Welcome to The MVP Blog. We at Most Valuable Publications could not be more excited to get this blog up and running. We could sit here and write a 5-paragraph introduction, but honestly, those get scrolled right past anyways. JUST GET TO THE POINT. So that’s what we intend to do.

8 teams left. 4 great matchups to keep you planted on your couch for 48 hours straight. 4 teams will be victorious and continue on their path to host the Lombardi trophy, and 4 teams will be watching next weekend’s games from an all-inclusive resort in Mexico.

Who’s moving on, and who’s going home?

Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans (TEN -3.5)

Saturday, January 22nd, 4:30pm EST on CBS

Ryan: Let’s rewind to week 8. In my high stakes fantasy football league, I was sitting atop my entire league at 5-2 and had far and away scored the most points in the league. Derrick Henry was the number one fantasy player in the world. He could not be stopped. His scores thus far had been: 6, 42, 16, 23, 31, 34, 13. And then in week 8, the unimaginable happened. I received the worst text ever from my dad. “Derrick Henry is hurt and it looks bad.” Welp. There goes my fantasy season. I went on to finish 6-8. Well, ladies and gentlemen, HE’S BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK.

Derrick Henry routinely throws stiff arms so brutal that they make grown men look like Pee-Wee football players (I’m looking at you, Josh Norman). I would’ve embedded the video of him stiff arming Josh Norman into the Earth’s core, but the NFL doesn’t allow their content to be displayed here. I expected nothing less from the No Fun League.

Anyways, onto the game. How effective will Derrick Henry actually be? The Bengals have an okay rush defense. They’ve allowed the 5th least rushing yards per game, but in terms in yards per carry, they’re pretty average. Their pass defense is not so great. The Bengals are a very mediocre defense, so there’s cause for optimism that Henry will be dominant in his return to the gridiron.

As a Vikings fan, I had the pleasure of watching Adrian Peterson every Sunday for a number of years. Derrick Henry is a freak of nature just like AP was. After tearing his ACL and coming back much quicker than expected, AP went on to win the 2013 NFL MVP and came up 9 yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s record for most yards in a season. Derrick Henry’s injury wasn’t as serious as Peterson’s. My point? Henry can come back and make an immediate impact for the Titans. My book has Henry’s rushing total at 85.5 yards. I’m taking the over.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are the sexy names in this matchup, and Chase will probably have 100+ yards and a TD. That kid is good. Like really good. But let’s set the record straight. Justin Jefferson is the best WR from LSU in the NFL. The Titans are the older, more experienced team and have the Playoff experience that is so vital come this time of the year. The Bengals future is bright, but I like the Titans in this one. Either way, take the Bengals +3.5.

Score Prediction: Titans 24, Bengals 21

Ben: Joe Burrow and Ryan Tannehill will lead their respective teams into battle on Saturday afternoon. For the Bengals, a win would secure their first AFC Championship appearance since 1988, when they beat the Bills 21-10 (could this year’s conference title game be a rematch 34 years in the making?). For the Titans, a win would give them another home game with a chance at their first Super Bowl appearance since they came up one yard short from victory in 2000 against the Rams. While many people are hyped to see King Henry return to the battlefield, I doubt that the Titans will rely too heavily on him in his first game back from injury. Rather, I expect that this game will be a shootout between two elite, multi-faceted offenses beating up two relatively poor defenses. In that case, I trust Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase to steal the headlines, escape Tennessee with a victory and turn Cincinatti into Ohio’s biggest party.

Score Prediction: Bengals 31, Titans 27

San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers (GB -5.5)

Saturday, January 22nd, 8:15pm EST on FOX

Ryan: Deebo Samuel is fun. Like lots and lots of fun. 8 rushing TDs. 6 receiving TDs. A passing TD. Is he a WR? Is he a RB? Hell, is he a QB? Nobody knows. Not even Kyle Shannahan knows. But he is so much fun to watch. He reminds me of Percy Harvin, but the Niners use him better than the Vikings ever used Harvin. Jimmy G is a better QB than I ever gave him credit for, but he’s still not great and this will be his last game as a Niner. They didn’t draft Trey Lance to give Jimmy a big contract this offseason.

