Wednesday, January 15, 2020

2019-20 NFL playoff predictions (Part 3 - Championship)


Welcome to part 3 of my 2019-20 NFL playoff predictions! Two for four on the Divisional games, correctly predicting the victories by the 49ers and the Chiefs but not the Titans and (damn it) the Packers.

And then, there were only four. Each wants to play in the Super Bowl, but only two shall make the journey to Hard Rock Stadium. Here are the four potential match-ups for Super Bowl LIV in Miami:

Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Green Bay Packers
Tennessee Titans vs. San Francisco 49ers
Tennessee Titans vs. Green Bay Packers

But which match-up will it be?

Let’s find out.  

AFC

#2 Kansas City Chiefs vs. #6 Tennessee Titans
The Chiefs are heavily favored to win to the AFC Championship over the Titans. Also recall that the Patriots were heavily favored to win the Wild Card match over the Titans, and that the Ravens were heavily favored to win the Divisional match over the Titans.

Forget the odds. The Titans have stared down insurmountable odds all these playoffs and have defied them every time. Tom Brady wanted to repeat as Super Bowl champion. Instead, he threw a game-ending pick six and lost in the first round at home to the sixth-seed Titans. Likewise, Lamar Jackson wanted to extinguish all opposition en route to his Super Bowl coronation. Instead, Jackson ended another season with a one-and-done playoff performance, this time to the Titans.

The Chiefs are clearly a formidable squad, as proven during their rout of the Houston Texans in the Divisional game. It takes incredible talent like Patrick Mahomes to rally from a 21-0 deficit to win 51-31. The Chiefs do not want a repeat of last season, when they lost the AFC Championship at home. At full strength, the Chiefs are an unstoppable force. But the Titans are the immovable object.

This will truly be a battle to the end, but the Titans will score another shocking upset and become only the third sixth-seed team ever to reach the Super Bowl.

Prediction: Titans win, 28-24.

Result: Chiefs win, 35-24.

Comments after the game:

The Chiefs finally found a way to defuse the Titans' WMD known as Derrick Henry.

The Titans ran out of steam today, unable to solve Patrick Mahomes and the relentless Chiefs offense. The game started strong for the Titans, opening up with a 17-7 lead, but the Chiefs' offense roared to life and never looked back.

The Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in fifty years!

***

NFC

#1 San Francisco 49ers vs. #2 Green Bay Packers
It’s a duel of the top two seeds for the NFC Championship. These two teams met in Week 12 during the regular season with lopsided results – the 49ers won 37-8.

The 49ers are healthy and firing on all cylinders; the 49ers’ balanced attack has worked wonders all season, regularly posting twenty-plus, thirty-plus, forty-plus, and even fifty-plus points on the board en route to victory. All the 49ers’ losses have been close affairs, though their last defeat to the Falcons was the ugliest. Still, the 49ers at full strength are a dominant force and easily the favorites to win the NFC Championship.

The Packers, meanwhile, haven’t lost since that crushing loss to the 49ers but the Packers have been winning either close affairs in ugly fashion or winning big over non-playoff teams. The Packers need an answer to the lethal weapon of Jimmy Garoppolo and George Kittle or another blowout is in the works.

Against a full-strength 49ers squad, the Packers haven’t much hope. Expect another rout.

Prediction: 49ers win, 35-14.

Result: 49ers win, 37-20.

Comments after the game:

We turn now to live footage of the Green Bay Packers:


A rout, as expected.

The Packers were obliterated in the first half, unable to respond to the 49ers' relentless offense. A second half rebound fell well short, and the Packers fall victim once again to the 49ers in a lopsided defeat.

The 49ers' ground attack was unstoppable; Raheem Mostert carved through the Packers' defense with ease and ran for four touchdowns. Jimmy Garoppolo passed only eight times all game; why pass when the ground attack is embarrassing the opposition?

The 49ers advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years!

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