We have another massive week of NFL action and our free NFL picks have sorted through the best two games of the weekend for you!
The third week of the NFL postseason is here and super bowl dreams are all up for grabs. This week’s wildcard slate includes a few old rivalries and some major storylines as teams look to make a super bowl.
Our NFL picks help find who that might be and provide you with our best picks for the games during this Conference Championship Round.
Sunday, January 29th
Cincinnati Bengals @ Kansas City Chiefs – 3pm ET
The Cincinnati Bengals will be looking for their first super bowl appearance in thirty years. While the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking for their third straight super bowl appearance. The Bengals have grinded out two playoff wins, while they took a history making drive to get the Chiefs to this point in the postseason.
Michael Lantz
This season’s AFC Championship is a week 17 rematch between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s tempting to look at the result of that week 17 game and apply it to this matchup: the Bengals won 34-31 after going on a 17-3 second half run. After giving up 28 points in the first half, this Bengals defense made some phenomenal adjustments to stop the Chiefs high powered offense. They’ve carried that defensive play into the postseason, with some great defensive performances against both the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans. But comparing the regular season to the postseason is a mistake one should never make. Despite the Bengals impressive win in week 17, they now have to go from playing on their home field in Cincinnati to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. They play a Chiefs team that are back-to-back AFC champs, and just racked up 552 yards against the NFL’s best defense. Patrick Mahomes knows what it takes to lead his team to victory, in big moments, as proven once again in last week’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Joe Burrow is already looking like a future MVP in his second season with the Bengals, but I just don’t think it’s quite their time yet. Playoff experience will pay off in this one, so I’ll take the Chiefs to get some payback for a Week 17 loss.
Michael’s NFL Pick: Kansas City Chiefs -7.5 (-104)
Mike Su
The Bengals have been the feel-good story of the season with their young core. They will be facing a Chiefs team that remains the team to beat in the AFC after coming back against the Bills to steal the game in overtime. This may be the best game of the playoffs as the last time these 2 teams met, the Bengals won with a last second field goal.
The Bengals will be relying on their young but explosive offense to try to keep up with the Chiefs. Joe Burrow will have to log in a gargantuan effort to keep up with Mahomes. In his last game against the Chiefs, Burrow had to have a near perfect game with 446 yards passing, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions just to beat the Chiefs by 3. He will need to do the same in this crucial game. Another key player is JaMar Chase who had 366 yards against the Chiefs’ weak secondary. The receiving core of Chase, Boyd and Higgins will need to burn the Chiefs’ secondary which just allowed Gabriel Davis to post 201 yards receiving.
Must. Watch. TV. 📺
The newest episode of HyVee Chiefs Insider is streaming now.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 30, 2022
The Chiefs on the other hand need their defense to play at a semi-decent level to slow down Burrow. Mahomes and the Chiefs will always put up points, but it is the defense that is the key. Unlike last week, allowing 36 points in 4 quarters is not a recipe for success.
I think this will be an insanely close game that will come down to the final possession, therefore I have to go with Bengals line which is extreme value at +7.5.
Mike’s NFL Pick: Cincinnati Bengals +7.5 (-118)
Tony Battalio
The Cincinnati Bengals have gone from not winning a playoff game in 30+ years to on the doorstep of a Super Bowl. Most of the credit can be given to quarterback Joe Burrow and wideout Jamarr Chase. As they have both put up some incredible numbers this season along with running back Joe Mixon. Now the Bengals will be looking to beat the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time this season. They will need to rely on their comeback player of the year quarterback Joe Burrow to pick up the victory over the mighty Chiefs in this one.
The Kansas City Chiefs are here in this game thanks to a miracle drive that led to a game tying field goal at the end of regulation, and eventually a game winning touchdown in overtime. The Chiefs looked like an entirely different team when the season started, but eventually found their way again and they are now on the doorstep of their third straight super bowl berth. As for the result of this game however, I’m going with the Cincinnati Bengals to shock the world and pick up the victory and end the Chiefs reign of terror on the AFC.
