NFL Conference Championship Guide: Kyle Shanahan's Super Bowl dream, Jared Goff's revival, Patrick Mahomes' supremacy and Lamar Jackson's fear factor (2024)

Four quarters of clean football. 60 minutes of clinical execution. Two halves in which to dominate. Two of four will trip at the final hurdle, while two advance to Super Bowl LVIII amid the Lombardi-embellished opulence of Las Vegas. It's Conference Championship Sunday in the NFL...

• Stream NFL and more with NOW | Latest NFL playoff picture
• Chiefs break Bills hearts to continue Super Bowl title defence
• Lions beat Bucs to reach NFC Championship

Editor's note...

Wherever you turn in the NFL, there is a Shanahan-ism. A Shanahan disciple, a Shanahan concept, a Shanahan innovation, a personalised twist on a Shanahan innovation, a disciple of a Shanahan disciple.

Kyle Shanahan has dictated trends and spearheaded the current era of offensive football as a one of the great modern minds, serving as a continuation of all his father Mike had implemented and lifting the San Francisco 49ers into perennial contention as one of the league's most masterful operations. But his wait for a maiden Super Bowl ring goes on.

He endured heartbreak as offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons side that relinquished a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LI. He endured the full Patrick Mahomes experience as the 49ers relinquished a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIV. He has come up second best in back-to-back NFC Championship Games, most recently losing his narrative-tearing quarterback Brock Purdy to injury early on during last year's title game defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Back he comes, as driven and as equipped as ever to end his agonising wait, but very aware the NFL waits for nobody. While the Chiefs have dynastied, the rest of the pack have clawed to close the gap on a 49ers-led best-of-the-rest.

Shanahan's moment has to come. Is this it?

How it would juice up their Championship credentials were the 49ers to send a Cloud Nine-riding Detroit Lions organisation crashing back down to earth. How it would vindicate the Shanahan genius were a pocket-passing Purdy to not only fend off a reborn Jared Goff, but out-duel Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson as two faces of the modern mobile play-caller.

Shanahan's men wobbled against Green Bay last week, but between them Jordan Love, Aaron Jones, Matt LaFleur and a young supporting cast of Packers weapons might have scared them into a fresh awakening. With the Packers surging in the third quarter, Christian McCaffrey deflated the threat of panic with a 39-yard touchdown burst from nowhere; with the game on the line, Purdy personified composure to lead a 12-play go-ahead touchdown drive with five minutes remaining; with Deebo Samuel absent, the 49ers found a way.

They had been the picture of supremacy for much of the season, only for doubts to creep in upon a heavy defeat to the Baltimore Ravens. Time to see how Shanahan has learned, and how he both responds and adjusts when the stakes are highest.

The storylines are set. Shanahan seeks to end his wait for a Championship while Purdy seeks to crown his extraordinary story with a ring for the history books. Mahomes and Andy Reid seek to torment rivals in what would mark their finest hour with an unlikely Super Bowl berth having limped through the campaign. Likely MVP Lamar seeks to laugh in the face of those that said he couldn't do it. Goff seeks to cap his revival by guiding the Detroit Lions to first-time glory after losing in the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.

Around the league...

• Jim Harbaugh confirmed his return to the NFL as he was appointed Los Angeles Chargers head coach after leading Michigan to victory at the College National Championship; Harbaugh previously led the 49ers to the Super Bowl during his time in charge between 2011-2014.
• Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio parted ways with the Miami Dolphins after just one season and is now set to join the Philadelphia Eagles in the same post following the dismissal of Sean Desai earlier this week.
• The Las Vegas Raiders confirmed the appointment of interim head coach Antonio Pierce on a full-time basis, while also hiring Tom Telesco, formerly of the Chargers, as their new general manager.

• The Tennessee Titans have hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan as their new head coach, while first-year Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales was named the new Carolina Panthers head coach.
• The Chicago Bears announced they have hired the Seattle Seahawks' Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator.
• Bills safety Damar Hamlin was named a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year following his return to action after suffering a cardiac arrest on the field against the Bengals last January.
• Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott have been named finalists for the NFL's MVP award.

What to watch...

