Championship Round Locks
Buccaneers @ Packers (-3.5): O/U 51.5
NFC Championship game between Brady and Rodgers. This is just awesome. In their regular season matchup back in Week 6, the Buccaneers handed the Packers their first loss of the season. Looking back on the season, that was really the only game where the Packers were handled. In that game, the Packers were actually the ones who got the early lead, going up 10–0 in the 1st. The tide turned when Aaron Rodgers threw two interceptions on back to back possessions. The first was returned for a pick 6. The second was returned to the Packers 2 yard line (leading to a 1 play TD drive for the Bucs). The Packers simply could not get back on track after that and lost 38–10. I expect this game to be significantly different.
I’m going with the Packers laying 3.5 points in this one. Simply put, I don’t expect Aaron Rodgers to throw 2 picks again, let alone on back to back possessions. Until that happened, the Packers were the team dominating the first game. I don’t expect this one to be dominated one way or the other. I do expect a lot of points, and Aaron Rodgers to get his team to the Super Bowl. Both teams are playing great, and I expect a truly spectacular game. Give me the home team. 30–26 Packers.
Picks: Packers -3.5 (Padlock), Over 51.5 (Deadbolt)
Bills @ Chiefs (-3.5): O/U 54.5
The AFC Championship, like the NFC Championship, is also a rematch of a Week 6 regular season game. In that game, Josh Allen had by far his worst game of the season. In fact, the whole Bills offense was completely shut down, as they were held to just over 200 total yards of offense. Since that game, the only game the Bills lost was on the Hail Murray. The Chiefs will have Patrick Mahomes in this one, which from a pure football fan-perspective is good news. I’m sure Bills Mafia wouldn’t have minded if he was held out. The Chiefs are a force. It’ll be interesting to see if the Bills defense, which has been hot of late, can keep them in check.
I’m going with the Bills getting 3.5 points. I’m all in on this Bills team. I love how they’ve played all season long, but especially in the 2nd half of the season where their defense really turned around their play. Offensively, they’ll have to get some sort of ground game going, whether that’s with Devin Singletary or Josh Allen himself. All season long the Chiefs played in tight games, and I expect this one to come down to the wire. 26–24 Bills.
