What a journey to get here . . . and now I have the final matchup of my 2019 NFL Tournament:  The New Orleans Saints will take on the Kansas City Chiefs!  Drew Brees versus Patrick Mahomes!

Attached are each team’s statistics through their six games that got them here.  The Saints are 5-1 . . . their only loss to the Cowboys in round two of the playoffs . . . . which they avenged in their second contest against Dallas in round five.  And, they will be just about a full strength heading into this game.  They only have four players on the injured list.

Kansas City, meanwhile, hopes that their quarterback, Mahomes, will continue his playoff brilliance, which has been nothing short of incredible so far.  In the Chiefs’ six victories against no losses, he has thrown a remarkable 27 touchdown passes, 13 of which have gone to Travis Kelce!

New Orleans actually has a very narrow rating point advantage heading into the contest.  They are a 42/42 on offense (pass/run), compared to Kansas City’s defense of 40/40.  And, when the Chiefs have the ball, their offense is 44/41, while the Saints’ defense comes in at 39/44.  This gives Brees & Company a +2/+2 advantage on offense, and the Chiefs come in at +5/-3 when they have the ball.  Actually, pretty darn close!

Here’s the injury list heading into the game, and it is a clear advantage for the Saints:

New Orleans:  Nick Easton (G-3), Janoris Jenkins (CB-3), Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (S-3), Tre’Quan Smith (WR-2-B)

Kansas City:  Chris Jones (DT-4), Damien Williams (RB-3-A), Anthony Sherman (FB-3), Cameron Erving (T-3), Tanoh Kpassagnon (DE-3), Terrell Suggs (LB-3), Reggie Ragland (LB-3), Spencer Ware (RB-2-B)