"The Stack" 1-20-20
Hall-of-famer Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdowns and ran for another one (which will be shown for years and years to come) as the Chiefs topped the Titans 35-24 to advance to their first Super Bowl in 50 years.
Raheem Mostert ran for 220 yards and four touchdowns as the 49ers ran all over the Packers 37-20 to advance to the Super Bowl.
The Stack is back on this Monday and the matchup for Super Bowl LIV is set. And honestly, it is the best possible matchup we could hope for. There will be a sea of red in Miami. Let’s get to how we got to San Francisco against Kansas City in “the stack” for today, Monday, January 20th:
Titans 24 Chiefs 35
The Kansas City Chiefs must like falling behind, because they play well when they are in an early hole. The Tennessee Titans played a perfect game for about 25 minutes. They controlled the time of possession. They were up 17-7. Derrick Henry was running good. But then the Chiefs drove down and scored to make it 17-14. The Titans needed to try and score again or at the very least run the clock out of the half. They could not and the Chiefs got the ball back. And hall-of-famer Patrick Mahomes pulled off one of the best touchdown runs you will ever see by a quarterback. He escaped multiple Titan pass rushers, tight roped the sideline, slipped a couple of other defenders and got into the endzone. It was a highlight real run by a quarterback who makes plenty of highlights with his arm. It may very well be the best play or one of the top three or five plays of Mahomes’ career.
In the second half, the Chiefs had to punt right away, but the Titans couldn’t do anything with it. Mahomes and company would end up scoring two more touchdowns. Sammy Watkins had a long touchdown catch and the Chiefs pulled away to beat the Titans 35-24 to advance to their first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. They received the Lamar Hunt trophy, the trophy bearing the name of their former owner. That had to be sweet for current Chiefs owner and Lamar’s son, Clark. The Chiefs defense did a great job stopping Henry, limiting the Titans running back to 69 yards rushing for the game. Part of that was due to the Titans being down by so many that they couldn’t run it with Henry. One way or the other, the Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl.
Packers 20 49ers 37
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that his team was feeling loose and he really liked their chances going into the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers. I can only imagine what the game would have been like if the Packers had played tight. The 49ers literally ran all over the Packers, jumping out to a 27-0 lead at the half and cruising to a 37-20 victory over the Packers to advance to the Super Bowl. Raheem Mostert was especially impressive, rushing for 220 yards and four touchdowns. The Packers had no answer for him. The holes he was running through were so big you could drive a truck through them. Rodgers and the Packers offense couldn’t do anything in the first half against the 49ers, similar to their first meeting in Santa Clara earlier this season. Rodgers fumbled it once and threw an interception in the first half. The Packers did rally in the second half, scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions and making the 49ers and their fans sweat it out a little bit, but in the end, there was little reason to doubt that they were the better team. This team has a great defense and a creative enough offense that they will give the Chiefs problems in the Super Bowl, but we can talk about that over the course of the next two weeks.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone. He was a special man with a tremendous vision. We are a long way from carrying out that dream, but hopefully we will get there one day. Let’s all try to do our part to carry out his vision.
Coming up later this week: Reaction to the top sports headlines in the sports world.
