…And then there were four. Four teams remain as the NFL’s elite battle for conference supremacy in the NFC & AFC Championship Games just two weeks prior to Super Bowl LVII. These are the moments that we’ve all been waiting for as the 2022 NFL season reaches the end. It’s the Eagles vs the 49ers in the NFC, while the Chiefs & Bengals battle for the AFC’s crown. Which of these squads will emerge as Super Bowl contenders for their respective conferences? Let’s discuss all the drama behind these showdowns between the last four teams left standing.
49ers (No. 2) at Eagles (No. 1) on FOX (Sunday, 3:00 P.M. ET)
According to this CBS Sports graphic, this is the first ever conference championship featuring both starting quarterbacks (Jalen Hurts & Brock Purdy) who are under the age of 25. Both of these guys are also on their rookie contracts, showcasing the importance of building a championship-caliber roster during this time while the team has extra cap space to work with. Meanwhile, this is the 18th conference championship appearance for the 49ers, which according to this NBC Sports graphic is the record for most appearances of amongst all NFL franchises. Truly historic stuff is happening in this matchup featuring the No. 1 & No. 2 teams in the NFC. You can tell that these two teams have a mutual respect for one another too, with Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon telling reporters, “I think it’s a good job by Kyle. He knows how to get guys in space, and then those guys have unique skill sets… definitely a key to victory for us is tackling.” These comments are in stark contrast to the next conference championship that we will discuss…
My prediction: Eagles over the 49ers 27-24
Bengals (No. 3) at Chiefs (No. 1) on CBS (Sunday, 6:30 P.M. ET)
Several Bengals players, notably CB Mike Hilton, started calling the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium “Burrowhead” in reference to the notion that QB Joe Burrow is 3-0 against the Chiefs. This aggravated Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, who responding on his “New Heights” podcast said that, “[They’re] getting everybody fired up…throwing a lot of bulletin board material out there.” ILB William Gay fired some bulletin board material back the Bengals way, declaring that, “nothing” impressed him about facing off against the Bengals high-octane offense this weekend. Joe Burrow probably had the most measured take amongst all of these quotes from both teams, noting that, “…they’re still the team to beat, and we’re coming for them. But we know it’s gonna be tough. It’s gonna be hard fought, and we know the kind of players they have on that side…” QB Patrick Mahomes said that, “if you’re not fired up to play a team that beat you three times in a row coming up in the AFC Championship Game, you’re not gonna be excited for anything…” There’s a lot to unpack here, but the bottom line is that I think football fans are in for a wild AFC Conference Championship Game between two rival opponents in Sunday evening’s tilt on CBS. Football fans should enjoy these games while they can because the season will end very shortly.
My prediction: Chiefs over the Bengals 35-31
The Sports Beacon 