Picking the real MVP’s of the NFL Playoffs before Superbowl LIV

By Matthew Romano

The following article was printed in the February 2020 edition of The Campus.

AFC:

(6) Tennessee Titans

MVP: Derrick Henry

Results:

Def. (3) New England Patriots: 20-13

Def. (1) Baltimore Ravens: 28-12

Loss @ (2) Kansas City Chiefs: 24-35

Despite their loss to the Chiefs, the Titans have still writtentheir own Cinderella story this NFL Playoffs. (Fun Fact: the term ‘Cinderellastory’ in Sports term first gained prominence in fact following City College’sown underdog story winning the 1950 NCAA and NIT championships, the same yearWalt Disney released their film Cinderella.) The Tennessee Titans,behind the army tank disguised as a Running Back Derrick Henry, shocked the 3seeded New England Patriots, derailing the empire’s hopes for a 4^thstraight ticket to the big game. The Cinderella story started there, picking upfurther steam with another surprising win, this time even more dominantly, witha 28-12 shooting down of the leagues 2^nd best offense, the 14-2 BaltimoreRavens.

With the wins, two of the league’s top run defenses fellvictim to Henry’s dominant, league leading, running game and ability. He gashedthem for 377 yards on the ground, a rushing TD, and a passing score for goodmeasure. Capping off what has been a career year for him. The Titans were 8-0when Henry’s rush attack eclipsed the century mark (100 yards). The Titansultimately lost to the Chiefs when he was held to 69 yards, further proving theaccuracy of that stat.

@

(2) Kansas City Chiefs

MVP: Patrick Mahomes

Results:

Def. (4) Houston Texans 51-31

Def. (6) Tennessee Titans 35-24

Despite closing the divisional championship game against theTexans with a whopping 51 points and a 20-point advantage, the final scoredoesn’t come close to telling the true story of this battle. The Chiefs had to drop41 unanswered points to erase a 24-0 deficit. Mahomes finished with 321 yardsthrough the air, 5 passing touchdowns, and a Quarterback Rating (QBR) of 134.6.Their offense showed their similar trademark flair for large portions of theirwin over the Titans. With seemingly countless weapons, the fate of the Chiefslies in Patrick Mahomes and their dynamic pass offense.

Though usually a widely susceptible defense, allowing 4.9yards per completion (YPC) (28^th in the League) and 128.2 yards pergame (YPG) (26^th in the league), the unit came up key in holdingDerrick Henry to only 69 rushing yards. The 49’ers three-headed monster is anentirely different monster, however. The Chiefs will have to do something thatthey have failed to do this postseason, jump out to the early lead, if theywant to have a chance at the Superbowl in their first visit since Superbowl IV.

NFC

(2) Green Bay Packers

MVP: Davante Adams

Results:

Def. (5) Seattle Seahawks 28-23

Loss @ (1) San Francisco 49’ers: 20-37

In the divisional rounds, the Packers held off a second-halfcomeback by the Seattle Seahawks to win 28-23. Their defense stifled aninjury-riddled Seahawks team that struggled to get anything going with hometownfavorite, “Beastmode” (also known as Marshawn Lynch) and failed to protect QBRussel Wilson. Yet, it is the 49’ers run game, Raheem Mostert particularly,that ended the Packers’ playoff hopes after a 2-year hiatus from playofffootball.

Davante Adams, the last remaining starting wideout from thePackers’ 2017 team, remained the crucial piece of this Packers team thisseason. He was, by far, Rodger’s most and perhaps only trusted target in thepassing game. After dropping 160 yards against the Seahawks, he gained 138yards on the 49’ers. Besides failing to stop the 49’ers run attack,contributing to their loss is the 49’ers defense keeping Adams away from paydirt and holding RB Aaron Jones to 56 yards. For context, the 49’ers wereranked as the top defense in pretty much all metrics including opposing YPG (169.2),YPA, and YPC.

(1) San Francisco 49’ers

MVP’s: Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert

Results:

Def. (6) Minnesota Vikings 27-10

Def. (2) Green Bay Packers 37-20

Perhaps the most dangerous team in the playoffs this year,the San Francisco 49’ers went undefeated this season when they did one of threethings: pass for over 250 yards, rush for over 130 yards, or hold opponents to20 points or fewer. Against both the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional roundand the Green Bay Packers in the Conference Championships, they pulled off twoof three. As you would expect, this led to wins against both, and both by acommanding 17 points.

The 49’ers offensive attack, runs first and foremost through their three-headed monster in the backfield made up of Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida, and Raheem Mostert. They ran the ball 47 times for 186 yards against the Vikings in the divisional round, with Tevin Coleman taking control of the game. A similar story as was told against the Packers, where Raheem Mostert stomped all over them for 220 yards. All three combined for over 2,500 scrimmage yards and made the 49’ers the 2^nd best rushing offense in yds/gm this season. If the Chiefs have any hopes of stopping them in this year’s Superbowl, they’ll need a repeat performance of their “stack-the-box” winning game plan deployed against the Titans.