CHEDDAR BAY PLAYOFFS: Championship Round
Standings:
Ben (130)
Nick Harlow (125)
CapGG (124)
AmplifiedEsq (119)
Thatsfine (102.5)
Teddycuddles (100)
Championship lines:
Chiefs -7.5 vs Bengals
Rams -3.5 vs 49ers
Scoring:
Obviously pick both! Essay pick is worth 15, other game is worth 10.
Both your picks need to be emailed to wherever you’ve been emailing them no later than 2 PM Sunday. Best of luck to all.
Good luck to all. Just wanted to document this before the end of the season, lest any results from here in be suggestive of my opinion. They’re aren’t.
ReplyDeleteI love this contest, and am privileged to be a part of it. Was sad it didn’t happen last year, and happy it’s back in 2021, and appreciate the Commissioners’ yeomen’s work keeping track.
Small grievance. I won the regular season, and doubled my buyin, which is cool. And I’m fighting, like the rest of us, for the playoff payoff, which I’m happy is high. But shit man, the last two weeks of the playoffs alone are worth 50 points, which is roughly 8.33 regular season games. That’s too much. Might as well just make this a playoff fantasy pickem contest, since 87.5?% of the payoff is paid for what is essentially playoff picks.!
Rant over, no idea if anyone will read, but it’s out here to all now.
8.33 regular season **weeks**
Deletemy apologies for not getting these posted before kickoff, as I was holding out to make sure I had all picks.
ReplyDeleteNICK HARLOW
ReplyDeleteBengals +7.5 vs Chiefs****Essay****
Is there a comedown from an epic win? Or does KC show back up into that stadium and steamroll the Bengals? Joey and the boys are young, talented and maybe ready to ride a great locker room vibe into the super bowl. I was wrong about the Bengal's defensive line last week, they were great against Tennessee, and will need to do the same thing this week. Shovel take to the skye Mahomes is at again, doing that work against the Bills in 13 seconds really was amazing. I really am still kind of leaning Chiefs but I know I'm going to be rooting Bengals. They are champions of the AFC North, the most consistent YoY, best division in football, they understand how to win different types of games, they can play a ball control offense and keep Skye Mahomes on the bench. This is all very complicated, but this is just too many points to pass up.
Rams -3.5 vs 49ers
Kind of alarming that the Rams have lost the last 6 against SF, but they are due! This just feels like Stafford's time, the Rams have looked great, what a way to gut out that Bucs win. I don't think the 49ers ground and pound trench warfare approach, which works great historically against this LA team, is going to be enough today against the Rams' star power.
AmplifiedEsq
ReplyDeleteChiefs -7.5 vs Bengals
Rams -3.5 vs 49ers *ESSAY*
Essay: Rams -3.5 vs. 49ers
Another week, another guess that the 49ers will be the popular pick of the leaders so give me the team with a rejuvenated Odell Beckham Jr.
These two teams met the final week of the season and the Rams got out to a 17-0 lead, then went on to lose the game. One team needed that game a lot more than the other though...
Shanahan as seemingly dominated McVay when the Niners haven't been in a rebuild mode, so why wouldn't that continue today? There's lots of reasons, but the main one I'm going with is Matt Stafford.
McVay has seen his team blow the lead vs. the Niners then almost blow the game last week vs. Bucs. The game plan seemingly became very conservative for the Rams once they got a lead, and I don't see that mistake happening today. McVay is going to rely on the QB he wanted the team to get before the season to make throws all day long. Kupp and Odell are going to be busy and going to get open.
On top of the offense, the Rams Defense has been playing at a high level all post season and I expect that to continue. I'm not sure Jimmy G is 100% healthy and this game is going to require a few offensive touchdowns for them to stay within 3.5 points. No doubt he has weapons, but I trust Stafford to get his guys the ball more than Jimmy, so I'll take the Rams to move on to the Super Bowl and cover the spread today.
CAPGG
ReplyDeleteI've been picking on basically 1 guiding principle throughout these playoffs to decent success, "Coaching Matters". I rank the coaches remaining as follows:
1. Andy Reid
2. Kyle Shanahan
3. Sean McVay
4. Zach Taylor
How do I know Kyle Shanahan ranks above Sean McVay? Results on the field. The 49ers have absolutely owned the Rams winning 6 (!!) consecutive times despite the Rams having a better overall record and the more talented roster. In division games, teams can level the playing field based on familiarity. Shanahan uses that leveled playing field to consistently beat Sean McVay like Kyle is the big brother to little brother Sean. Jimmy G despite what his overall stats say is playing effectively while not being all that exciting. San Fran's D lead by Nick Bosa is playing very well. These teams played an overtime game just a few weeks ago, so I would expect another close game between these 2 as no one separates and someone wins a close one. Until he beats Kyle Shanahan, I can't put my biscuits on Sean McVay. So taking the points is the smart play as either the Santa Clara Niners win out-right or at least keep the margin down.
BEN
ReplyDelete49ers
Chefs (essay)
Kansas City has had a tumultuous season by their standards. They are a flawed team with a defense that cannot stop the Bengals. I cringe to take this at 7.5, but had it capped at 8/8.5. Here goes nothing, as it has suited me all season to this point.
The first game was a parade of horrors for KC in the second half, where it mustered a measly 3 second half points. But everything — and I mean everything— from phantom PI calls to KC turnovers to a Tyreek Hill drop before half to a completely insane turn of events at the end of the game — went Cinci’s way. This trend has favored the Bengals all playoff long. They have played awesome, but also caught 100% of breaks. Credit to the Bengals for being here.
I attended the Chefs home opener against my beloved Browns this year. The stadium rendered any colloquy amongst friends inaudible. The place will be absolutely rocking on Sunday afternoon.
Cincy has been a great story. And Burrow and company will be a force to be reckoned with for a long time. But for this year, its time to put the women and children to bed and go looking for some fucking dinner. Chefs 37-24
THATS FINE
ReplyDeleteBengals
49ers
After hitting 13 regular season essays I've shanked both postseason tries. Mathematically I'm probably out of it, but might as well finish off the job. I'll roll with the 49ers defense here, who have stymied Dak and Aaron Rodgers in back to back weeks on the road. Now they get a home game against the Rams. They've beaten them 6 times in a row, which isn't Steelers-Browns level domination, but clearly Shanahan has the Rams' number. And while I'm not completely certain they make it 7 in a row today I do think that this game is won by a field goal so I'm taking that extra 0.5.