Total: 0–1
Cumulative Total: 69–57–1
As the margin for error decreases with each passing week, my picks for the Conference Championship games were predictions were a predictably mediocre 1–1. Either way, it’s been a great year for the blog and hopefully we can finish it out with one more hit as the country gets ready for the biggest wing-eating, commercial watching, even of the year (there’s also a football game going on too).
Rams @ Bengals 6:30 Est. Sun.
Unfortunately, after some of the most exciting playoffs in recent memory, I don’t think their pinnacle will be as riveting. I expect something more similar to the 2021 and 2015 Super Bowls, where high powered offenses led by promising quarterbacks got stopped because their team lost too many battles in the trenches. I think the teams’ running games will just about cancel each other out, and the Bengals won’t be able to get anything going in the air. Aaron Donald and Von Miller will feast on Cincy’s offensive line, and Joe Burrow likely won’t have enough time to get the ball into the hands of Ja’Marr Chase and the rest of the Bengal’s talented regiment of pass catchers. At the same time, Matthew Stafford, for all the pundits that claim he’s so much worse than Burrow, has thrown for 200 more yards and has equally talented receivers in Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. And even though the Bengals are using the home locker room, SoFi Stadium is the Rams’ house and a much shorter trip for their fans. This home field advantage could also come into play given that LA is going to be very warm while Ohio actually has seasons, so the Bengals have significantly less experience in such weather. Overall, it’s difficult to spot any place where Zac Taylor’s young, inexperienced has a leg up and advantages abound for Sean McVay’s veteran squad. I think the Rams win comfortably.
Pick: Rams -4
