The NFL Thread 2022: Casual Edition... or perhaps not?

[PAOerfulone]

Chris Hu said:

PAOerfulone said:

And then there were four.

49ers-Eagles.
Bengals - Chiefs.

Yeah, the Bengals looked great this week, but they also looked like crap against the Ravens in a game they should've lost if we're being honest. Though, I do like them to beat the Chiefs (again) especially with Mahomes' injury.

But honestly, it's the OTHER Championship game that we should be focused on.
I honestly believe whoever wins between the 49ers and Eagles is winning the Super Bowl. They're the most complete teams left and they're also the healthiest teams left.

I, think you are forgetting that the best two remaining quarterbacks are on the AFC site.  Also the Chiefs easily beat the 49ers during the regular season so if it comes down to the Chiefs versus the 49ers in the Super Bowl the Chiefs will be favored to win it all.

Mahomes is injured and his defense is trash. The Jaguars had many chances to win that game, but didn't cash in. As expected from a team making their first playoff appearance.

The 49ers had a bunch of players on defense injured or hobbled/not 100% in that game, Jimmy G was still the QB, and that was CMC's first game on just 4 days notice, he was nowhere near as familiar with the playbook as he is now. Now, they're as healthy as they've ever been, Purdy is playing far better than Jimmy ever did, and CMC is rolling. 

The Eagles, are the one team in the league who have a better OL than the Chiefs, while also having a FAR better DL (they have 4 players with at least 10 sacks and led the league by a country mile in that department) and defense in general. They're absolutely stacked on both sides of the ball and Hurts is an MVP candidate, so it's not like the drop-off from Mahomes to him is all that drastic.

Mahomes injury' changes things dramatically. A high ankle sprain is a major issue. That's normally a 6-8 week injury. The Super Bowl is in 3 weeks. He's not going to be the same Patrick Mahomes, physically, we're used to seeing. That's a MAJOR problem for the Chiefs. 

Besides, I'm not so sure the Chiefs should be favored the Bengals given Mahomes' injury plus for some reason the Bengals are the one team that the Chiefs can't seem to beat.

Speaking of the Bengals, if it wasn't for that dumb call at the goal-line last week, they'd be sitting at home right now. The Ravens gave that game away while playing with their backup QB. So don't blame me if I'm not all that sold or impressed with the Bengals.

They were there last year. Burrow was and is a much better QB than Stafford. But the Rams had the better team and Cooper Kupp and Aaron Donald sealed the deal for them. If they do get back there again, it's going to be the same deal but worse. They'll be up against a superior roster w/ a DL than can absolutely dominate the line of scrimmage against the Bengals' inferior OL. They couldn't block Aaron Donald or Von Miller last year. How the Hell are they supposed to block Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead, and Charles Omenihu? Or Haason Reddick, Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Josh Sweat, and Fletcher Cox? Burrow will either have to get the ball out as quick as possible and hope Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins can avoid getting drilled by Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw, Jimmie Ward, or Talanoa Hufanga. Or TJ Edwards, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Darius Slay, or James Bradberry. Either that, or Burrow will be running for his life the whole game or handing the ball off to Joe Mixon 25-30 times. That last one might get some results against the Eagles. But the 49ers? Who have the #1 Run Defense in all of football? No chance.

The 49ers and Eagles are both getting great play from their cheap QBs, one of whom is an MVP candidate, and they have betters supporting casts around them on BOTH sides of the ball, not just one.

Last edited by PAOerfulone - on 24 January 2023