All Sooners

Sooners in the NFL - Championship Sunday

Oklahoma players competed for all four teams and made big plays all over the field, resulting in a Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.
John Hoover|
Kansas City running back Samaje Perine
Kansas City running back Samaje Perine | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma Sooners

No school populates the NFL Playoffs like the Oklahoma Sooners. For the third year in a row, that goes for the Super Bowl as well.

Thanks to Kansas City’s reliance on OU talent — and the Chiefs’ unprecedented dominance in the postseason — the Sooners have more players than any school playing in the league’s ultimate game three years running.

Kansas City outlasted Buffalo 32-29 on Sunday night in the AFC Championship game, sending six Sooners to the Super Bowl: wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, center Creed Humphrey, offensive lineman Wanya Morris, running back Samaje Perine and long snapper James Winchester. Rookie offensive lineman McKade Mettauer is on the Chiefs’ reserve/injured list.

In the NFC Championship Game, three former Sooners punched their ticket to New Orleans as Philadelphia routed Washington 55-23: tight end Grant Calcaterra, quarterback Jalen Hurts and right tackle Lane Johnson. Calcaterra retired from football at OU due to concussions, then resurfaced at SMU.

In Sunday’s action, former Sooners were making big plays all over the place.

Hurts rushed for three touchdowns and completed 20-of-28 passes for 246 yards and another score as the Eagles obliterated the Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Johnson started at right tackle and played 64 of the team’s 71 offensive snaps.

Meanwhile Tress Way, Washington's long-time punter extraordinaire, got to step outside his special teams bubble when he threw a perfect fourth-down pass to tight end Ben Sinnott on a fake punt in the second quarter. The Eagles' lead was only 14-3 at the time and it allowed the Commanders to tack on a field goal that made it 14-6 before the score got out of hand.

At Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Chiefs pulled out their 17th consecutive one-score victory thanks in large part to Perine, who played just one play in the final seconds — but clinched KC’s third straight Super Bowl trip.

With the Chiefs leading by three and trying to run out the final seconds of the game clock, the Sooners’ all-time leading rusher came in on third-and-9 from the Buffalo 35. At the snap, Perine lined up on quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ right, then leaked out of the backfield to his left, behind the offensive line, and was completely uncovered. Mahomes calmly floated a pass to Perine, who turned it upfield for a 17-yard gain and the game-clinching first down with 1:30 to play.

On the Chiefs’ previous possession, defensive tackle Jordan Phillips threw his blocker backward into Mahomes and took Mahomes down for a third-down quarterback sack that forced KC to kick a field goal with 3:33 to play that ultimately proved the difference.

The Chiefs and Eagles clash on Feb. 9 at Caesars Superdome in downtown New Orleans.

Sooners in the NFL, Championship Sunday

Buffalo Bills

(L 32-29 at Kansas City)
* DL Jordan Phillips: Played 19 snaps, made two tackles, one QB sack for -7 yards

Kansas City Chiefs

(W 32-29 vs. Buffalo)
* WR Marquise Brown: Started at wide receiver, 3 catches for 35 yards on five targets
* C Creed Humphrey: Started at center, played all 66 snaps on offense, 4 on special teams
* OL McKade Mettauer: Reserve/injured
* OL Wanya Morris: Not active
* RB Samaje Perine: Played 1 snap on offense, caught 1 pass for 17 yards
* LS James Winchester: Started at long snapper, played 4 special teams snaps on placekicks, 2 on punts

Philadelphia Eagles

(W 55-23 vs. Washington)
* TE Grant Calcaterra: Played 31 offensive snaps, recorded no stats
* QB Jalen Hurts: Started at quarterback, ran 10 times for 16 yards and three touchdowns, completed 20-of-28 for 246 yards and one touchdown, sacked twice
* OT Lane Johnson: Started at right tackle, played 64 of 71 offensive snaps

Washington Commanders

(L 55-23 at Philadelphia)
* P Tress Way: 1 punt for 45 yards, completed 1-of-1 pass for 23 yards and a first down on a fake punt

Published
John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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