Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first Bradicheck-less Conference Championship Sunday since 2010! Is it weird that the NFL's Final Four doesn't include the Patriots? Absolutely! Am I upset about it? Not in the slightest! It's nice to have some fresh faces fighting for a chance to go to the Super Bowl instead of the same teams playing for the AFC title year after year.
In fact, this will be just the second time in the last 20 seasons that the AFC representative won't be either New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore or a team quarterbacked by Peyton Manning...and the other one was the 2002 Raiders! So, yeah, it's been a while.
Meanwhile, in the NFC, we've got two of the league's most decorated teams battling it out for another trip to the Super Bowl. The 49ers and Packers have combined to win 11 NFL/NFC titles and are a combined 9-2 all-time in Super Bowls. But it's been nine years since Green Bay's last conference championship and seven years since San Francisco's. So we've got new blood on both ends of this Super Bowl equation (even if Aaron Rodgers is a past Super Bowl MVP).
That leaves us with some fun Super Bowl possibilities, too. How cool would it be if we get a Packers-Chiefs Super Bowl I rematch in the NFL's 100th anniversary season (and 50 years after the AFL's final game, which was a Chiefs win in Super Bowl IV)?! San Francisco and Kansas City will be forever linked because the 49ers traded Joe Montana to the Chiefs way back when. And Ryan Tannehill, of course, used to play for the Dolphins, which adds a level of intrigue if the Titans get there, regardless of their opponent.
Titans (11-7) at Chiefs (13-4): Kansas City-Don't sleep on the Tennessee Titans. This team is dangerous, which I think we've all figured out by now. They've beaten three straight division winners on the road in essentially three playoff games in three consecutive weeks. Now they look to complete the Grand Slam and make it four straight road wins over the AFC division winners. And if they can pull it off, they'll give Tannehill that most unexpected Miami homecoming.
The Titans have also done their opponent a tremendous favor, though. Two tremendous favors actually. The Chiefs went into the playoffs thinking their route to Miami would involve going through both the Patriots and the Ravens. Thanks to the Titans, they don't have to play either one. And...to top it off, the get to play the AFC Championship Game IN KANSAS CITY! None of the first 58 AFL/AFC Championship Games took place in Kansas City. Now the Chiefs are hosting for the second year in a row.
And they really seem like a team of destiny. Especially when you consider what happened last week, it's hard to go against the Chiefs. They erased a 24-point deficit in no time at all and ended up winning the game in a blowout! There aren't many teams capable of doing that. Which just goes to show what type of a team the Chiefs are. And it also gives you the feeling that something special is happening in Kansas City.
Last year might've been good for them. Because of what Bradicheck did to them in last season's AFC Championship Game, they didn't panic when the Texans took that big lead last week. They've been in the situation before and relied on their talent, which is sometimes easier said than done (just ask the Ravens). And Kansas City has some of the most supreme talent in the league.
Derrick Henry is also a supreme talent. What he's done over the past month is ridiculous. It's even more impressive when you consider that the Titans' offense essentially consists of Henry running the ball, yet New England and Baltimore still couldn't do anything about it! I think the Chiefs will employ a different game plan, though. Let Henry get his yards. He's going to get them anyway. Just don't let them do anything else.
More importantly, Kansas City has a ton of explosive offensive weapons, so it's really more about challenging the Titans to keep up with them. And the Chiefs can score quickly, so the Titans' ball control game won't make as much of a difference. Besides, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes deserve to play in a Super Bowl. Fifty years after their last appearance, the Chiefs will finally get back there.
Packers (14-3) at 49ers (14-3): San Francisco-I'm still not 100 percent sold on the 49ers. But...they're in the NFC Championship Game--and hosting it--so I now have a feeling I've simply missed the boat on them. And, I must say, they had perhaps the most impressive showing of any team last week. They dominated Minnesota from the start, making it pretty clear very early that the NFC Championship Game would be played in California.
Besides the fact that they're hosting, there's another reason to have confidence in the 49ers. They've shown an ability to win in different ways. So, whatever the style of the game, you know they're going to be in it. Take their back-to-back games in Baltimore and New Orleans. The game against the Ravens was a 20-17 defensive battle. Then, the very next week, they go and win a 48-46 shootout in New Orleans! The same thing happened against bad teams. They beat the Redskins 9-0, then scored 51 points against Carolina the next week.
It's that versatility that makes the 49ers incredibly scary. It's not just their ability to play different styles. It's the fact that you don't know how they're going to beat you each week. They can run the ball. But they've also got a ton of receiving threats, anchored by an All-Pro tight end. And I haven't even mentioned Nick Bosa and the defense yet!
With the Packers, meanwhile, I'm just the opposite. I seem to have more faith in Green Bay than a lot of other people. "They haven't beaten anybody good!" is the most common complaint about the Packers. Well, guess what? They beat the teams on their schedule to the tune of a 13-3 regular season and playoff bye. And they did beat a good team last week, beating Seattle to send Cal grad Aaron Rodgers back to the Bay Area for the chance to get to another Super Bowl.
Two of the Packers' three losses this season came in California, though, including a 37-8 blowout against this same 49ers team in Week 12. That's the reason this rematch is taking place at Levi's Stadium instead of Lambeau Field. And it's a valid reason for concern. Because that game wasn't so long ago that the teams are dramatically different. And the Packers' combined 19 points on the West Coast this season aren't gonna be enough to get it done in the NFC Championship Game!
Ultimately, that's why I can't say I see the Packers winning this one. They've won six straight since that loss the first time they played the 49ers. But I think the fact they had to travel is going to be the big difference. A Sunday night game in Lambeau would've been a huge advantage for the Packers. Instead, they have to travel out West. When the 49ers beat the Seahawks in the last game of the regular season to clinch home field, their Super Bowl odds shot up astronomically. That win will pay off with a trip to Super Bowl LIV against Kansas City.
Last Week: 3-1
Playoffs: 5-3
Overall: 159-104-1
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