Conference Championship Preview: Best of the best
We are 100 percent a college sports website here at KSR. However, we simply just can’t avoid one of the biggest sports weekends of the year. The Super Bowl gets more attention, but Conference Championship Sunday is without a doubt the best day of the pro football season.
Similar to the Final Four in college basketball, the College World Series in baseball/softball, and the College Football Playoff, just making it to this point is an achievement in itself. This year’s edition is simply amplified as the top four teams will be going at it to claim a spot in the Super Bowl.
Let’s dive into the last weekend of the season.
The Slate
— No. 2 seed San Francisco 49ers at No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles (3:00 ET, FOX)
— No. 3 seed Cincinnati Bengals at No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs (6:30 ET, CBS)
— Spreads: Eagles (-3, 46.5), Chiefs (-1.5, 48)
Burrow vs. Mahomes, Volume IV
In Week 17 last season, Cincinnati knocked off Kansas City in a thriller at Paul Brown Stadium to give the Bengals their first prime time statement victory of the Joe Burrow era. What happened next is what no one saw coming.
In last year’s AFC Championship, the Bengals stunned the Chiefs in overtime outscoring the No. 1 seed at Arrowhead Stadium 17-3 after halftime. Cincinnati then turned around to beat the Chiefs in another one-possession game last month. The once unstoppable Patrick Mahomes who has never played a road playoff game due largely to regular season dominance is now 0-3 against Burrow.
We had Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady over a decade ago. There is now officially a new QB rivalry in the AFC.
Mahomes is expected to be hobbled with a high ankle sprain injury suffered in last week’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Burrow enters Sunday as perhaps the hottest QB in football as the Bengals have not lost since Halloween.
All signs point to this next chapter of Burrow-Mahomes to be a potential classic. Mahomes injury game, Burrow attempting to go 4-0 in the head-to-head matchup, the Chiefs looking to become a dynasty with multiple world titles, and the Bengals looking to end their title drought. There is a lot on the line.
Most of America will be tuned in to see the best of the best go at it on Sunday evening.
Burrowhead
To say the Bengals enjoyed their road victory in Buffalo last week in the divisional round would be an understatement. NFL Films caught Joe Burrow dropping a “I’m Him” after a touchdown throw to Hayden Hurst, Eli Apple smoked a cigar in the locker room and went after Stefon Diggs on Twitter, and Mike Hilton had a new name for Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs have noticed the talking. Both star tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones brought up the comments this week. For the cherry on top, Cincinnati’s mayor decided to get into the trash talk with some classic “who’s your daddy” content.
The stakes were already extremely high for this rivalry. Now a bunch of gas has been thrown on the fire. Don’t be surprised to see a shoving match or two occur on Sunday in Kansas City.
Carbon copies in the NFC
Offensive-minded head coach. Dominant offensive line. Highly productive defensive line. Top-notch skill talent depth. A dominant football team that wins at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.
That could describe either the Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers perfectly.
We’re going to get a good, old-fashioned slobber knocker in the first game on Sunday as both teams want to win the game at the line of scrimmage. However, the play-calling has been great for both teams this year and both defensive coordinators are up for multiple NFL head coaching positions.
The contest could go any way in Philly. This is going to be fun watching these two franchises go at it.
Luckett’s Leans
This is America at the end of the day. Many of you are going to want some skin in the game. Some may even be giving the squares a test run before the Super Bowl arrives. Let’s dive into some of the best plays on the board.
- Eagles Under 23.5 (+100)
- 49ers First Quarter (+0.5 at -140)
- Deebo Samuel First TD Scorer (+1300)
- Jalen Hurts Passing + Rushing Yards Under 300.5 (-115)
- Patrick Mahomes Passing Yards Under 285.5 (-115)
- Joe Mixon Rushing Yards Over 57.5 (-115)
- Bengals Over 23.5 points (-125)
- Trey Hendrickson Sacks Over 0.75 (+220)
Enjoy Championship Sunday, friends.
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