By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) – Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson expects a “heavyweight fight” when Baltimore squares up against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC title fight while the gritty Lions take on the well-rounded 49ers for the NFC belt on Sunday.
After an 18-week regular season and two playoff rounds, the league’s four best teams are one win away from punching their tickets to the Feb. 11 Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
It all begins with Jackson, who is widely expected to be named the league’s MVP and playing the best football of his career behind an improved offense and fierce defensive unit.
Jackson, the 2019 league MVP, has never reached the conference championship game before and knows he will need to maintain his level to outduel the savvy Mahomes.
“I don’t like competing against him at all,” Jackson said with a laugh when asked about facing off against Mahomes.
“He’s a great quarterback, definite Hall of Famer. “I believe it is two greats, two up-and-coming greats, going toe-to-toe.”
Mahomes won his second Super Bowl last year, and the two-time league MVP’s creative playmaking has helped carry a Kansas City team who looked vulnerable for much of the season.
Despite a suspect receiving core, Mahomes and the team’s solid defense managed to reach a sixth consecutive AFC title game with a gutsy road win over Buffalo last Sunday.
Mahomes called the Chiefs’ 11-6 season, during which he was never really in the MVP conversation, an opportunity to grow as a player.
“Not being able to win all of the games and have big stats has been different,” he said.
“But it has taught me how to win in different ways and how to become the best quarterback for our team, not necessarily the best quarterback for stats.”
LIONS FACE NINERS
George H.W. Bush was in the White House the last time the Lions played in the championship game more than three decades ago and can expect to have the backing of most of the country as they try to book their first Super Bowl appearance.
But not in Santa Clara, where Bay Area native Jared Goff and the Lions will be confronted with a sea of red-and-gold clad Niners fans hoping to take another step toward ending the franchise’s quest for an elusive sixth Lombardi trophy.
Goff, who reached the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019, said his postseason experience will be an asset come Sunday.
“Road playoff games are extremely hard to win and I’ve been fortunate to have success in them in the past,” Goff told reporters.
Standing in his way is a dynamic 49ers offense featuring explosive running back Christian McCaffrey, receivers Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, and if healthy enough to play, jack of all trades Deebo Samuel.
But San Francisco’s fortunes will ultimately rest on the shoulders of quarterback Brock Purdy, who struggled mightily for three quarters against Green Bay in the Divisional Round before engineering a heart-pounding game-winning drive.
While Goff and Mahomes were picked first overall in their respective drafts, Purdy was chosen dead last in 2022, a designation that comes with the humbling moniker “Mr. Irrelevant”.
But the fresh-faced Purdy has been excellent for the 49ers since becoming the team’s starter last season and said he is laser focused on the opportunity at hand.
“You have to be real with yourself about where you are at as a quarterback and how you played,” Purdy said of his much-criticized performance against the Packers.
“But it doesn’t matter if you played good or bad, you can’t take any of that with you into the next week. It’s a new game, it’s a new scheme, a new environment.
“You’ve got a clean slate.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Ed Osmond)
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