NFL All-Star Team Conference Championships edition

By Rhys Knott

Only 4 teams played this week, but that was still enough for some All-Star performances. Records were broken, points were scored and tackles were missed. And some play callers totally lost their minds too.

All-Star Quarterback

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It has to be Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff might have thrown for more yards. And Lamar Jackso ran for more yards, but Mahomes’ surgical dissection of the Ravens’ number 1 ranked defense was vintage Mahomes. He completed 76.9% of his passes and finished the game with a passer rating of 100.5. No other QB had a rating over 89.0. Mahomes also ran 6 times, he only gained 25 yards. But Mahomes runs to pick up first downs, not yards. And as Forbes reported in October running is now a bigger part of Mahomes armory than ever before.  

All-Star Running Back

Controversially it’s David Montgomery He might only be half of the Lions’ rushing attack but his thunder was more prominent than Gibbs’ lightning in Santa Clara. Montgomery carried 15 times for 93 yards and a touchdown. He also caught both his targets for 20 yards.  

Right, so Christian McCaffrey might have had 32% of the 49ers total yards on offense and 35% of their total points. But we’re all bored of that now, right? It’s time to give the youngsters some love.  

All-Star Wide Receivers

Rookie Zay Flowers had an “interesting” game. He picked up more receiving yards than any other wideout this week and was the only one to go over 100 yards with his 115. But he also fumbled at the goal line as L’Jarius Sneed swiped his ball-carrying arm. And he was flagged for a taunting penalty after he shoved Sneed and stood over him. Then he gashed his hand punching the bench. So, yeah, “interesting”. A lot like Ravens fans the players need to find a way to channel their emotions in more positive ways.  

Deebo Samuel, it wouldn’t be a 49ers game if Deebo didn’t put in an All-Star performance. This week he caught 8 of 9 of his targets for 89 yards.  

Amon-Ra St. Brown had quite a quiet game by his normal standards. He caught 7 of his 11 targets for 87 yards. The Lions even lined him up in the backfield as a running back for 1 carry, but that only went for 1 yard.  

Tight End

Travis Kelce, or King Travis as he must now be surely known is the All-Star tight end this week. And possibly for perpetuity if he keeps playing like this. Although an honourable mention goes to Sam LaPorta who more receiving yards than both Deebo and Amon-Ra!  

King Travis ended the weekend with more receiving yards than any other player though. His 116 was 1 more than Flowers. And he broke Jerry Rice’s record for postseason receptions. The week after he and Mahomes broke the record for combining for the most postseason touchdowns previously held by Joe Montana and Rice! Kelce also caught a touchdown this week too, just to extend their lead.  

Defense/ Special Team of the week

It has to be the Chiefs, partly because they conceded the fewest points of the weekend. Not only did they record 4 sacks, they also took an interception. And they forced two fumbles and recovered them both. Oh, and Harrison Butker kicked the longest field goal of the day. The 49ers offense against the Chiefs defense is going to be an intriguing battle in Vegas. 

 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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