Championship Weekend is here people and it’s shaping up to be a really meh one. What? Did you think just because I went 0-4 last week you thought I’d become less of hater? Sure whatever, congrats to those who advanced and I can obviously admit it is a big weekend for a bunch of our readers but that doesn’t change the fact we’re watching a bunch of bad football. Speaking of which you guys are owed a Divisional Sunday recap and now that I’m not throwing up from being sick I have some words. Let’s just get the Rams failing to cover that -6.5 out of the way. My goodness how in God’s name do you let up a conversion let alone a touchdown on that 4th down throw by Caleb. Just so ridiculous they even got the ball back it honestly seemed rigged. I guess a small part of me is happy the Bears lost anyways but I’m more so bitter about our bet. And then there’s the Texans +3 which plenty of you oh so humble Pats fans were quick to rub in my face. That game was atrocious. I don’t know what was making me more sick, the flu or the sheer number of egregious giveaways committed by both teams. I gave New England credit for the game plan on Herbert but I refuse to shower them with praise for what happened with Stroud. Sure they almost certainly dialed up the pressure and made the plays given to them on defense but it was an implosion reminiscent of Jake Delhomme in 2008 against the Cardinals. Oh and somehow it only gets better because now they get Jarrett Stidham for the Championship game because sure why not. I’ll admit this write up is overflowing with sodium but trust me as someone who’s watched a lot of bad football in my days I’m just taken aback and a little disgusted that bad football is gonna win a Super Bowl this year. But let’s not belabor the point I got some picks to make/complain about so let’s get into it.

Patriots (-3.5,-6.5,-9.5) @ Broncos

I’m not even gonna pretend I like making this pick but it’s the pick that needs to be made. Yes I know, up till this point I have picked the opposing team to cover against New England but not this time. Frankly even though those weren’t winning bets I’m struggling to admit they were bad bets because of how Jekyll and Hyde the Patriots’ offense has been. Drake is either throwing absolute dimes to Boutte or having zero pocket awareness and getting blasted for another fumble. It’s been either love the Drake or hate the Drake but despite this they’ve managed to pull away in the end each time. Now I’m obligated to be negative so obviously to me these games have largely boiled down to a battle of who’s gonna giveaway the ball less. Thankfully for the Pats the opposing quarterback has been having Chernobyl level meltdowns each week so it doesn’t matter how careless they’ve been with the ball. Which finally brings us to this week. Bo Nix would likely have been their most competent test but in a cruel twist of fate for Denver fans he’s done for the season. Instead we’re ironically given a Jarrett Stidham AFC Championship Game. I’m sure Sean Payton will pull out all the stops but there’s only so much lipstick you can put on a pig. Much like the other two matchups you could definitely argue Denver has the better defense but a lotta good that did the other teams. Now maybe I’m overcorrecting with these bets but at this point the Patriots have shown they deserve the respect. After the last two weeks it’s hard not to trust that Zach Kuhr and Vrabel will know how to expose a backup qb given what they did to Herbert and Stroud. So let’s get a little bold and hop on the escalator because I think we’ll also end up loving the Drake more than hating him as the Patriots punch their ticket to the Super Bowl.

Patriots -3.5 (-115)

Patriots -6.5 (+123)

Patriots -9.5 (+182)

Rams @ Seahawks (-2.5)

Now that I’m done with that rant I suppose we gotta talk about this game too. The only thing I really have to say is that I’m sorry to my cousin Jesse for picking against his beloved Rams, but it’s not something I do lightly. I feel like I could’ve easily ended up doing a write up that was similar to the Niners/Seahawks game. I could’ve talked about how these teams already had two close games this year and split the regular season series but I fell for that trap once. Although the sample size is small the Seahawks have easily been the most impressive team so far in the playoffs. Again one game is all we have to go off of but my goodness what they did to the 49ers. So maybe I’m letting some recency bias sway my opinion but the only reason I’d have to pick against them is Sam Darnold. He’ll almost certainly need to do more than he did last week because Stafford will put up more of a fight than Purdy did. In the end this might be a close game if the former Jet makes it one but if he’s not seeing ghosts I could see another Seattle blow out on their way to Santa Clara. So once again Jesse I’m sorry it’s not personal, but I’m thinking it’s the Seahawks that get a Super Bowl rematch against the Pats not the Rams.

Seahawks -2.5 (-110)

Brady’s Parlay of the Day

The Parlay: Patriots -3.5, Rhamondre Stevenson 52+ Rush yds, Rams ML, Puka Nacua 100+ Receiving yards

The winning didn’t last long as we took another loss in the divisional round last week. Looking to get things back on track for the conference championship Sunday! For today’s parlay I will give you a winner for each game and a prop bet for each to combine into one bet. 

I know people will think this is a homer pick for leg number one but I really can’t see the patriots losing this game to Jarret Stidham. With that being said we are taking the Patriots with the spread to advance to the Super Bowl again for the first time since the 2018 season. 

Leg number two from the AFC side is Rhamondre Stevenson to rush for 52 plus yds. I look for Stevenson to be a major contributor to victory today and he’s typically good for at least one big chunk play. Bet on a big day for the Pats running back.

Now let’s get into the NFC game for legs three and four. I think this game will be very close and a fun one to watch for sure. I do expect the Rams to pull out the win this time though and set up a matchup of the top 2 MVP candidates in Santa Clara for all the marbles. I also expect if the Rams are to win Puka Nacua will be a big part of it and so we are going to bet him to have  100 plus receiving yards. 

Brady’s Parlay of the Day: Patriots -3.5, Rhamondre Stevenson 52+ Rush yds, Rams ML, Puka Nacua 100+ Receiving yards (+1053)