Well folks, here we are. It’s been an incredible football season (unless you’re a fan of the Colts, Broncos, Texans, Cardinals, Packers, or Rams to name a few). In the end, just like your morning coffee, the cream always rises to the top. Props to those of you who drink it black, that’s just not my style. The NFL Conference Championships are coming up this weekend and we’re in for a couple great games. It’s been narrowed down to the top four teams, and it’s a complete crapshoot who’s going to come out victorious on Sunday when the 49ers visit the Eagles and the Bengals go to Arrowhead to take on the Chiefs.
The NFC:
What a story for this San Francisco team. The Bay Bombers are rocking with the 3rd quarterback on their depth chart to start the year after their stout defense put on a show against Dak Prescott and made him look like my buddy on the JV team in high school. Brock Purdy, who was drafted with the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft, a draft position commonly referred to as “Mr. Irrelevant” has been anything BUT irrelevant since he first came under center for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo in week 13. The 49ers have won a dozen straight and look forward to a date with a tough Philadelphia Eagles squad. This will be Purdy’s first road playoff game, and last week in the divisional round at home, he wasn’t exactly spectacular. Let’s give the rookie credit where credit is due, he did just enough in the game to help them pull out the victory.
The Eagles finished at 14-3 atop of the NFC earning the only bye in the conference. Having the extra week off certainly helped them look extra sharp as they obliterated the Giants 38-7 in the divisional round. QB Jalen Hurts had an MVP run this season as he was one of the best signal callers in the league. Hurts, who missed weeks 16 and 17 to injury, didn’t have to test the shoulder too much in the win against the Giants. The Eagles host the 49ers this week, at one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, the Linc. They are currently holding strong as 2.5 point betting favorites over the 49ers, and this is going to be one hell of a matchup.
Spread: Eagles -2.5
Total: 46.5
Schmidt’s prediction: Eagles 20, 49ers 24
The AFC:
The biggest upset of the playoffs so far was undoubtedly Joe Burrow going into Buffalo and busting out a can of Whoop Ass on the Bills. Burrow and company closed as six point underdogs, though looking back it seems like that was obviously too many points. As they say, hindsight is always 20-20. The Bengals smacked the Bills 27-10 in a game that was never really close. Can the Bengals take down the might Chiefs? Joe Burrow’s confidence and swagger really makes it feel like they could take down anybody at this point in the season. While some are worried about problems on their offensive line, they played a solid game and the Cincinnati defense swarmed Josh Allen and the Bills holding them to just 10 points, their lowest team total of the entire season. “Who Dey” nation is certainly pumped to take on the Chiefs, who Joe Sheisty is already 3-0 against in his young career.
What a run for Kansas City. This team is headed to their fifth straight AFC championship in what has been a dominant run by Andy Reid’s team. Mahomes is the clear cut favorite for MVP this season, however, the star QB suffered a high ankle sprain last week against Jacksonville. This ankle injury clearly hampered Mahomes in the 2nd half. Though he was able to finish the game, his ankle is going to be a major topic this week. My thoughts? The Chiefs sneak out a victory and finally beat Burrow for the first time. I’d take Mahomes on one leg over half the quarterbacks in this league. The kid is destined for a hall of fame career, and his first ring is starting to get lonely.
Spread: Bengals -1.5
Total: 47.5
Schmidt’s prediction: Chiefs 28, Bengals 23
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