Championship Sunday is here!
Buffalo and Kansas City will have a rematch of last year's AFC Divisional Round game when Patrick Mahomes sent Josh Allen packing. This will be the quarterbacks' fourth time meeting in the playoffs; only Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have met more times.
Meanwhile, the Commanders and Eagles will take their NFC East rivalry into the postseason. The last time two NFC East teams played in the NFC Championship Game was 1986.
Below is a look at reasons to watch both Championship Sunday matchups, with insights from NFL Research. Tune in to watch these games on your mobile devices with NFL+. Learn more about NFL+ here.
- WHERE: Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia)
- WHEN: 3 p.m. ET | FOX, FOX Deportes, NFL+
NFL Research highlight:
Aside from the added theatrics of facing your division rival for a third time in the season, this Commanders-Eagles matchup is a rare one. There have been just four matchups between divisional opponents in a conference championship game since the divisional realignment in 2002. Across those four games, all four teams that won this unique matchup ended up winning the Super Bowl.
The Eagles have won 14 of their last 15 games since their Week 5 bye, including playoffs. Their one loss? To the Commanders in Week 16. The 2024 Eagles will be the sixth team over the last 40 seasons to play in an NFC Championship Game against the last team to beat them in the regular season. Four of the previous five such teams lost in the NFC title game. That written, the Eagles have won their last three NFC Championship Games played at home, allowing 10 or fewer points in each of those three wins.
Jayden Daniels will become the sixth rookie QB to start a conference championship game; so far, rookies are 0-5. However, if the Commanders win, Daniels will become the first rookie QB ever to win three playoff games.
- WHERE: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Mo.)
- WHEN: 6:30 p.m. ET | CBS, Paramount+, NFL+
NFL Research highlight:
Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes will meet in the playoffs for the fourth time, marking another anticipated matchup. The Bills have beat the Chiefs in each of their last four regular season matchups, but have lost three straight playoff games to the Chiefs (2020, 2021, 2023). However, no starting QB has ever defeated another starting QB four times in the playoffs.
Allen (313.9) and Mahomes (307.9) have averaged more offensive yards per game in the playoffs than any other QBs in NFL history (minimum 10 playoff starts). While Mahomes is looking to join Tom Brady (10) and John Elway (5) as the only QBs in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl five times, Allen is looking to get his first Super Bowl appearance.
The Bills have won a playoff game in five straight seasons, but have yet to appear in the Super Bowl in that span. If the Bills fall short again, it would mark the longest streak of all time in which a team has won at least one game in the postseason but failed to make it to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Chiefs will try to become the first team ever to win three straight Super Bowls.
