Championship Sunday - My Favorite Day On The Sports Calendar

As the headline implies, I don't believe that there is a day in the year, sports-wise, that I enjoy more than the Sunday double-header of the NFL Conference Championships.  Sure, the Super Bowl is played two weeks later, and that has become the High Holy Day for Sports in America,  but the stakes on Championship Sunday, the chance to actually play in the Super Bowl, always seem so much higher.  This is the day that I want sit with my wife, eat fun food, drink fun drinks, and watch two football games uninterrupted. 

Today's matchups came about as the result of four pretty terrific playoff games last weekend, and while nothing is guaranteed, I'm thinking that we are going to see two really good games today.

CHIEFS vs.  RAVENS

Over much of the last two decades the axiom had always been "you would be a fool to ever bet against Tom Brady and the Patriots."  Well, Brady is retired, Bill Belichick is out of work, and the Pats dynasty is now a thing of the past, so the axiom has shifted to "how can you even think of betting against Patrick Mahomes."   The Chiefs team as currently constituted may not be as good as they have been as recently as just last season, but Mahomes remains the best quarterback in the NFL and he alone is capable of winning games.

So, you go with the Chiefs, right?  Not this year.  For the past several weeks, the Ravens have sat atop my won Grandstander Power Rankings,  and they have that look about them that they will be stopped at nothing short of a Lombardi Trophy.  More importantly, they have Lamar Jackson, the presumptive MVP of the League this year.  Jackson has always been a spectacular athlete, but in 2023, he seemed to me to become a complete quarterback as well.   In the Playoff last week against Houston, he was dominant with both his arm and his legs.  The Chiefs are better than the Texans for sure, but in the end, they won't be able to contain Jackson.

I'm taking the Ravens at -3.5 over KayCee.

And, of course, along about 6:00 tonight I know that I could well be muttering "what was I thinking going against Pat Mahomes?"

LIONS vs. 49'ERS

Last week I wrote in this space of the Detroit Lions  "how can you not root for a team that hasn't won anything since the Eisenhower Administration?"  Over the course of this season and post-season, the Lions have become America's Team, the Born Loser who has risen up and become the lovable underdog.  More than that, though, the Lions are good, really good.

But so are the San Francisco 49'ers.  They are 7.5 point favorites in this game, although I think that the game will be closer than that.  

My pick is the Lions +7.5 over the Niners.   Part of this is because I want the Lions to win, but I also think that they possess the edge at QB in Jared Goff over Brock Purdy.

So that's how I'm betting, and I look forward to a most enjoyable afternoon and evening of NFL action.   May you all enjoy this day as well.