Sunday, 8pm - Kansas City Chiefs @ Baltimore Ravens:

The Buffalo Bills were onto something last Sunday. The early game-plan against the Chiefs was to run the ball down the throat of Steve Spagnuolo's defense through designed Josh Allen keepers and the threat of James Cook, or to look to tight end Dalton Kincaid as they sought to swerve Kansas City's physical boundary men. For all that the Chiefs have crushed opposing passing games this season, they have been breachable on the ground. Enter the league's most dynamic rushing quarterback in Lamar Jackson, the league's most potent rushing attack and, potentially, a returning Mark Andrews with whom to partner Isaiah Likely in multiple-tight end formations.

As for the Chiefs, this is the ultimate test of just how good and 'back' they really are. Isiah Pacheco will be met by a brick wall out of the backfield in comparison to the leaky run defense offered up by the Bills, Kyle Hamilton has emerged as one of the league's most accomplished chess pieces poised to shadow Travis Kelce, and the Ravens are loaded with man coverage gurus relishing a chance to test Patrick Mahomes' moxie and the skills of a receiver core in which Rashee Rice has emerged as a well-publicised safe space.

Sunday, 11:30pm - Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers:

The NFC Championship Game is primed for some elite level trench warfare, namely the battle between the 49ers run defense and a Lions ground attack that bulldozes you with Penei Sewell and skates beyond you with a Jahmyr Gibbs-David Montgomery tandem. Detroit ranked fifth in rushing during the regular season, bettered ever-so-slightly by a third-ranked 49ers run game led by a tempo-dictating, game-changing Christian McCaffrey, who starred yet again in his side's Divisional Round victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Aidan Hutchinson and a late-blitzing Brian Branch lead Detroit's job of ruffling Brock Purdy as part of a Lions defense that ranked 27th against the pass during the regular season, while the 49ers discovered late on Friday night that Deebo Samuel is cleared to play after injury fears. Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner are meanwhile gearing up for defining roles against a rookie tight end revelation in Sam LaPorta who has torched the middle of the field this season.

Playoff picture

Play the Super Bowl Challenge!

Time to rub your crystal ball, because the NFL's Super Bowl challenge is back! Make your playoff predictions as we reach the home stretch on the path to Super Bowl LVIII...

Best quotes

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: "I don't like competing against him at all! "He's a great quarterback. Definitely a Hall of Famer, it's a no-brainer he's definitely a Hall of Famer. I believe it's just two greats, up and coming greats, going toe-to-toe like a heavyweight fight. Heavyweight matchup, that's what I see."

49ers linebacker Fred Warner on Lions quarterback Jared Goff: "He is a lot better. Not to say that he wasn't good when we played him back when he was with the Rams, but I think he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now with the way that he's playing."

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson: "Lamar is special, he's fast and one of the faster guys on the field when it's all said and done and he's shifty. Where Josh (Allen) will go right through you, he doesn't care, he's a big big man and probably equally as fast. He's a fast kid, he's run away from secondary players, you've seen that on tape. This kid (Jackson), he throws it well, he throws it on the move well, runs the ball well so we've just got to stay on top of that part of it throughout practice this week and then during the game."

Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: "We all know he's an elite quarterback. He does everything well. I think personally just his ability to read coverages, extend plays. He's a great quarterback, we all know that, but so are we on defense."

Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco on comments over his unique running style: "The funniest one that I thought was they said that I run like I bite people. I ain't no zombie. That was crazy. That was one of the funniest ones. You said, 'I run like I bite the ground/grass,' that's crazy. It's a great opinion. For me, it's just being determined and that I have a goal to achieve, and we want to get the job done."

49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk on quarterback Brock Purdy: "We're all sitting here because of him, obviously. Steady. A dawg. Just a football player. I love playing football with him. He's the reason why I'm sitting here today with an opportunity this weekend to play my best football, because of a quarterback like him."

Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Buffalo's pursuit of the Super Bowl after another playoff exit: "I believe in what we've got going on here and the people that are in charge. I believe in myself. And that will never change."

