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After one of the craziest weekends in football that any of us can remember we are down to the final four teams in the NFL.
Here are my initial thoughts on Championship Sunday. Odds via PointsBet.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs (-7) Total: 54.5
The Kansas City Chiefs are back in the AFC Title Game. This will be their fourth straight AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium, the first time a team will play host to four consecutive conference title games. That streak breaks a tie previously shared with the Philadelphia Eagles who hosted three straight conference championship games from 2002-2004. Philadelphia’s head coach for each of the three was...Andy Reid.
After an epic battle with the Buffalo Bills the Chiefs welcome Joe Burrow and the Bengals to Kansas City with a trip to the Super Bowl on the Line. These teams just met earlier this month with the Bengals winning on their home turf as 3.5 point Underdogs.
The Bengals have been road Underdogs six times this season. In those games they are 5-1 ATS and 4-2 on the Money Line. This will not be like any other game though. This is the AFC Championship which is familiar territory for Kansas City. When these teams last met Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase went crazy on the Chiefs. Chase caught 11 passes for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Bengals come from behind victory.
What many people fail to mention about the late season matchup between these two teams is that the Chiefs had a 14-point lead in that game and the halftime score was 28-17 in favor of Kansas City. If the Chiefs jump out to a fast start again this weekend I doubt we see another Bengals’ comeback. That offensive line was run over by the Titans this past weekend. Kansas City’s line is not as strong as Tennessee’s but it is still formidable.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (-3.5) Total: 46.5
When the NFL season first started the Rams and the 49ers were both +650 to win the NFC. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers had similar or shorter odds. So it should be no surprise that these two NFC West rivals are playing for a trip to the Super Bowl.
The Rams have played their best football of the season over the past two weeks which is saying something considering they entered the playoffs having won five of their last six. Meanwhile, the Niners have also been playing well for a while having won four of their last five before winning in Dallas and Green Bay the last two weeks.
In recent years the Rams and Niners’ rivalry has been one-sided. Since 2018 the Niners are 5-3 ATS and 6-2 on the Money Line vs. the Rams. San Francisco is currently riding a six-game winning streak vs. the Rams including two this season. San Francisco routed the Rams at Levi Stadium back in Week 10 by the score of 31-10 and won at SoFi Stadium in Week 18 coming back from a 17-3 third quarter deficit to win 27-24 in overtime.
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