Fikkle Fame’s NFL Predictions for the Conference Championships January 24th, 2021

We’ve reached the NFLs version of the Final Four, the NFC and AFC Championship games. Three of the top four seeds remain in the field, with #1s Green Bay and Kansas City, AFC #2 Buffalo, and NFC #5 Tampa Bay, the only remaining Wild Card. The Packers beat the Rams last week to advance; the Buccaneers met the Saints for the third time this season and picked up their only victory of the three, but it was the most important one. The Bills beat the Ravens in a defensive struggle, and the Chiefs overcame a concussion to QB Patrick Mahomes to eliminate the Browns.

Both games are on Sunday January 24th

NFC Championship

Tampa Bay (13-5) at Green Bay (14-3). Packers favored by 3 1/2. O/U: 51. The Buccaneers beat the Packers 38-10 in Tampa Bay on October 18th. The Packers and Buccaneers have only played each other once in the playoffs, that being a 21-7 Packers win in Green Bay on January 4th, 1998. This game features two of the best quarterbacks of any era in Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, who is looking to lead a new team to the Super Bowl after doing it nine times with the New England Patriots, with six champions. Rodgers has one Super Bowl victory. Since losing to the Buccaneers three months ago, the Packers defense has improved. Both teams have potent offenses; Tampa Bay is third in scoring at 30.8 points per game, while Green Bay is first at 31.8. Rodgers has had one of his finest seasons and is the front runner for his third NFL MVP award. Green Bay has also developed a good running attack to compliment the pass, something that had often been missing in recent years. The weather in Green Bay is another factor; the forecast is for a high of 29 with snow showers. That’s not exactly Ice Bowl conditions, but that, coupled with the Packers having a few thousand socially distanced fans in Lambeau Field could be a bit intimidating for Floridians not used to such conditions (not including, of course, ex New Englanders Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski). The Packers are playing their best football of the season, and will advance to their sixth Super Bowl. Packers 31 Buccaneers 27.

AFC Championship

Buffalo (15-3) at Kansas City (15-2). Chiefs favored by 3. O/U: 54. The Bills lost to the Chiefs in Buffalo 26-17 on October 19th. The Bills and Chiefs have met three times in the post season, with the Bills winning two of those. The last time was on January 23rd, 1994, when the Bills beat the Chiefs for the AFC Championship. Buffalo lost the Super Bowl that year to the Cowboys, and haven’t been back since. Kansas City, of course, is the defending Super Bowl champion. While the NFC Championship features two all time great veteran quarterbacks, this game has two of the best younger QBs in the game. Buffalo’s Jake Allen threw for career highs in yards (4544) and touchdowns (37). The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes was the NFL MVP in 2018 and the Super Bowl MVP last year. The Bills were hot down the stretch, winning nine of their last 10; the Chiefs were hot all season, losing the last game of the regular season while resting a bunch of starters, including Mahomes. That was a good idea, as it gave backup QB Chad Henne a chance to play. He was called on to finish the Chiefs-Browns game after Mahomes suffered a concussion. Mahomes was practicing, and supposedly looking good, so if he passes concussion protocol, he’ll start. If not, it will be difficult to overtake the Bills. We’re going to assume he’ll play and the Chiefs will return to the Super Bowl. Chiefs 33 Bills 28.