The penultimate weekend of the NFL Playoffs has arrived with the winners of both the AFC and NFC Championship Games set to do battle in Super Bowl LVI on February 14 (AEDT).
With every game being decided on the final play, last week’s Divisional Round will go down in the record books as the wildest weekend of playoff football, but there’s still plenty of drama left in store with four familiar foes set to square off on Monday (AEDT).
The Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs meet in a rematch of their thrilling Week 17 encounter in the early time slot at Arrowhead, followed by another chapter in the NFC West rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams.
Will the Chiefs return to the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year, or can the Bengals return to the big dance for the first time since 1988?
Will the 49ers cause another upset, or will the Rams become the second consecutive team to play a Super Bowl at home?
We’ve got answers to all of your questions in our NFL Conference Championships Preview here!
The Chiefs are back in the AFC Championship Game for the fourth year in a row, this time against a dangerous-looking Bengals team that has relished the role of underdog right throughout the playoffs.
We received a taste of things to come when these two sides met back in Week 17, a game many considered to be the best of the season – at least before last week’s Chiefs/Bills barnburner, anyway.
The Bengals prevailed 34-31 with a walk-off field goal, but this is an entirely different task heading into a raucous environment like Arrowhead for the first time since 2018.
Most of Cincinnati’s current stars weren’t even on the roster back then, but that isn’t to say this young Bengals team can’t pull off one of the upsets of the season, if not the decade, on the road.
Joe Burrow failed to throw a touchdown last week against Tennessee, but he still managed to dice up one of the league’s better secondaries for over 300 yards.
Not the Chiefs fans need reminding, but the former No. 1 overall pick put up even bigger numbers against Kansas City a month ago, tallying 400 yards and four touchdowns – three of which went to Ja’Marr Chase.
As we saw last week on numerous occasions, defence is Kansas City’s biggest issue – particularly against quarterbacks that can hang in the pocket and make a play out of nothing.
Confusion and blown coverage happened on more than one occasion, and if it wasn’t for some questionable coaching decisions by Sean McDermott, the Chiefs probably would have lost that game.
Speaking of decisions, Bengals coach Zac Taylor nearly cost his side a win when these sides last met, controversially choosing to go for it on fourth and goal with less than a minute remaining instead of kicking a field goal.
That decision paid off thanks to a holding call on the Chiefs, but if the Bengals are going to cause an upset here, Taylor virtually needs to call a flawless game from start to finish.
In saying that, there’s no doubt Burrow is the next great quarterback, and I really think this is the game that kicks off his legacy.
Chase has already proven a handful for Kansas City, and with a clutch, long-bomber at kicker like Evan McPherson, this team definitely has enough talent to go toe-to-toe with Goliath.
I’m not confident enough to back the Bengals outright, but when you consider how much petrol the Chiefs may have spent in last week’s OT thriller against the Bills, +7 about Cincinnati seems mighty generous.
Just like Bengals/Chiefs, this year’s NFC title game has a sense of deja vu about it.
The 49ers and Rams met earlier this month in a high stakes Week 18 game to determine the playoff picture, one San Francisco won 27-24 thanks to a clutch overtime drive from Jimmy Garoppolo.
Plenty had the Niners down as a dark horse entering the second half of the season, but nobody could have imagined them knocking off Green Bay at Lambeau last week in the snow.
The 49ers trailed for most of the game before the Packers basically beat themselves with a blocked punt turned touchdown, right before Jimmy G led another ice cold drive to set up Mr. Automatic himself, Robbie Gould, for the game-winning field goal.
To say the Niners have momentum following two wins over Dallas and Green Bay is an understatement, but I still think this is the Rams game to lose.
It’s been an up and down season for Sean McVay’s side, but they’ve really found form when it matters most with a big win over Arizona, prior to last week’s late scare against Tom Brady and the defending champs.
Defensively, the 49ers have the pass rush to cause problems against LA’s high-scoring attack, but I don’t see them matching the Rams on the scoreboard.
You can’t tell me Kyle Shanahan wasn’t contemplating throwing Trey Lance in during the fourth quarter before the blocked punt, and if the 49ers did lose that game, I dare say we’d be talking about Jimmy G in a totally different light.
You can’t ignore LA’s glaring 0-6 record against the 49ers dating back to 2018, but so long as Matt Stafford continues to play mistake-free football, I think LA gets the job done.
Star players show up in big games, and that has certainly been the case for the likes of Odell Beckham Jr, Cooper Kupp, Von Miller, and Aaron Donald so far.
With Garoppolo struggling against Green Bay’s pass rush last week, and a chance to book a Super Bowl spot in their home stadium on the line, back the Rams to cover.