Aaron Rodgers has been battling a “toe injury” all year long and has still been dominant. As a Vikings fan, I hate Aaron Rodgers so much, but let me put that hate aside for a second. Aaron Rodgers is as good as they come. At 38 years old, he put up 4,100 yards with 37 TDs and 4 INTs, while playing hurt. And he has 1 receiver. Albeit he is the best WR in the NFL. Take Aaron (Rodgers, not Jones) off this team, and the Packers are a 6-win team. This is it for Rodgers and the Packers. It’s Super Bowl or bust. If they win it, all will be well, and Aaron will retire in Green Bay. If they come up short yet again, Aaron will play elsewhere next year. I don’t think they win it all, but I like them in this one. Take the Packers and the points. Niners will struggle to stay close.

Score Prediction: Packers 31, Niners 20

Ben: It will take nothing short of a total team effort from Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers to stop the Aaron Rodgers, the motivated, mullet-flaunting MVP, from sending the Packers back to the NFC Championship game for the second straight season. Thankfully for the Niners, Nick Bosa has cleared concussion protocol, giving the defense a significant boost, but I don’t think it will be enough to topple the Packers, especially considering Jimmy Garoppolo’s poor form in the pocket in recent weeks. It is worth noting that Jimmy Garoppolo has a career 106.7 QBR against Green Bay, with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in 3 games, but he didn’t exactly inspire confidence last week against Dallas despite the victory, going 16/25 with an interception. Further, Green Bay’s defense has been relatively impressive this season, allowing just 273.4 yards per game, good for second-best in the NFL. In weather that’s going to feel like it’s in the negatives at gametime, I just can’t see San Francisco leaving Green Bay with a win.

Score Prediction: Packers 28, Niners 17

Los Angeles Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (TB -2.5)

Sunday, January 23rd, 3:00pm on NBC

Ryan: My rooting interests are torn in this one. On one hand, Matthew Stafford is my second favorite QB of all time (behind Philip Rivers). I desperately want to see him get a ring. But on the other hand, I have to cheer for my Minnesota Gophers. Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tyler Johnson are two of my favorite Gophers of all-time. Plus, I had this revelation a few years ago where I told myself to stop hating greatness and just enjoy it while it lasts. I haven’t rooted against Brady since that day. He’s won 7 rings. He’s played in 10 Super Bowls. Both are already NFL records. I want to see him win 10 rings. He’s 44 years old and is still playing at an MVP level. He may very well still have 3-4 years in the tank. No Fournette. No Jones. No Godwin. It doesn’t matter. Tom Brady could win with myself and Ben lining out wide. Don’t ever bet against this man. Bucs win. Take the 2.5 points. -3.5 lines scare me to no end. -2.5 lines make me jump for joy.

Score Prediction: Buccaneers 27 Rams 17

Ben: The Rams absolutely destroyed the Cardinals with a dominant defensive performance, making Kyler Murray look like Daniel Jones in the process. They are a quality football team with a great coach and very few weaknesses on paper. With this being said, it’s unfortunate that their “reward” for blowing out the Cardinals is an away game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers defense, led by former Minnesota Golden Gopher standout Antoine Winfield Jr., is undoubtedly elite at all facets of defense. On the other side of the ball, Tampa Bay’s offensive line is one of the best in the league, and it looks Tristan Wirfs and Ryan Jensen, 2 of the Buccaneer’s 3 offensive lineman selected to the Pro Bowl, might just be healthy enough to play. Let cut to the chase though. There are 3 things that are absolutely certain in life: death, taxes, and Tom Brady winning playoff games. In fact, Brady has more playoff wins in his career than 28 NFL teams. Yes, you read that right. TOM BRADY HAS MORE PLAYOFF WINS THAN 87.5% OF NFL TEAMS. Case and point, I refuse to bet against this man, unless he’s playing against my Buffalo Bills.

