Divisional Round Record: 1-3 (Correct: Chiefs Incorrect: Titans, Packers, Buccaneers)
Overall Record: 7-3
Kansas City Chiefs over Cincinnati Bengals: People (myself included) really need to stop underestimating the Bengals. Not only have they already beaten this Chiefs team this year (in ridiculous comeback fashion no less), but they've also proven their mental toughness and calmness under pressure with their knockdown, drag out victories over the past 2 games. Plus, the Chiefs defense is significantly weaker than the other two groups they failed to score a ton of points against, putting Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins and the rest of their counterparts in an ideal spot to pop off after a couple of respectable, but not overly productive outings. This is a really drawn-out way of saying the Bengals have a legit shot in this game.
As tough as the Bengals are, going into Arrowhead to play the Chiefs right now is not a task that any team wants to have to take on. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill were dialed-in, fearless and completely in sync with each other during the crunchtime moments of last week's win over the Bills and as long as those connections are going strong, the Chiefs are going to be extremely difficult to take out. The hot and cold Bengals defense-who is famously not ranked #1 in points and passing yards allowed like the Bills were during the regular season-are going to have to get very creative with coverages and just cross their fingers that this powerhouse group slows down a bit after about 7 straight quarters of nearly seamless play if they want to keep them even somewhat under control.
Ultimately, the Chiefs extensive big game experience paired with the high they're riding after pulling out the victory in last week's clash of the titans and the Bengals redzone scoring and offensive line woes over the past 2 weeks should be enough for them to clinch their 3rd straight trip to the Super Bowl.
Los Angeles Rams over San Francisco 49ers: This is a huge spot for Sean McVay. The king of all young football whizzbangs came dangerously close to blowing a huge lead in the Divisional Round on account of some questionable playcalling that kept the ball out of Matthew Stafford's hand in the 2nd half and young players (Cam Akers, Brian Allen) making critical mistakes that led to fumbles that powered the Bucs improbable 4th quarter comeback that was quickly overshadowed by an electrical final drive from Stafford and Cooper Kupp and is starting to face questions about his ability to beat Kyle Shanahan after dropping 6 straight games to him. If this game goes sideways for pretty much any reason other than the 49ers killing their defense, his reputation is going to take a huge hit.
As long as Stafford can maintain the high level of play he's displayed in the playoffs thus far against a tough 49er defense that has completely neutralized Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott over the past 2 games, McVay seems to be in a good spot to put an end to his lengthy cold streak against Shanahan. The Rams defense powered by Aaron Donald and a suddenly resurgent Von Miller has played great in the playoffs so far, Jimmy Garoppolo has been in a funk since the 4th quarter of the Cowboys game and it doesn't seem like he's going to snap out of it as long as his thumb is bothering him and most importantly, both Deebo Samuel and George Kittle were hobbling by the end of last week's game in Green Bay and if those guys are less than 100%, the 49ers could lose enough of the dynamism that makes their offense so scary to land them on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
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