The Divisional Round of the playoffs certainly settled some anecdotes about the NFL’s top teams after an exciting weekend of games. Ultimately, the league has its top four teams play in the conference championship weekend.
the Philadelphia Eagles rolled beat on New York Giants, showing that they are still one of the best teams in the league and a Super Bowl contender all season long. Philadelphia will host the NFC Championship game vs San Francisco 49erswho won the confrontation against Dallas Cowboys To prepare for the conference by matching the first two suits.
The AFC Championship game has a highly anticipated rematch between Kansas City Chiefs And Cincinnati Bengals In what is sure to be one of the best games of the season. Patrick Mahomes had a daring take on a high ankle sprain for the Chiefs to get past Jacksonville Jaguars While Joe Burrow led the Bengals to a dominant win over the Buffalo bills – in the snowy buffalo.
Conference championship weekends have the makings of every timer. Here’s a preliminary introduction to what’s to come next week.
All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook
NFC Championship Game
(2) San Francisco 49 at (1) Philadelphia Eagles
when: Sunday, January 29 at 3 p.m. ET
television: Fox | Stream: fuboTV
Line: Eagles-2, O/U 45.5
The 49ers and Eagles did not have a rich playoff history, as Philadelphia and San Francisco met only once in the postseason (the 49ers won 14-0 in the 1996 NFC Wild Card Round). Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy – both starting quarterbacks – weren’t even born yet. Hurts (24 years, 175 days) vs. Purdy (23 years, 33 days) would be the youngest match-up in NFC Championship Game history.
Purdy is the fourth quarterback drafted in the sixth round or later (or not drafted) to reach a conference championship in his first season as a starter. The 49ers are playing in their 18th conference championship game, the most in NFL history (and third in the past four years). They are the only NFC team not to play Philadelphia in a road playoff game.
Hurts is the youngest player in Eagles history to reach a conference championship game, breaking Donovan McNabb’s record since 2001. This is the Eagles’ seventh conference championship appearance since 2000, the most in the NFC and only second. New England Patriots For the most in the NFL. The Eagles are looking for their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history and their second in the past six seasons.
The Eagles finished as the top offense in the NFC in points and hours per game. The 49ers finished as the top defenseman in the NFC in points and hours per game. This game will surely define the age-old debate between offense and defense, setting the stage for excitement in Philadelphia.
AFC Championship Game
(4) Cincinnati Bengals at (1) Kansas City Chiefs
when: Sunday, January 29, 6:30 PM ET
television: CBS | Stream: Paramount +
Line: Heads -1.5, O/U 47.5
A rematch of last year’s AFC title match against the Chiefs and Bengals is worth all the hype. Add Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow to the mix and NFL fans could be ready to embrace another classic, especially with Mahomes playing through a sprained ankle.
The Bengals have never been beaten since Boro became the starting quarterback, going 0-3 against them over the past two seasons — including last year’s AFC Championship game in which Kansas City edged a 21-10 second-quarter lead and lost 27-24 in overtime. Each of those meetings was decided by exactly three points, with Cincinnati beating Kansas City 26-6 in the fourth quarter and overtime in those games.
Mahomes will join Tom Brady (eight straight) and Ken Stabler (five straight) as the only quarterbacks to start five consecutive conference championship games as the Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to play five straight conference championship games at home. He is also the only player to lead a team to five conference championship games before reaching the age of 30. The Chiefs are looking to become only the ninth team to reach the Super Bowl three times in a four-year period.
The Bengals strive to reach the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons, trying to become the first team since the seeding process began in 1975 to reach back-to-back Super Bowls without obtaining the first and second seeds in any season. Joe Burrow could join Russell Wilson as the only quarterback to start two Super Bowls in the first three seasons. Burrow is 5-1 in his playoff career and 3-0 on the road (the Bengals had never won a postseason road game before Burrow). Cincinnati has never lost a game in the AFC Championship, going down 3-0 in franchise history.
Mahomes’ game against Burrow IV should be a classic, no matter how the Chiefs’ quarterback plays with his high ankle sprain.