What You Need to Know About the Conference Championships

The winner of the conference championships by far goes to Nick Foles, who, up until now, everyone thought of as just a “pebble attempting to fill a Carson Wentz-sized hole,” as The Ringer put it. But on Sunday, he was a dominant force for Philadelphia as the team earned a Super Bowl appearance with a 4=38-7 win over the Vikings.

352 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a 141.4 passer rating.@NFoles_9‘s Top 5 Throws from the NFC Championship! #FlyEaglesFly #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/zFnTRQn81I

— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2018

Nick Foles goes DEEEEEP.

Got ’em!@TheWorldof_AJ hauls it in for SIX! #MINvsPHI #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/lHshfy11ge

— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2018

Nick Foles in the second half: 11-of-11, 159 yards, 2 TD, perfect passer rating (158.3), perfect QBR (99.9)

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) January 22, 2018

Foles went 26-for-33 for 352 yards with three touchdowns. In terms of passer rating, that ties the best postseason performance of Tom Brady’s career. It was the best passing game the Eagles had all year, and the worst defensive game the Vikings had this season.

The loser of the conference championship goes to the Jaguars. Not only did they lose the game, but they didn’t have to. Jacksonville had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of the AFC game against the New England Patriots. They had the ball. Blake Bortles was doing well. They could have made it to the Super Bowl for the first time franchise history. But then, their three drives after getting the ball up 10 in the fourth quarter went a combined 30 yards and took less than five minutes off the clock. The Patriots went on to score two touchdowns and win the game.

Bill Belichick’s utter contempt for the AFC Championship trophy remains legendary pic.twitter.com/9TDv96qxde

— Jason Schwartz (@JasonSchwartz) January 21, 2018

Other losers include the Jaguars’ coaching staff and Crisco, which was used to grease poles in Philadelphia.