Can the Commanders or Bills spoil the hopes of the favorite?
What Super Bowl match-up are we in store for? According to FanDuel Sportsbook, it’ll be the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Is that how we actually see this Sunday’s NFC and AFC Championship games going down?
NFC Championship
The action begins at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday with the NFC Championship, as the Washington Commanders are on the road to take on the Philadelphia Eagles on FOX. The Eagles are 6.5 point favorites over the Commanders, and it’s a game that is a surprising result to many for the NFC. It seemed like the NFC North was king, having representation from three teams, including the two teams (Vikings and Lions) that competed for the No. 1 seed heading into the final weekend of the regular season. And yet, it’s the NFC East that has a division battle for the third time this season.
Washington lost the first match-up 26-18, but won the re-match in December by a score of 36-33 then they scored a go-ahead touchdown with six seconds to go. Rookie Jayden Daniels threw for 5 touchdowns in that game. It is worth noting that Jalen Hurts was injured for most of the game. The Commanders are a team I love to watch, and yet I picked against them the past two games vs. the Buccaneers and Lions. It’s not because I was against Washington; I just thought the other two teams would edge them out. I’m sticking with the Eagles’ ground game thriving, but first, Philadelphia needs to find some answer for the calm-and-collected Daniels.
AFC Championship
The AFC Championship kicks off at 6:30 pm ET on CBS when the Buffalo Bills face the Kansas City Chiefs. The AFC featured more of the game we came to expect. It’s the first time they’ve played in the AFC Championship since 2020, but they played in the Divisional round in 2021 and 2023, with the Chiefs getting the upper hand each time. The Chiefs are only 1.5 point favorites over the Bills.
The Chiefs were 15-2 during the regular season, but we’re not counting the Week 18 loss they had in which they didn’t care. Therefore, the only loss they really had during the regular season came against Buffalo (but it was in Buffalo), as the Bills won 30-21. The Chiefs’ success this season has been a mix of very found, fundamental defensive play, and then QB Patrick Mahomes making enough clutch plays. The game can obviously go either way, but darn it, with how good the Bills have consistently been over the years, QB Josh Allen deserves his time to shine on the biggest stage.
Our staff picks for Championship weekend can be found below: