NFL Championship Round

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Kansas City Chiefs (12-5)

VS

Cincinnati Bengals (10-7)

Sunday @ 3 pm EST, January 30th, 2022

Odds

Kicking off championship weekend is a surprising matchup between the Chiefs and the Bengals. The Chiefs are in familiar territory, having gone to 4 straight AFC Championship games, but this is completely new for the Bengals, and no-one expected them to be here. The Bengals were +12000 to win the super bowl after preseason - that’s 29th in the NFL, and tied with the Jets odds to win the super bowl. They’ve surprised everyone this season and Joe Burrow has proved he is an elite quarterback and will continue to be in this league. What makes this matchup more interesting is that the Bengals actually beat the Chiefs 34-31 in week 17, a game in which Joe Burrow threw for 446 yards and 4 touchdowns - his best game of the season. Ja’marr Chase also had his best game of the season that day, hauling in 11 receptions for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns. Now, if you were to tell me that a quarterback and receiver recorded those sort of stats, I would tell you the game was probably a blowout, but that wasn’t the case because the Chiefs have the x-factor (Patrick Mahomes). Yes they lost that game, but it’s extremely difficult to beat the same team twice in this league, and I fully expect the Chiefs defense to have a better performance than they did the first time around - there’s pretty much no way they can play any worse. The Chiefs offense has not slowed down, and in fact have sped up, scoring 37.3 pts/game since that week 17 matchup against the Bengals. With home field advantage, and coming off one of the greatest playoff wins this league has ever seen (42-36 OT win against the Bills), I fully expect the Chiefs to win this game and take another trip to the Super Bowl. Despite being in this position, the Bengals have had sub-par offensive performances in their 2 playoff games against the Raiders and the Titans, scoring 26 and 19 respectively. The difference was their defense, which held those teams to 19 and 16, both of which have solid offenses. I believe the Bengals will do a better job than most at slowing down Mahomes today, but not enough, and that they sure as hell won’t be able to keep up with them. I like this contest going under 54.5 total points, and the Chiefs pulling out a win.

Final Score Prediction:

Chiefs : 31

Bengals : 17

Los Angeles Rams (12-5)

VS

San Francisco 49ers (10-7)

Sunday @ 6:30 pm EST, January 30th, 2022

Odds

We are absolutely blessed with a Rams/49ers championship matchup. Once co-workers, Rams head coach Sean McVay and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan have had a very lopsided head-to-head record since joining the NFC West. Kyle Shanahan is 6-0 against McVay and the Rams over the past few years, which is insane considering how good the Rams have been. However, this is the best Rams team we have seen, and they come into this game red hot. They averaged 32 points/game in their 2 playoff matchups thus far, both of which were against great defenses (Cardinals & Buccaneers). They will have another stiff challenge against the 49ers, who not only have a very tough defense, but are very familiar with McVay and the Rams since they play each other twice every year. I believe they have enough talent and momentum to get the job done, but it’ll definitely be a great game. I’m expecting a tight contest, and for some unexpected craziness to happen.

Final Score Prediction:

Rams - 23

49ers - 20

Picks

More talented and experienced teams, both at home, coming into these games red hot with tons of momentum.

Rams ML/Chiefs ML parlay (+101)

1.

2.

Under 54.5 total points (-110)

Line is set ridiculously high - Bengals haven’t scored incredibly well this post-season. Chiefs will score but not enough to go over 54.5.

Tough 49ers defense, Stafford threw 17 interceptions this year. Expecting him to make at least 1 mistake, or an unlucky tipped ball situation.

Matthew Stafford interception (-125)

3.

4.

Odell is going to cook today. Each week, Stafford gains more trust in him. Kupp cooked 49ers in both games this year - if they are smart they will focus on stopping Kupp.

Odell Beckham over 54.5 receiving yds (-110)