NFL Playoff Picks, Conference Championships Round

Cincinnati Bengals/Kansas City Chiefs: every team last weekend won in brilliant stunning contention, it was incredible to watch those games, even if I was cheering for Buffalo and the Pack. The Bengals picked up their first road playoff win ever, in a thrilling upset of Tennessee, withstanding 9 sacks throughout, how is that even possible? Even though he was sacked 9 times, Joe Burrow was still 28 of 37, throwing for 348 yards, exceptional stats considering. Cincinnati's won twice so far in the postseason without unleashing its full potential, without one of those 30 or 40 plus point games, that led to lopsided victories vs. division rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore. They've handed the Chiefs their only loss since Oct. 24th, is it real? Could the Bengals do it again! Like their matchup last week vs. the Titans, they're playing on the road against an opponent they've never met in the postseason this Sunday, but Kansas City was shockingly impressive last weekend, I can't believe they won that game. To be fair, it was surprising that Buffalo scored two touchdowns in under two minutes to look like they could not be beat. But the Chiefs still somehow found a way to secure exceptional victory.  How do you stop Mahomes when he throws?, when there's no one to pass to he picks up and runs, how do you stop Mahomes when he runs?, he's got moves to rival most running backs. I think both teams should have a chance to score a touchdown in overtime, as do many others, I hope that happens some day, it would be much more exciting. Not even Brady's Patriots ever hosted 4 consecutive Conference Championship games. Kansas City's grown too powerful! I'm picking the Bengals to stop them!

San Francisco 49ers/Los Angeles Rams: even when Tom Brady loses in the playoffs he does something that makes him seem like one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, and once again, just as I thought about closing my eyes after the Rams went up 27-3, the Bucs started scoring, scoring and scoring and scoring, until it totally looked like they'd win (plus no nap for me). The Pack did not continue to score after its opening drive and struggled to score points throughout the entire game. That was a big surprise. I thought they'd at least score 23. Perhaps San Francisco's defence is that good, so far they've limited Dallas and Green Bay to a combined total of 27 points, special teams coming up huge last weekend to earn the 49ers another shot at their 6th Super Bowl. The Rams oddly did everything they could to win last Sunday while doing everything they could to lose at the same time. What a strange football game that was. Both these teams are lucky to be playing this weekend. The last two times the Rams beat the Bucs in the playoffs they made it to the Super Bowl, winning when they were in St. Louis, losing when back in L.A, but those games were both Conference Championships, and this time there's one more hurdle before Super Bowl ascension. They've only played San Fran once in the playoffs a Conference Championship game that they lost 30 to 3, and they've actually lost 6 in a row to the 49ers, those are bad odds, considering what's at stake. I'm starting to like Jimmy Garoppolo because he's won so many big games. I never really hear about him unless I'm watching San Francisco, but he's clutch when the game's on the line. He's won 4 out of 5 playoff games in fact and didn't generate too much offence last week. Stafford certainly did. I'm hoping they both come up big this weekend. But I'm sticking with the pattern this time I'm afraid and that pattern predicts a 49ers win, the Rams can't seem to solve San Francisco, and have been given plenty of opportunity. I'm hoping Von Miller comes up big and Stafford has another huge game. But this time I'm sticking with the unsung Garoppolo. And picking the San Francisco 49ers.