowl LIX0 of 4
Ealges RB Saquon BarkleyEmilee Chinn/Getty Images
The 2025 NFL Conference Championship Round featured an NFC East battle and a dynasty trying to crush the hopes of a familiar playoff foe.
In the NFC title game, the Philadelphia Eagles offense had its best scoring output of the season, outscoring the Washington Commanders 55-23. The Commanders didn’t have an answer for the Eagles’ ground attack, giving up 232 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels led his team in a respectable battle early, but Washington turned the ball over four times, and the Eagles converted all those giveaways into touchdown drives. Philadelphia will advance to the Super Bowl for the third time in seven years.
The Kansas City Chiefs outlasted the Buffalo Bills 32-29 in a much more competitive AFC Championship Game. Sunday’s nightcap sends Kansas City to a third straight Super Bowl while sending Buffalo into the offseason searching for a way to finally get past its postseason nemesis.
Bleacher Report analysts Kris Knox and Maurice Moton will break down the aftermath of the NFC and AFC Championship Games.
Commanders’ Rebuild Year Opened Their Super Bowl Window Way Ahead of Schedule1 of 4
Commanders QB Jayden DanielsEmilee Chinn/Getty Images
NFL fans should get used to watching the Washington Commanders in playoff games in the coming years. Their deep run to the NFC Championship Game isn’t a fluke. We often hear, “They will be back,” about many teams that lose in the Conference Championship Round or in the Super Bowl, but the Commanders are just getting started with their new regime.
Washington has a foundation that starts with its quarterback and head coach.
The Commanders won 12 games this season, the most since their Super Bowl run in the 1991 campaign. Head coach Dan Quinn has led two clubs to NFC title games, and his teams have a 54 percent winning percentage. Jayden Daniels should be the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year. He finished the season within the top 10 in passing touchdowns (25) and QBR (77.3).
Now, the front office can build on the team’s foundation in free agency and the draft. The Commanders have $87.6 million in cap space and three selections with the top 80 draft picks.
Skeptics may be hesitant to believe that Washington’s Super Bowl window has opened so quickly, but Daniels’ poise and playmaking ability in clutch moments give this team a chance at winning a title in the near future.
Sure, 2023 Offensive Player of the Year C.J. Stroud regressed this past season, a cautionary case to consider when praising Daniels. However, unlike Stroud, Daniels led his team to multiple road playoff victories, slaying the No. 1 seed in the NFC en route to the Conference Championship Game.
Furthermore, Daniels has a more proven play-caller in Kliff Kingsbury than Stroud had in former Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. If Kingsbury remains in Washington, the Commanders can see significant growth in their offense with the addition of another wide receiver as Quinn and coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. continue to coach up the defense.
Eagles Offense Has Left the Nest, and It’s Ready to Fly High in Super Bowl LIX2 of 4
Eagles WR A.J. Brown (left), RB Saquon Barkley (middle) and QB Jalen Hurts (right) Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
The Philadelphia Eagles offense can step on the field in New Orleans and tell opposing defenders to pick their poison.
On Sunday, the Eagles attacked the Washington Commanders in a variety of ways. On Philadelphia’s first offensive play from scrimmage, Saquon Barkley ran for a 60-yard touchdown. He tacked on another score within four yards of the goal line in the opening quarter.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts didn’t seem hampered by a knee injury that forced him to wear a brace. The Eagles ran the “Tush Push” play multiple times in short-yardage situations, and he rushed for three touchdowns. Hurts also threw for 246 yards and a score.
Hurts’ connection with wideout A.J. Brown is noteworthy, though.
In the Eagles’ first two playoff contests, Brown only caught three passes for 24 yards, and much was made about him reading Jim Murphy’s book “Inner Excellence” while sitting on the bench in the team’s wild-card matchup with the Green Bay Packers. Fully engaged against the Commanders, he hauled in six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Dallas Goedert caught a team-high seven passes for 85 yards. Backup running backs Will Shipley and Kenneth Gainwell racked up 101 scrimmage yards combined, spelling Barkley, who needed breaks to take care of a calf issue.
Philadelphia’s offense ranked seventh in scoring and eighth in total yards for the regular season—a high-end unit but not quite an explosive juggernaut. Now operating at its peak, the Eagles offense can outpace its next opponent, even if the defense doesn’t force multiple turnovers.
