BLOG

Picking the NFC and AFC Champions

Jan 22, 2021, 2:20 PM | Updated: 2:20 pm

(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)...

(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

We are in store for some great football this weekend.

The final four gives us great storylines across the board. The quarterback names by themselves is such a huge draw to the weekend. Rodgers, Brady, Mahomes and Allen are four of the best the NFL has to offer and we all get to watch them hopefully at their best on Sunday.

Let’s take a closer look at the title games:

Tampa Bay at Green Bay

Green Bay finally gets to host an NFC Championship game and they earned that with an impressive (13-3) regular season record and by virtue of their win over the Rams last weekend.

One of their losses however was to Tampa Bay back in October when they really got worked by the Buccaneers. Rodgers two big mistakes flipped the game around and Tampa got a great home victory 38-10. This position isn’t foreign to Green Bay as they were in the NFC Championship last year and have been in this game for the 4th time in the last 7 years.

For Tampa Bay they are trying to become the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. To do so they need to keep their road win streak going which stands at 7 straight wins. A lot of this feels about Brady vs. Rodgers and will likely come down to the two quarterbacks. Who makes the big mistake at the key time? Which defensive can get to the quarterback and force those miscues? What role will the running games have? This season Aaron Jones has chewed up yards to make him a 1,000 yard rusher.

It feels like so much more is on the line in this game for Aaron Rodgers. The team experience of going through this last year, the desire to break through and Aaron Rodgers playing at the top of his game has me leaning towards Green Bay on Sunday. Tampa will be without Antonio Brown giving them one less weapon. In a close one, give me: Green Bay 27, Tampa Bay 21.

Buffalo at Kansas City

#1 seed vs. #2 seed.

This is what was supposed to happen and the AFC layout played to form. This also features another matchup from earlier in the season. The Chiefs took out Buffalo in week 6. One of the storylines from that game was how Buffalo played Kansas City in that game. The Bills were understandably fearful of Patrick Mahomes and didn’t want him to beat him. He didn’t but the Chiefs ran for a season best 245 yards. Mahomes didn’t have a deep pass all game. Will the Bills change their strategy? Will they go with the same thing and see if they can improve their run defense?

On offense the Bills can help themselves out if they can find any kind of running game. They only rushed for 32 yards last week which was the 4th lowest ever for a playoff team in a win. They may utilize Josh Allen as a designed runner just to loosen some things up a bit.

Patrick Mahomes is cleared and out of protocol. The Chiefs have been flirting with danger in quite a few games this season. They do find ways to win and now 15 wins on the season shows you how good they are. In their last 9 games, 8 of those have been decided by 1 score or less. They win the close games, the other game was actually a loss. They are good, they play with fire and this week I think they finally get burned. Kansas City has more ways to beat you but Buffalo has been really good for 2 months. They have won 8 in a row and only 1 of those was decided by 1 score or less and that was 2 weeks ago against the Colts in round 1.

My pick: Buffalo 34, Kansas City 24.

Newsletter

Blog

Nick Ross #19 of Sacramento Republic celebrates scoring a goal with Aldair Sanchez #40 of Sacrament...

Amiliano Fragoso

Preview: Sacramento Republic host Colorado Rapids in Open Cup Round of 32

The Sacramento Republic return to action to face MLS side, Colorado Rapids, in the Round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup.

11 months ago

(Photo by Mark Milan/Getty Images for Barefoot Wine )...

Carmichael Dave

Kooky Collaborations – The Carmichael Dave Show

Would you try either of these ambitious company collaborations?

2 years ago

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)...

Carmichael Dave

Favorite Football Foods – The Carmichael Dave Show

With college and professional football season right around the corner, Dave wants to know what are some of your unique football foods?

3 years ago

Follow @ChrisMWatkins...

Chris Watkins

Is Bugs Bunny Washed? – The Carmichael Dave Show

Is the Looney Tunes legend past his prime?

3 years ago

(Kris Connor/Getty Images)...

Carmichael Dave

What Is The Dumbest Collectable You Have Purchased? – The Carmichael Dave Show

Someone just sold a chicken nugget that looked like a video game character on EBay for $100,000, what is the dumbest collectable you've ever spent money on?

3 years ago

Boston - May 30: A man who was believed to throw a water bottle towards Kyrie Irving is escorted ou...

Jason Ross

We Can Do Better

Foolish fan behavior isn’t new at all but our reaction to this appears to be.

3 years ago

Picking the NFC and AFC Champions