Patriots Daily: NFL Final Four Set; Daniels Mocked to Pats

The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs finished up yesterday and now the Conference Championship Games are set. The AFC Championship will have the Baltimore Ravens hosting the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, in the NFL the Detroit Lions will hit the road to face the San Francisco 49ers.

Kansas City advanced last night, courtesy of a 27-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. It was the first playoff road win for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Kansas City was led by Mahomes, who completed 17-of-23 passes for 215 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Isaiah Pacheco rushed for 97 yards and touchdown. And tight end Travis Kelce finished with five receptions for 75 yards and two scores.

Buffalo missed a potential game-tying field goal with 1:47 to play in regulation. Tyler Bass had a 44-yard attempt said wide, all but securing the win for Kansas City. The Bills were led by QB Josh Allen, who passed for one touchdown and rushed for two more. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs was limited to just three receptions for 21 yards, and had a costly drop in the fourth quarter.

Jeebus what a damn throw pic.twitter.com/TBgKPNpo2P

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 22, 2024

On the other side of the bracket, the Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23. Jared Goff completed 30-of-43 passes for 287 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. It is only the second time the Lions have reached the NFC Championship. The 1991 Lions squad advanced to the final four, before getting trounced 41-10 by the Washington Redskins.

Tampa Bay amassed an impressive 408 yards of total offense. Turnovers proved to be the difference however. Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield threw interceptions on both the first and last drive of the game. The final pass attempt was picked off by Derek Barnes, sealing Tampa Bay’s fate.

DETROIT CAN FEEL IT. #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/3h31FBHtKV

— NFL (@NFL) January 21, 2024

NFL Network Mocks Jayden Daniels to New England

Not every NFL Mock Draft will be reviewed here, but NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah is a draft analyst with a lot of credibility. Thus, it is worth noticing that Jeremiah has the New England Patriots selecting LSU QB Jayden Daniels with the third pick in his latest 2024 NFL Mock Draft. Quarterbacks go 1-2 in this projections, with USC’s Caleb Williams headed to Chicago, followed by UNC’s Drake Maye going to Washington.

As of now, the idea of New England selecting whichever quarterback is left of these options does make a lot of sense.

As for the rest Jeremiah’s mock, some teams would be getting absolute steals based on my current rankings. These include:

1. Tennessee Titans – Joe Alt (OT) Notre Dame
2. Los Vegas Raiders – Olu Fashanu (OT) Penn State
3. Indianapolis Colts – Brock Bowers (TE) Georgia
4. Los Angeles Rams – Laiatu Latu (DE) UCLA
5. Buffalo Bills – Jer’Zhan Newton (DT) Illinois
6. San Francisco 49ers – Kool-Aid McKinstry (CB) Alabama

Also in today’s Patriots Daily…

New England Patriots

Patriots Football Now – New England Patriots All-Time Staff and Roster of the Bill Belichick Era

Patriots Football Now – Former Patriots Players in the NFL Playoffs Divisional Round

2024 New England Patriots Roster

Patriots Football Now – Second Looks: 2024 New England Patriots Offense

Patriots Football Now – Second Look: 2024 New England Patriots Defense and Special Teams

2024 New England Patriots Staff

Patriots Football Now – Patriots Offensive Coordinator Candidates

Patriots Football Now – Patriots Interviewing Defensive Coordinator Candidates

NFL News – Head Coach Openings

AP News – Cowboys DC Dan Quinn becomes twelfth to interview for Chargers opening

Yahoo! Sports –Eric Bienemy interviewed for Commanders head coach position last week

ESPN – Falcons interview Lions OC Ben Johnson just before deadline

Seattle Sports – Seahawks schedule second interviews with five candidates

NBC Sports – Panthers, Falcons plan second interviews with Ejiro Evero

Pro Football Rumors – Titans complete interview with former Stanford coach David Shaw

Boston Bruins

Go over to our sibling site Boston Hockey Now to check out the great Boston Bruins coverage from Jimmy Murphy and the BHN team. The NHL season is underway and there is plenty happening in the Bruins 100 Anniversary season.

Subscribe here or at BHN to get a subscription to both sites. Subscribers get bonus coverage such as NFL Draft scouting reports and weekly NFL Power Rankings. It also provides a completely ad-free experience on the sites.

Use code KELLEY10 and get $10 off a yearly subscription. It is less than $2.50/month!

Fun Fact of the Day

Since the Detroit Lions last played in a conference championship game, 28 other teams have played in at least one. The most in that time:

14 – New England Patriots
11 – San Francisco 49ers
9 – Green Bay Packers
9 – Pittsburgh Steelers
7 – Kansas City Chiefs
7 – Philadelphia Eagles

The current longest streaks of not reaching a conference championship:

1989 – Cleveland Browns
1991 – Washington Commanders
1992 – Miami Dolphins
1995 – Dallas Cowboys
2002 – Houston Texans (first season)
2002 – Las Vegas Raiders

Tweet of the Day

Tweet of the Day is from The Athletic, with a replay of a devastating call from Jim Nantz…

"WIDE RIGHT… the two most dreaded words in Buffalo."

Jim Nantz with a dagger to the hearts of Bills fans in the closing moments of their divisional-round exit.

🎥 @NFLpic.twitter.com/RfHLYUNNhT

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 22, 2024