After a 55-point scoring outburst in the NFC Championship Game, the Eagles offense has left its nest and could fly high in Super Bowl LIX.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Are equipped to Make History3 of 4
Chiefs QB Patrick MahomesAaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images
No NFL team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls. The Chiefs will have an opportunity to do exactly that when they face the Eagles in two weeks.
Sunday’s win over the Bills wasn’t an easy one, but the Chiefs did avenge their only meaningful regular-season loss. They did so by making key plays at critical times on both sides of the ball.
This is essentially how Kansas City has operated all year. For this team, winning close games has become routine—it has now won 17 straight one-score games.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit did have some trouble corralling Josh Allen and the Bills, who tallied 374 yards and 29 points. However, a pair of 4th-down stops in the fourth quarter gave the Chiefs a chance to end the game with the ball in their hands.
NFL @NFLThe Chiefs make the stop on fourth down!
📺: #BUFvsKC on CBS
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/s4rXNURB3z
Kansas City did exactly that, with running backs Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine each picking up first-down receptions to close out the game.
It was a fitting way for Kansas City’s offense to end the game. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes regularly turned to his secondary targets a week after leaning heavily on star tight end Travis Kelce.
Kelce had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown against the Houston Texans in the divisional round. Buffalo did a great job of limiting him to two catches and 19 yards, but that opened the door for Xavier Worthy (6 catches, 85 yards, 1 TD) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (2 catches 60 yards) to make big plays in the passing game.
Of course, it helps to have Mahomes, who remains the biggest reason why a Super Bowl trifecta is even possible. He was mostly efficient through the air and lethal with his legs on Sunday, finishing with 245 passing yards, 43 rushing yards and three combined touchdowns.
B/R Gridiron @brgridironMAHOMES GIVES THE CHIEFS THE LEAD ON HIS SECOND RUSHING TD OF THE DAY 😲
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/dqJqAAb6BB
Yet, the Chiefs’ effort to build a dynamic offense that complements their fourth-ranked scoring defense—and do so throughout the season—is impressive. Worthy is a rookie, while Smith-Schuster, Kareem Hunt and DeAndre Hopkins were all added after the end of the preseason.
After two consecutive Super Bowl wins, the Chiefs could have become complacent. Instead, they’ve adapted, evolved and set themselves up for a shot at history.
Bills Fall Just Short Again, Must Enter Offseason With Defensive Focus4 of 4
Bills QB Josh AllenDavid Eulitt/Getty Images
Falling short in the conference title round always hurts. It has to be particularly painful for the Bills, who just can’t seem to get past Kansas City in the postseason. Buffalo has reached the playoffs in six straight seasons. Four of those runs have been ended by the Chiefs.
Most of the playoff battles with Kansas City have been close. This one felt a bit different, however, because this Bills team felt different. After years of Allen playing hero ball and often costing his team by trying to do too much, a new approach yielded more efficiency.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady concocted an offense that didn’t depend on one or two primary targets. Allen did an excellent job all year of finding the open target while minimizing risks and allowing running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson to carry plenty of the load themselves.
After throwing double-digit interceptions in each of the past four seasons, Allen threw just six in 2024. He didn’t have a turnover against Kansas City either and helped deliver 29 points against one of the better defenses in the NFL.
Offensively, the Bills may have found their formula—though they have offseason decisions to make regarding impending free agents like Johnson, Mack Hollins and Amari Cooper.
However, Buffalo needs to find a way to bring its defense up to par. The Bills couldn’t do enough to corral Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense. That last failed fourth-down attempt will linger in the minds of Bills fans, but the defense did have chances to get the ball back at the end of the game. It didn’t.
NFL @NFLSamaje Perine picks up clutch the first down!
📺: #BUFvsKC on CBS
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/s8PD07o4ux
If the Bills are going to figure out how to get past Kansas City in the most important games, they have to improve a defense that ranked 19th in yards per carry allowed and 17th in net yards per pass attempt allowed in the regular season. Doing so while facing a projected $2.5 million cap deficit won’t be easy.
A decision on 35-year-old pass-rusher Von Miller likely looms, as releasing him with a post-June 1 designation would save $17.4 million.
The good news is that Buffalo is close to getting to where it wants to be. Paring the offense we saw in 2024 with a top-10 defense—which the Bills had in 2023—might be enough to get this team into the Super Bowl next season.
Amazing