Score Prediction: Buccaneers 24 Rams 21

Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (KC -2.0)

Sunday, January 23rd, 6:30pm on CBS

Ryan: The main event. This is by far the game that I am most looking forward to watching. Allen vs. Mahomes. This rivalry is going to be like Manning vs. Brady, but hopefully more even. Mahomes has gotten the better of Allen thus far, but this year feels different. Allen is coming off an absolutely incredible performance last week. No punts. No turnovers. No field goals. Nothing but touchdowns. The Bills offense was perfect. Josh Allen was more or less perfect. Buffalo wants this. They want this bad. And man, do those fans deserve it. Devin Singletary has been spectacular the last 5-6 weeks, and he is going to have to play well again if the Bills want to come out of Arrowhead victorious.

Mahomes, on the other hand, had a “bad” season for his standards. He threw for nearly 5000 yards, 37 TDs, and 13 INTs. Yeah, the interceptions were up, but that is still an incredible season. But that’s bad for Patrick Mahomes. That’s how stinking good this guy is. People just say he was bad because there weren’t as many big, sexy homerun balls to Tyreek Hill. Teams are playing against that. They want to keep everything in front, and Patrick has had to adapt to that. He’s still Patrick Mahomes. He still makes plays that just make your jaw drop. And he isn’t going down quietly. He’s looking to join Jim Kelly, Bob Griese, and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to ever play in 3 straight Super Bowls. He’s 26.

Josh Allen is tired of hearing about the Chiefs and how good Mahomes is. This is his time. And he is going to play like the superstar he is. Will it be as dominant as last weekend? No. But the Buffalo Bills are going to march into Arrowhead and bring the W back to Bills Mafia. Take Bills moneyline. Smash it. Smash it. Smash it.

Score prediction: Bills 31 Chiefs 28

Ben: This game should be the game of the weekend, and it has the potential to be the game of the season. A rematch of the 2021 AFC Championship game between two of the hottest teams in football right now, led by the two best young quarterbacks in the NFL right now. The Kansas City Chiefs come into this one after steamrolling the Pittsburgh Steelers, putting up 42 points, capped off by a Travis Kelce passing touchdown. They were so good, they ran out of touchdown fireworks and had to apologize to their fans on the Jumbotron as a result. Their defense has also improved massively as the season progressed. In fact, during the first five games of their season, they allowed 32.6 points per game, which includes their 38-20 loss against Buffalo in Arrowhead Stadium. However, at this point in time, the Chiefs defense is averaging just 21.4 points allowed per game. They will square off against the Buffalo Bills, riding high after a show-stopping exorcism of their New England demons, beating the Patriots 47-17. This game was arguably Josh Allen’s masterpiece, as he had as close to a perfect game as you’ll see at any level of football. Buffalo’s dominance in that game is hard to put into words alone, so here are some absurd statistics for context.

• Josh Allen had more touchdowns (5) than incompletions (4)
• 1 in every 5 throws from Josh Allen was a touchdown
• Josh Allen’s 157.6 QBR was the best postseason QBR since the stat has been recorded
• Josh Allen’s 84% completion percentage was a career high
• Bill Belichick suffered the worst margin of victory in a playoff game in his career
• Prior to this season, Bill Belichick had never coached a game where he did not force the other team to punt. Since then, the Bills have done it twice against the Pats (Week 16 and Wild Card)

Go Bills.

Score prediction: Bills 35 Chiefs 28

Who’s moving on, and who’s going home? Comment down below!

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Authors: Ben Pawlak and Ryan Macdonald

Published: 1/22/22 at 12pm EST

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Sources/Works Cited:

Google Images, Google, https://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en.

Sports Reference LLC. Pro-Football-Reference.com – Pro Football Statistics and History. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/. 22 January 2022.

StatMuse, https://www.statmuse.com/.