Tony’s NFL Pick: Kansas City Chiefs (-355)
San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams – 6:30pm ET
The San Francisco 49ers have already swept the Los Angeles Rams this season. The Rams made a preseason trade that changed their entire future. Now they will meet for the third time this year with a super bowl berth on the line in this one in the NFC Championship Game.
Michael Lantz
For the third time this season, the San Francisco 49ers face the L.A. Rams; with this time being the most important. This is for a spot in the Super Bowl, which takes place this year at SoFi Stadium—the Rams home field. L.A. would love to have that advantage for the biggest game of the year, but first they’ll have to get past a San Francisco 49ers team that’s given them some fits this season.
These two last matched up in week 18, a game the Niners won 27-24 in overtime after being down 17-3 at halftime. Since the second half of that final game San Francisco has been locked in. Not only did they beat their rival Rams to get in the playoffs, but they knocked out the Dallas Cowboys and NFC one-seed Green Bay Packers to get to this game. They have a team of destiny feel, with their defense being monstrous this postseason. I expect this game to be the closer one of the two on Sunday, as it’s a classic matchup between a high scoring offense (L.A.) and a smash mouth defense (San Francisco). Still, it’s very hard to beat a team three times during a season. The Niners won the first matchup 31-10 and then followed with the week 18 victory. With this one being in L.A. (even though plenty of Niners fans will be in attendance), I think the Rams prevail in another nail biter. But, with the spread still sitting at 3.5, I’ll take the 49ers coming with a field goal for -114 as the best pick in this one.
Michael’s NFL Pick: San Francisco 49ers +3.5 (-114)
Mike Su
The 49ers face their division rival the LA Rams for a spot in the Super Bowl. The Rams come off a close game against last year’s champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the win, the offense and defense began to crack late in the game. If it wasn’t for Cooper Kupp, that game would’ve been a different story.
The Rams will need their star studded lineup to play to their full potential this weekend to pull out a win against the 49ers. The Rams have lost 6 in a row against the 49ers. This comes down to the fact that the 49ers have the perfect defensive scheme to stop the Rams. The Rams will need to protect Stafford if they want any chance of winning this game as the 49ers front is dangerous. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 49ers have over 5 sacks against the Rams, and force a couple of interceptions on Stafford.
The 49ers will need Jimmy G to reduce his mistakes and let the talented skill position players do their jobs. The 49ers haven’t won pretty this year with many of their wins involving Jimmy throwing no touchdowns, but that is the style that got them to the SuperBowl 2 years ago. I think the 49ers stick to their guns and burn the clock with that run game, while torching the Rams on the defensive end.
I think the 49ers line is great value as I see them pulling out the win or losing by a field goal.
Mike’s NFL Pick: 49ers +3.5 (-114)
Tony Battalio
The San Francisco 49ers weren’t even sure they wanted Jimmy G to be their starting quarterback before the season began. All signs pointed towards Trey Lance being the starting quarterback as the season progressed, but now the 49ers have been led to the brink of the title game by Jimmy G at the helm. The 49ers shocked both the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers in the last two weeks of the National Football League playoffs. Now they will face their toughest test yet against the Rams. Even though they have beat them twice in the regular season, the playoffs are always a different ballgame.
The Los Angeles Rams may have ended the reign of Tom Brady. They come into this game looking to grab their first win of the season over the San Francisco 49ers. They have played well throughout the playoffs as they’ve virtually dominated the Arizona Cardinals and kept Brady’s Bucs at bay en route to this NFC Championship Game appearance. As for the result of this game, I have the Rams getting their first win over the 49ers this season. I think Stafford and the stringy Rams defense will be enough to put Los Angeles over the top.
Tony’s NFL Pick: Los Angeles Rams (-180)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
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