It's Championship Sunday!
IMO, it's a four way version of rock-paper-scissors with whatever the Super Bowl ends up being. I think the Chiefs would beat the Niners, who I think would beat the Bengals, who I think would beat the Eagles, who I think would beat the Chiefs.
In terms of my matchup of San Francisco & Cincinnati, IMO, Cincy does not want to see the 49ers. Well, the team probably doesn't care, but there are several Cincy fans that would rather not face the NFC West champs. Not completely due to history, but Philly is a more favorable matchup.
Here's the final spread (still subject to change for whatever reason & during the game of course):
San Francisco/Philadelphia
Eagles by 2.5
Over/Under 45.5
Niners and the Under
Cincinnati/Kansas City
Chiefs by 1.5
Over/Under 48.5
Bengals and the Under
Unlike the second game, the NFC Title Game can go either way. I can see either team winning. I'm loving how so many people are picking Philly for the win. I totally love how most people go one way at the very least. Keep it up!
The spread stayed the same throughout the week from the opening line until gametime (Eagles -2.5). On one hand, the 49ers haven't faced this type of elite competition. On the other hand, neither has Philly. Well, they have in Dallas. However, they split with the Cowboys (including a win against a backup QB). Feels like it'll be a battle where Purdy might be irrelevant but to a point where it doesn't matter. If Hurts is a non-factor, that's a problem, and a bigger issue is how Lane Johnson holds up.
Well, the petty version of yours truly picked this game so fast that I really can't change it. IOW, I picked the Bengals for the win outright (in a harsh way) one week before the actual game. I don't think I do that had Mahomes not gotten hurt, but to be honest, I probably would've picked Cincy anyway. I just would've done it closer to gametime. The spread moved a ton; Cincinnati ended up being favored by 1.5 early to mid week, and now it's back to the late Sunday mark. KC probably needs to go deep into whatever (like New England did against Baltimore 8 years ago) especially in the second half. If there a bluff, then KC should be okay, but as mentioned before, I'm not going to pick against Cincinnati until the 2019 Champs beat them. It does help that they're one of 2 teams without a conference title loss with at least one appearance. By the way, I'm going with the under in this game as well. Championship points are not easy to obtain unless your (road) opponent is unworthy of being there.
Feels like a 24-20 Niners winning score and a 23-21 winning score for Cincinnati.
I'm getting 2012-2013 vibes here. Even though the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl, it feels like a decade ago where Baltimore and San Francisco feel short, but they both improved a year later. The Niners, like in 2012, are on the road again, so I can see them escaping with a victory. Even though I feel like SF is a bad matchup for Cincy, they can probably win out. They should be able to do enough to win the Super Bowl. I think they definitely will if they beat KC again after Philadelphia wins their 4th NFC title
