Jon Ritchie gave his takeaways from NFL Championship Weekend at the beginning of Monday's 94WIP Morning Show, with his revelation that, "Jalen Hurts is close to be outstanding," as the most compelling one.
Here are Ritchie's five takeaways from Sunday's NFL Championship games, in which the Chiefs and 49ers advanced to the Super Bowl.
1. "These games, the NFC game especially, made me hope Kellen Moore can do a Kyle Shanahan or Ben Johnson impression, meaning he can run the football like he's never run it before."
2. "The play calling can do the pass protection for you, when you run it."
3. "The NFC Championship game reaffirmed the NFL truth that bad assery is rewarded. It is what wins and I think we got away from that. Tough is what wins."
4. "Balance bad assery with scheme. So you've got the fine motor skills to go with the big muscles. And Kyle Shanahan has the fine motor skills. You saw the shred X's and O's in the second half of the NFC Championship game."
5. "Jalen is close. Jalen is close to being outstanding. That day started with Lamar Jackson being the shoe-in for MVP and then he made mistakes...How much worse was Jalen this season than what we saw from Lamar in that game? I'm telling you, he's close...I've watched Jalen be a better decision maker than Lamar pretty consistently now for years. Jalen is close. With the right guidance and tutelage he can get there."