Folks, we’re down to four. Following another action-packed round of games over the weekend, we’re now only two contests away from finding out which teams will be heading to the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay. In this piece, we offer up our picks for the NFL Conference Championship Games. Who will come out on top?
In the Divisional Round showdown between the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, hearts dropped everywhere when KC’s franchise quarterback went down with an injury and was ruled out due to a concussion. Now, Patrick Mahomes’ health will have a major impact on the AFC Championship.
Mahomes remains in the concussion protocol. Video of him walking off the field after he was hit was scary to see, as he looked wobbly and had to be helped by team trainers. It was an easy decision to rule him out for the rest of the game, as the last thing the Chiefs wanted to do was risk further injury.
With that being said, if Mahomes isn’t able to play against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, then Kansas City will be in a world of hurt. Chad Henne is KC’s backup, and he isn’t even close to Mahomes’ caliber of a player. If Henne starts for the Chiefs and Mahomes is out, the Bills will be favored.
At this point, though, it’s looking like Mahomes has a good shot of playing in the AFC title game. If he’s able to play and can run the offense like normal, then our pick is 1,000 percent with the Chiefs to come out on top at Arrowhead Stadium. If he can’t play, though, then the Bills would be the no-brainer decision to go with.
While it’s been a feel-good story for Tom Brady and Tampa Bay, which included the Divisional Round win over New Orleans, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will have no doubt take down the Bucs in the NFC Championship Game. Green Bay is playing on another planet right now, as they defeated LA with ease last week.
Entering Sunday’s NFC title battle, the Packers are three-point favorites and have -200 moneyline Las Vegas odds to win straight up. Tampa Bay is three-point underdogs, with +170 moneyline odds. The pick here is an easy one. The Packers are going to take down the Bucs with ease.
What we’ve seen Rodgers do this postseason has been sensational. In the win over the Rams in the Divisional Round, he threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Green Bay also scored 32 points in the victory. Remember, Los Angeles entered the game ranked the No. 1 overall defense in the NFL.
Despite that, Rodgers and the Green Bay offense had no problems at all moving the ball around with consistency. Now, they’ll look to do the same to Tampa Bay’s defense at Lambeau Field, where temperatures will be around freezing. We’re picking Green Bay to not only win, but cover the spread too.
While both the Packers and Bucs are known for their fiery offenses and have Rodgers/Brady leading the way, taking the under in the NFC title game will be the wise decision. Why, you ask? It all comes down to weather and Green Bay in late January is never a pleasant experience at Lambeau Field.
This weekend, the forecast is predicting temperatures below 30 degrees, plus potentially up to three inches of snow. That’s not the exact recipe for this to be a high-scoring showdown. With the NFC Championship Game right around the corner, the over/under has been listed at 51 points.
The odds for the over are -110, as are the NFL Playoff odds for the under. We know that it might be enticing to go with the over, especially with both team’s offenses putting on clinics in the Divisional Round. Green Bay scored 32 points, and the Bucs took down New Orleans 30-20.
With that being said, the weather most definitely will play a role in how this game goes down. If there’s indeed plenty of snow on the ground, both sides could choose to focus on the run game. And, kicking field goals/PATs will be tough. Because of this, our pick is with the under. We highly recommend you follow suit.
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