Championship Sunday Schedule
We are just over two weeks away from the Super Bowl, but before we get there, we need the teams. Enter, Championship Sunday, when the NFL’s Final Four will compete for a trip to Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl LVII. Here’s your Sunday schedule.
NFC Championship
San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles – 3 pm ET/Noon PT on FOX
AFC Championship
Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs – 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT on CBS
NFC Championship
Brock Purdy and the No. 2 seed San Francisco 49ers are off to Philadelphia to take on Jalen Hurts and the No. 1 seed Eagles. This game features two great defenses, a plethora of playmakers and two Coach of the Year candidates.
The 49ers have the presumptive Defensive Player of the Year in Nick Bosa and a top defense. The Eagles have Haason Reddick and led the league in sacks. The 49ers have Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle – to name a few – on offense, while the Eagles boast A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Miles Sanders.
And at quarterback, it’s the mobile and experienced Hurts for the Eagles and the rookie
Purdy for the Niners. These teams are similar and are both loaded with talent. It will come down to defense, the run game and who can create more turnovers. That last one is the key to the whole thing.
I’m having trouble predicting this one, so I just hope everyone has fun.
AFC Championship
The AFC Championship takes us to Arrowhead Stadium, where Joe Burrow and the Bengals are taking on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Kansas City will be looking to avenge last year’s title game, and they’ll be doing it with a somewhat hobbled Mahomes.
Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain in last week’s divisional round win over the Jaguars, and it remains to be seen as to just how much of an issue it will be. Hello, run game. The Chiefs rushed for 144 rushing yards, with Isiah Pacheco leading the way with 95. Oh, and Travis Kelce had 98 receiving yards and two touchdowns, so he’ll help the offense no matter what’s going on at QB.
Meanwhile, the Bengals’ once-upgraded offensive line is dealing with injury woes, but it didn’t stop Burrow and Co. from dominating the Bills in Buffalo last week. Joe Mixon rushed for 105 yards and a TD and Ja’Marr Chase had 61 receiving yards and a TD.
In other words, the offensive weapons for both teams are going to have to be just that on Sunday. The odds are currently in the Chiefs’ favor, but this Fangirl is picking the Bengals to head to their second consecutive Super Bowl.
New Offensive Coordinator for the Rams
As first reported by NFL Network, former New York Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur will be taking on the same role with the Los Angeles Rams. LaFleur and the Jets parted ways after a season full of offensive strife, while the Rams lost their OC, Liam Coen, to the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Rams had a rough 2022 on offense, finishing 27th in the league in both points per game and last in the league in yards per game. They also suffered injuries to Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and like a million offensive linemen, so none of that helped matters.
LaFleur was with the Jets the last two seasons. The offense was 29th in scoring and 25th in total yards this past season and 28th and 26th his first season.
Luka Doncic
ESPN is reporting that Luka Doncic is day-to-day – honestly, same – after injuring his left ankle Thursday night. The injury happened early in the Dallas Mavericks’ 99-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Doncic had an X-Ray and it was negative.
Doncic, an All-Star starter, is averaging 33 points, 8.9 rebounds and 8.4 assists this season. The Mavericks next game is Saturday against the Utah Jazz.