NFLSU: Championship Weekend Openthread

Good morning, welcome to week 21 i.e. championship weekend of the NFL season.

First off an apology for not having these threads up during the regular season. I worked on most Sundays this season. This here website isn’t my—or anybody else on the staff—full-time job and I just couldn’t find the time to get something up on NFL Sundays like last year. Hopefully they’ll be back next fall but if not please understand.

But enough about me, some of our guys are going to win the AFC and NFC championship today.

Bengals vs. Chiefs, 2:00 P.M., CBS

Up first we have LSU: Great Lakes vs. LSU: Midwest as Joe Burrow and the Cinderella Bengals try to knock out Tyrann Mathieu and the Chiefs who are hosting the AFC Championship game for an incredible fourth year in a row.

Burrow took an absolute beating last week getting sacked by Tennessee nine times.

But even though he got knocked down nine times, Burrow got up 10 and led the Bengals on a game winning drive set up by, of course, a kill shot pass to Ja’Marr Chase.

The Burrow-Chase connection will have to be on point today because the Chiefs look like an absolute wagon. I for one have still not come down from the high that was the ending of last week’s Chiefs-Bills game, and going into Arrowhead in January with a Super Bowl berth on the line is Burrow’s greatest challenge yet.

But the Chiefs come into Sunday a little banged up, at least as far as the whole NFLSU thing goes. Clyde Edwards-Helaire appears to be all systems go (geaux?) but Tyrann Mathieu (concussion) and Darrell Williams (toe) could go either way. Mathieu is “expected” to play but at the time of this writing has not yet cleared the NFL’s concussion protocols. Williams also expects to play but reports out of KC say it’ll be up to the team to give him the green light.

49ers vs. Rams, 5:00 P.M., FOX

Out West we have shall we say LSU: Bay Area vs. LSU: SoCal as the 49ers and Rams play for a third and final time this season.

The 49ers have owned the Rams as of late, winning the past six games including coming back from a 17-0 deficit in Week 18 to earn a playoff spot (and keeping the Saints out).

With all due respect to Bengals-Chiefs, this is probably the better game despite it lacking the NFLSU star power. Andrew Whitworth says he’s good to go—maybe he’ll block Arden Key a few times?—and Odell Beckham is having a career resurgence now that he’s got a good quarterback throwing him the ball for the first time since Zach Mettenberger in 2013.

I’d imagine most readers of this site also double as Saints fans so the whole “49ers vs. Rams” thing means no matter who wins, we as Saints fans lose. Personally I’m pulling for the 49ers because all the Rams had to do was hold on to a 17-0 lead at home and San Francisco wouldn’t have even made the postseason. You did this to yourselves, LA.