At the end of business on Sunday night, we'll know who will play in the Super Bowl on February 13. What isn't sure is who will be in the big game, because there are variables in play.
AFC title game: Cincinnati @ Kansas City (CBS, 3 pm ET): It has been 33 years since the Bengals were last in the Super Bowl. They're 0-2 lifetime in the big game, losing both times to San Francisco. Joe Burrow and the Bengals defeated Kansas City at home four weeks ago, but this time, the Chiefs have the home field
One of the storylines heading into the game would be if there was a chance of a 3rd meeting in the Super Bowl between Cincinnati and San Francisco. It's also another case of oddsmakers not thinking this through, assigning the Chiefs as a 7 point favorite, despite the earlier loss. Cincinnati won the earlier meeting on January 2 with a late Evan McPherson field goal, so a 7 point spread is asking for trouble.
Burrow, a 2nd year QB out of LSU, who'd transferred to Bayou Country from Ohio State, is rolling right now. He has a former college teammate in JaMarr Chase to throw to, but you can count on the Chiefs blanketing Chase all day. For Kansas City, it is their 4th straight AFC title game with Patrick Mahomes at QB., and their bag of tricks should be familiar to the Cincinnati defense. If the weather is as bad in KC as it is here, this will be a low scoring game, favoring the defenses.
The pick: Kansas City makes it 3 years in a row in the Super Bowl.
NFC title game: San Francisco @ Los Angeles (Fox, 6:30 pm): The 49ers have won the last three season series between these two NFC West rivals, and the last time the teams met for a Super Bowl berth, the quarterbacks were Joe Montana and Jim Everett. This time, it's Jimmy Garoppolo and Matthew Stafford.
For the Rams, the mission is two-fold. End the losing streak vs. the Niners, and become the 2nd team in as many years to be the true home team in the big game, after Tampa Bay last year. The Bucs exposed the flaws in LA's running game. Cam Akers is vulnerable to fumbling. So is receiver Cooper Kupp, who redeemed himself on the game's final drive vs. Tampa. Stafford, in his first season in LA after beginning his career in Detroit, could be looking at his first Super Bowl, laughing all the way to the bank.
Defensively, Von Miller only has to flash the ring he won with Denver to add more motivation for Aaron Donald and the rest of the Rams' D. This will be a fun game, but history is not on the Rams' side.
The pick: San Francisco continues its dominance of the Rams.
Of course, I could be wrong.
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