Breaking Down the Conference Championships

The NFL Conference Championships will occur on Sunday, and it’s one of the most exciting weekends of the year. We get to see the Super Bowl matchup, and this year, the possibilities are very exciting.

The NFL stats are revealing that the games will be very close this weekend. However, anything can happen in football. The Divisional Round was one of the best weekends of football of all time, but I think the conference titles games have the foundation to be great as well.

The AFC will be up first on Sunday, with the Chiefs hosting the Bengals. The NFC will take place in the nightcap with the Niners and Rams. Let’s break down these games from a betting perspective!

Chiefs Host the Bengals

The Bengals have been the Cinderella story of the 2021-22 season. Nobody expected the Bengals to be in the AFC Championship, but they punched their ticket by taking down the Titans last week. This Bengals team is very fun to watch, and they are playing like they have nothing to lose.

This is a very dangerous quality, so I would give them some attention in the betting markets. Cincinnati will have to take down Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, which will not be an easy task.

The spread is seven points in favor of the Chiefs. The line opened at -6.5, which made people flock to Kansas City. The line immediately shifted to seven which split the bets on each side of the line.

The line will likely not get to 7.5 because it gives the bookmakers the risk of being middled. It’s tough to win by a touchdown in the playoffs, so lots of tickets do have the Bengals.

The way Cincinnati stays competitive in this game is by scoring points. I expect Joe Burrow to throw up a lot of passes to Ja’Marr Chase. The Chiefs have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. The only way to beat them is by scoring points.

If they can score points, they will have a chance to stay in the game and cover the spread. Additionally, Cincinnati beat Kansas City 34-31 in Week 17 of the regular season. The Bengals can win this football game, but they need to play close to perfect.

Because of the large spread, my bet is on the Bengals at +7. Kansas City has proven they have gotten better every week, but they have not covered touchdown spreads very well in 2022.

Niners Try to Do it Again at SoFi Stadium

The San Francisco 49ers needed to win in Week 18 of the regular season against the Rams to make the playoffs. Los Angeles jumped out to a lead, but mistakes allowed them to crawl back into the game.

Ultimately, the Niners came out victorious and punched their ticket to the postseason. The San Francisco 49ers have gotten a lot of love from bettors. This is a really good team, but the one issue is that they do not have a quarterback.

Jimmy Garoppolo has been the issue with this offense throughout the year. He is not a quarterback who can throw the ball down the field. In the playoffs, you need a quarterback to win, but the Niners have changed this narrative.

The 49ers win in the trenches. They have an excellent offensive line and have two terrific pass rushers in Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead. These two will be key to winning this game because Matthew Stafford is grooving for the Rams.

Stafford is a rhythm quarterback, so the one way to beat him is by getting in his face. If they can make this happen, he will be less effective. The Niners are +3.5 on Sunday, and I like this line with the hook.

Kyle Shanahan has owned Sean McVay in head to head coaching matchup. The Niners are also riding high, and that’s dangerous at this time of the year.