Legacy 🔥n Fire Predictions: Conference Championship Weekend (1-28-22)
By: James Brown
Headline Photo Credit: CBS Sports.com
​It’s Conference Championship Week in the NFL and it’s time to find out who will be playing for the Lombardi trophy. Last week’s Divisional Round of games didn’t disappoint as each game just got getter and getter with each winner being decided by who possessed the ball last. We can only hope that the Conference Championship round will be just as exciting. Let’s dive in and take a look at our matchups and find out who will win.
​The AFC Conference game kicks things off Sunday afternoon with the Cincinnati Bengals traveling to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals are in the AFC Championship game. Words no one imagined would be spoken at the beginning of the year not even in the Queen City of Cincinnati. The Bengals have managed to catch lightning in a bottle with Burrow returning from his ACL injury, pairing him with his college playmaker Ja’Marr Chase, and Zac Taylor putting his team in a position to win. The Bengals will be looking to punch their ticket to the title game for the first time since 1988. Standing in their way though are the defending conference champs the Kansas City Chiefs led by Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes and the chiefs are no strangers to this moment as they have played in this game the last three seasons winning two of them back to back. The Chiefs have hit their gear on offense with Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill rolling in the passing game. Jerick McKinnon has provided a boost in the run game for the Chiefs as well as displaying his ability to be a pass-catcher out of the backfield. The Chiefs’ defense will be tested in this game. Burrow and the Bengals have a bevy of weapons on offense in Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Joe Mixon, and even CJ Uzomah has proven to be a lethal threat. The Bengals will be looking to repeat their performance from Week 17 when they defeated the Chiefs 34-31 in Cincinnati. Burrow to Chase was an electric combination in that game as Burrow had 446 yards passing with 4 TDs and Chase had 11 catches for 266 yards and 3 TDs. If the Bengals can repeat this performance they will be champions of the AFC. Neither of these offenses can seem to be stopped so this game will revolve around which defense can get a stop or make a play for their offense. I think the Chiefs’ experience at this moment will give the edge and the win as Kansas City wins in a shootout 42-35.
​Sunday afternoon the NFC Championship game gets underway as the Los Angeles Rams are home in SoFi Stadium to take on division rival the San Francisco 49ers. These two teams know each other well as they’ve already played twice this season with the 49ers sweeping the regular-season matchups with wins of 31-10 and a Week 18 overtime thriller 27-24 for the 49ers to earn a playoff spot. The 49ers have won the last six matchups when they have faced the Rams. Seeming that Head Coach Kyle Shannahan has an edge on Head Coach Sean McVay. Both of these teams have dynamic offenses with San Francisco’s being more run dynamic and the Rams’ offense being more pass dynamic. This will be Matthew Stafford’s first Championship game of his career while opposing QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s second Championship game with the 49ers. The 49ers will be looking to unleash their rushing attack and keep Stafford and that Rams offense off of the field. Deebo Samuel may be entering this game a little banged up but he will be dressed and ready for Sunday. The 49ers’ defense will also be looking to have a repeat performance as they shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ offense last week. The 49ers will also need someone else to step up and be that x-factor player on offense whether it be TE George Kittle or WR Brandon Aiyuk, someone will have to make a play to help stretch the Rams defense. For the Rams, they will be looking to take an early lead on the 49ers sway them away from their running game, and force Garoppolo to throw to win the game. Aaron Donald and the Rams front seven will need to bring their lunch pails on Sunday to try and stuff this 49ers’ run game. Offensively Stafford and the Rams will be looking to put up points and fast. Last week against the reign champs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Rams were able to get out to a 20-3 halftime lead before eventually defeating the Buccaneers 30-27. Los Angeles can not make the same mistake of turning the ball over against the 49ers as they will make them pay by running out the clock. This game may turn into a slugfest with points being hard to come by. Ultimately I believe the Rams will get the 49er monkey off their backs and defeat the 49ers 27-24 for the chance to play for a title in their home stadium something we’ve only seen once which the Buccaneers did last season
