Championship Weekend: Game Overviews and Predictions

And then there were four.

Other than the Ravens stomping on the Texans, divisional weekend was a thrill ride from start to finish. It seems rare that with only two games left between us and the Super Bowl, what the matchup will be remains quite a mystery. However, with the four teams that remain, it’s sure to remain mysterious until the very end of both games.

Both games will be played on Sunday the 28th, starting with the AFC Championship:

AFC – 3:00 PM (ET): (3) Kansas City Chiefs at (1) Baltimore Ravens

NFC – 6:30 PM (ET): (3) Detroit Lions at (1) San Francisco 49ers

With any of these four potential Super Bowl matchups being perfectly reasonable guesses, let’s dive into each game and try to pick one of our own. And I mean seriously try.

(3) Kansas City Chiefs at (1) Baltimore Ravens

After taking a week off, Baltimore welcomed the Texans into M&T Bank Stadium and brought their emotional playoff run to a screeching halt. The defense that picked off Joe Flacco twice proved no match for Lamar Jackson, as he tossed two touchdowns and ran in two of his own.

With Jackson balling, arguably the most complete defense in football, home-field advantage, AND Mark Andrews returning, keeping the Ravens from a Super Bowl appearance seems near impossible.

But if anyone stands a chance, it’s Patrick Mahomes.

Barring a complete derailment, it’s borderline factual that any team’s certainty of winning against the Chiefs is severely tainted by Mahomes being under center. However, even though Kansas City’s secondary has turned it up a notch along with Chris Jones in the trenches, you have to look at how depleted both Miami’s and Buffalo’s defenses were going into their playoff dates with the Chiefs.

If you take that into consideration, this Ravens squad is an entirely different beast than what the Chiefs have faced so far. And with All-Pro guard Joe Thuney sidelined as well, Baltimore DC Mike Macdonald’s ability to confuse offensive lines and play-callers with a fully healthy defense may make this a mountain too steep for even Mahomes to climb.

I genuinely cannot tell you who will win this game, but if I’m to do my job and guess, all the signs I believe point to Jackson making his first Super Bowl appearance.

Score Prediction: Chiefs 21, Ravens 28

(3) Detroit Lions at (1) San Francisco 49ers

I’m going to be up front with this one. I think the 49ers are extremely vulnerable after their tightrope win against the Packers.

It’s evident to this point how important of a piece Deebo Samuel is to San Francisco’s offense. After leaving their divisional game with a shoulder injury and missing practice most of the week, it will be extremely difficult for Brock Purdy to win this game if Samuel isn’t at 100%.

Meanwhile, Detroit’s two-headed monster of a rushing attack is posed to give Steve Wilks and his defense some trouble as the Niners rank 25th in rushing yards allowed and 28th in yards per carry. Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown have also been balling this playoffs, so it’ll be interesting to see what breakout OC Ben Johnson crafts up to be able to put up serious points.

The biggest x-factor for me in this game, however, is if Detroit’s defense will be able to rise to the occasion and keep themselves in the game. Their pass defense is arguably the weakest unit remaining in the playoffs, so it’ll be up to Aidan Hutchinson along with the rest of the defensive line to make some magic happen if they’re to stop Christian McCaffrey and make Purdy as uncomfortable as he looked last weekend.

Aside from everything else, all season the Lions have been an amazing novel that you just don’t want to put down, and I’m not putting them down this week, either. GIve me the upset.

Score Prediction: Lions 34, 49ers 30