The stats

• Sunday's AFC Championship Game between Jackson's Ravens and Mahomes' Chiefs will mark the fifth Conference Championship Game in NFL history in which two former MVP quarterbacks have gone head to head
• Jared Goff has the opportunity to become just the fifth starting quarterback to reach the Super Bowl with multiple franchises (Rams and Lions), joining Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Craig Morton and Kurt Warner
• Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce needs seven receptions top surpass the great Jerry Rice (151) for the most postseason receptions in league history
• Lamar Jackson currently has 467 career postseason rushing yards, and has the chance to become just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach 500 career postseason rushing yards behind Steve Young, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick
• 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has the chance to become the third player in history to post at least 50 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of his first six playoff games
• San Francisco are vying to become the fifth team in history to record eight Super Bowl appearances

Essential reading:

Motown magic? Detroit can dare to dream of the Super Bowl

Motown lives. Motor City is purring. The Super Bowl is calling.

Dan Campbell arrived at a franchise that had been without a playoff win since 1991, the most recent and only time Detroit have reached the NFC Championship Game. He entered a building that had advanced to the postseason on just three occasions in the past 20 years, a building that had seen their Barry Sanders-spearheaded team come up shy in the 90s, a building that endured the bitter disappointment of unfulfilled hope for a side led by Matthew Stafford, a prime Calvin Johnson and one of the league's most potent offenses.

The Lions were synonymous with Thanksgiving football, the gritty DNA on which they leant in times of turmoil and, well, losing. Two years on from the introduction of Campbell and General Manager Brad Holmes, they were reflecting excitedly over a 9-8 record after finishing the 2022 campaign with eight wins in their last 10. Three years on from the introduction of Campbell and Holmes, they are a game away from the Super Bowl. The culture changed, and so too the narrative. For the foreseeable, they hope.

Read more as the Lions look to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history...

The NFL's final four: Who will reach Super Bowl LVIII?

And then there four! Mahomes continues his pursuit of a second successive Super Bowl ring, and third in total, while Jackson remains in search of his first as the NFL's likely MVP. Purdy meanwhile continues his remarkable story as pilot to the Championship-chasing San Francisco 49ers as Dan Campbell's Detroit Lions, arguably the story of the 2023 campaign, look to deliver a long-awaited first Lombardi Trophy to Motown.

Here is your quick guide to the final four teams as we enter Conference Championship weekend, which you can watch live on Sky Sports NFL...

Belichick's Patriots: The end of an era for the NFL

Against all the odds and villainous portrayals, contrary to bleak expectations and gloomy projections… Bill Belichick once dressed as a pirate to a Randy Moss-led roller-skating Halloween party with the New England Patriots.

Not the odds-and-expectations-clobbering Super Bowl tale you were thinking of, huh? Not the evil genius masterplan you were anticipating, huh?

We look back on Bill Belichick's historic reign with the Patriots as the iconic head coach moves on after 24 years...

Inside the Huddle: Where will Belichick land?

Neil Reynolds and Jeff Reinebold discuss the possible landing spots for Bill Belichick, as well as Antonio Pierce's appointment as full-time head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and Brian Callahan's introduction as Tennessee Titans head coach.

The pair then cast their predictions ahead of this weekend's Conference Championship matchups, including a look at whether Brock Purdy can guide the 49ers to the Promised Land.

"There's been a lot of talk this week about 'Brock Purdy can't do this' or 'Brock Purdy isn't this'," said Reinebold. "We talk about entry bias, the guy was the last player picked in the draft, all that still remains a story. The bottom line is, what do we judge quarterbacks by?

Dan Marino may have been one of the top three or four quarterbacks of all time, but never won a Super Bowl. So when you talk about the greatest quarterbacks of all time you don't necessarily bring his name up, because you bring up names like Joe Montana, guys that have won multiple Super Bowls. All this kid does is what he's supposed to do which is win games.

"I think until he wins one we're going to continue to question him for whatever reason and I think there are a lot of reasons. Some of them are kind of ugly, but he does get scrutiny that other guys don't get."

Her Huddle: Who will reach Super Bowl LVIII?

Hannah Wilkes and Phoebe Schecter are joined by Liz and Ash to preview Conference Championship Sunday, making a case for which teams should and will reach Super Bowl LVIII.

Watch the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game this Sunday, with kickoff at 8pm live on Sky Sports NFL; the San Francisco 49ers then host the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game from 11.30pm; watch Super Bowl LVIII live on Sunday, February 11