by:Wes Blankenship•01/30/22
Seven former Dawgs in the NFL Conference Championships all want one thing:
To win their game on Conference Championship Sunday. And then to win the next game, on Super Bowl Sunday.
Ok, so it’s two. They want two things.
Here’s when you, a fan of all Dawgs in the NFL, can watch them play.
Also, I’ll share which team and storyline aligns the most with Georgia’s championship year after watching the Braves and the Bulldogs blow the roof off any dialogue about curses (obviously the Falcons aren’t involved, so I had to get creative).
AFC Championship: Bengals at Chiefs
Time: 3PM Eastern
Streaming: Paramount+
Television: CBS
Spread: Kansas City -7
Over-under: 54.5 points
Dawgs in the NFL
Bengals:
C Trey Hill
Chiefs:
WR Mecole Hardman
CB DeAndre Baker
For the Bengals, I’m not sure how you can root against Joe Burrow. He was a shooting star in college for LSU, on a one-in-a-million offense. Now Joey B is two wins away from copying and pasting that success in the league. Former Georgia center Trey Hill would be stepping into a hornet’s nest on the road if called upon to protect Burrow. He’s currently listed as the second-string center behind Bengals veteran Trey Hopkins.
Conversely, Kansas City’s seen Mecole Hardman bring the franchise some Super Bowl luck already. DeAndre Baker’s been given a second chance to make his mark in the league after four felony counts of armed robbery and assault with a weapon in May 2020 were dropped over a year ago.
Pick:
Joe Burrow and the Bengals are just getting started. They’ll be back here in his career. However, this is the end of the road, for now. Mahomes, Kelce, Mecole, Baker and the gang ride last week’s overtime momentum to another Super Bowl appearance. Kansas City and the over.
NFC Championship: 49ers at Rams (Even though it might sound like a Niners home game).
Time: 6:30PM Eastern
Streaming: FOX Sports
Television: FOX
Spread: Los Angeles -3.5
Over-under: 45.5 points
Dawgs in the NFL
49ers:
TE Charlie Woerner
Rams:
QB Matthew Stafford
RB Sony Michel
LB Leonard Floyd
San Francisco’s Charlie Woerner has five catches for 52 yards this season, playing behind top-five NFL tight end George Kittle. I’m not saying Woerner can’t become an unlikely hero in the next two games and get a street named after him in Tiger, Ga. I’m just about as confident as I can be that he won’t.
The Rams are the most ‘Georgia’ team in this postseason, if you’re comparing any of them to the Braves’ and Dawgs’ dynamics. Stafford toiled in Detroit agony for years, never tasting victory at the highest level. Sometimes, he barely got a whiff of it on any level. Many critics think he’s good, but not good enough to win it all.
Sony put in four years at RBU. After that, he won a Super Bowl with the Patriots. Still, he’s an underdog now after sustaining some injuries since then.
Leonard Floyd sacked Tom Brady in what may or may not be the final sack of TB12’s career. How fitting would it be for a Georgia alum and native to symbolically put that demon to bed en route to another title in this charmed span of a sports year?
🐐 Tom Brady has seen enough of @RamsNFL Aaron Donald, Von Miller and Leonard Floyd 🛌 #LARvsTB #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/khFmqnXB4O
Plus, Sean McVay played high school ball at Marist in Atlanta. He lost his lone Super Bowl appearance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to Brady’s Patriots. In other words, McVay has some Georgia-sports-sized avenging to do, as well.
Pick:
As a result, this bunch of Dawgs wins and stays home for Super Bowl prep. Finally, we’ll see The Rams get over their 49ers hump, and convince fans in Los Angeles to start attending their home games. They don’t cover, though. Take the under.
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