AFC & NFC Championship Game Predictions

 

I mean WOW! Last week's divisional round may have given us the best weekend of football ever! All four games were decided on the last play, including 3 (three!) game winning field goals by road teams. Both of the number one seeds (Titans and Packers) are eliminated, and now only four teams remain. The Bengals will play the Chiefs (for the 2nd time in the last 5 weeks) in the AFC Championship game, while the NFC West takes center stage, as the 49ers battle the Rams for the third time this season, with the winner staying in Los Angeles to prepare for Super Bowl 56.  Here. We. Go.

Championship Sunday: January 30th

AFC Championship: 

Cincinnati Bengals (12-7) @ Kansas City Chiefs (14-5): CBS at 3:00 p.m. ET in Arrowhead Stadium

In the AFC Championship game, we get to watch the first playoff battle between Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. The Bengals will try to make their third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history (and first since 1988), while the Chiefs will attempt to make their third straight trip to the NFL's biggest stage (the last team to do that was the New England Patriots: 2016-2018).

As I previously mentioned, these two teams met up earlier this season back in Week 17. The Bengals came out on top 34-31 with a game winning field goal by rookie kicker Evan McPherson (who's been super clutch this season) to clinch the AFC North. In that game, the Joe Burrow-Ja'Marr Chase connection was at its peak, as Burrow threw for 446 yards + 4 TDs, while Chase torched the Chiefs secondary with 266 yards and 3 TDs. The Bengals' only weakness on offence is their offensive line which gave up 9 (not a typo) sacks against the Titans last week. Even still, with all the weapons that Burrow has at his disposal (like Tee Higgins, C.J. Uzomah, Joe Mixon) it doesn't seem likely that they get locked down this week.

On the other hand, Mahomes had a solid game against the Bengals last time out, with 259 yards, and two touchdowns. But the Chiefs only scored 3 points in the second half, and that can't happen again here if the Chiefs want to advance. The Bengals defence did a tremendous job of slowing down both Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce in the first matchup (just 65 yards combined), and they've played great in their first two playoff games against the Raiders and Titans (allowing just 35 points). But, like I said with the Bengals offence, I just don't see that continuing on Sunday. Slowing down Mahomes once is hard enough. But doing it twice, this time in Arrowhead? Yeah I wouldn't bet on it.

I think this will be a shootout, with Mahomes and Burrow trading blows back and forth. In the end, the Chiefs' experience will prevail and they'll make a couple of more plays at home to secure another trip to the Super Bowl.

Bengals 27 Chiefs 36

NFC Championship:

San Francisco 49ers (12-7) @ Los Angeles Rams (14-5): FOX AT 6:30 p.m. ET in SoFi Stadium

On the NFC side, we got the third installment of 49ers-Rams, this time with the winner moving on to the Super Bowl. The Niners swept the Rams this season (won 31-10 in Week 10, and 27-24 in OT in Week 18), and overall, Kyle Shanahan's team has owned Sean McVay and the Rams for a while now, the 49ers gone 6-0 against their NFC West rivals since 2019. Can they continue that dominance on Sunday? Let's talk about it.

For the 49ers, they match up very well with the Rams, which is a big reason why they haven't lost to them in nearly 4 years. Let's start on offence. The Niners love to run the football, and because of that, it eliminates the Rams dominant pass rushers like Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, and Von Miller from completely wrecking the game. 49ers superstar "wide back" Deebo Samuel has been a thorn in the Rams' side this season, in the first game, Samuel only touched the ball 10 times but produced 133 total yards (97 receiving, 36 rushing) and 2 touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. In the 2nd game (only 3 weeks ago), the Niners got off to a slow start as they were down 17-0 with their season on the line before (led by Deebo's 164 total yards and 2 TDs) they pulled off the comeback. For the Rams, it's much easier said than done. But if they want to go to the Super Bowl, they have to do a better job of slowing down Deebo Samuel.

On defence, the 49ers defence has taken center stage in these playoffs, holding the Cowboys' number one ranked offence to 17 points in the wildcard round, then they shut down MVP Aaron Rodgers by sacking him 5 times, and holding the Packers to just 10 points in Lambeau Field. The key for this defence is the pass rush, the 49ers have racked up 10 sacks in two playoff games, and they did it with its four man rush instead of resorting to blitzing.  In the first two games against the 49ers, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford struggled, throwing 4 interceptions and he got sacked 7 times combined in those two games. So, obviously the key for the Rams is to give Stafford time to throw to guys like Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr, or else Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, and the rest of the Niners' vaunted D-line will take over the game just like they have in the last two playoff games.

In the end, the 49ers just seem to have the Rams' number, and they match up very well with them. In the playoffs, it's all about running the football, and getting home to the quarterback, and the 49ers do that better than anybody left in the field. San Francisco will win a instant classic, and stay at SoFi for Super Bowl LVI.

49ers 26 Rams 23