Mind of Michael: NFL heartbreakers

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

Both of my picks to win their respective NFL Conference championships lost, which made for a disappointing day of football for me on Jan. 28.

Let’s start with the Detroit Lions. They had the most successful season I have witnessed in my life.

Did I believe they were a better team than the host San Francisco 49ers? No. But they only had to be better than them for one night, which they were in the first half.

Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell and Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson had the Lions offense come out on fire. The Lions won the first half of the game 24-7 and had all the momentum going into the second half.

In the third quarter, however, the 49ers scored 17 points in eight minutes to tie the game at 24-24. San Francisco took that momentum into the fourth quarter and ended up winning 34-31.

The Lions lost the game due to many missed plays and mistakes in the second half. A fumble, multiple dropped passes by the receivers and a dropped interception would have kept the 49ers from rallying.

I disagree with the opinions on Campbell being the reason the Lions lost. Campbell stayed true to the identity and culture the Lions have built throughout this season, such as going for broke on fourth downs, and using lots of trick plays.

Coming up short on what could have been the Lions’ first Super Bowl appearance in the history of the franchise was disappointing, but there were more positives than negatives to take away from this season.

Now the Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs game was tough to watch, as I am a big Lamar Jackson fan. I picked Jackson’s host Ravens to win and thought it could go either way, looking at the matchups on paper.

From both team's first drives down the field, I immediately thought this was going to be a quarterback classic. I could not have been more wrong.

It turned into a defensive showcase for both teams.

The Chiefs’ defense did an amazing job containing Jackson. And because Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had the much more accurate and efficient game, the Chiefs won 17-10.

Jackson did seem somewhat off his game. I won’t blame the loss on him because it is a team sport, but he did not play the brand of football we are used to seeing from him.

It will now be the 49ers vs. the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, Feb. 11. My pick to win, as much as I do not want to say it, will be the Chiefs.