I finally did it. I finally had a perfect weekend of NFL picks.
Granted, I got every single Divisional Round game wrong to get here. My dreams of a Bills-Titans/Buccaneers-Packers final four were dashed in a series of walk-off plays that wrapped up the greatest weekend of professional football most of us have ever seen. It was a truly, impressively incorrect round of picks and I did not care because every game was sloppy and awesome and beautiful in its own strange, but perfect, way.
How can Conference Championship Sunday live up to that standard? On one side we’ve got a divisional rivalry thoroughly dominated by one team over the past three years. On the other is the two-time defending AFC champions, installed as a touchdown-plus favorite against a team enjoying the kind of postseason success its fans haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan was president.
It doesn’t sound like compelling football at first glance, but there’s plenty of intrigue under the surface. Let’s make some predictions, including the famous Rhody Scumbag Lock of the Week (now 7-19 in the regular season and playoffs!). Want the full lineup? Those can be found here.
Here are my breakout picks. All odds via Tipico.