2019 Conference Championship Picks

January 18, 2020

By the Football Garbage Time Staff

If you followed last year, you won over 60% of your picks, and we aim to do even better this year.

And if you’ve been following us, you know that we here at Football Garbage Time have gone head to head against Wally, Will and Ray at Urban Sports Scene on our NFL Picks for the last 4 seasons. Why? Because they’re awesome competitors, they KNOW their sports, and, heck, they’re just good guys! This year we’ll have their picks up right HERE, so keep it tuned in, to both us and them, because we’ll be picking all season all long.

Without further to do, here we go:

Divisional Round Playoff Games

Ha Kung Wong’s Picks

Ha Kung’s Thoughts:

Last year I ended up with a 66% record for the season, so that’s four years in a row with over a 60% pick rate. I had an OK week, going 2-2, leaving me in 2nd place with a 169-94 record (64.3%).

Plus, I had a 94% record on Locks of the Week last year. This year, I’m 15-2 (88.2%) for Locks of the Week, and I’m now 11-6 (64.7%) on Upsets of the Week.

Let’s get to that Lock for the Conference Championship…

Lock of the Week => San Francisco 49ers (-7.5) over Green Bay Packers

The 49ers might be the most complete team left in the playoffs on both sides of the ball. The defense is ranked 2nd overall per DVOA and did a fantastic job completely shutting down Dalvin Cook last weekend. The offense is ranked 7th overall per DVOA with Jimmy G making passes as necessary to George Kittle and Deebo Samuel while the combination of Raheem Mostert, Tevin Coleman and Matt Brieda was able to completely salt away the Divisional Round Playoff game on the ground. As for the Packers, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been Aaron Rodgers this year with his 2nd lowest TD percentage (4.6), 2nd lowest yards gained per attempt (7.0) and lowest QBR of his career as a starter in 2019 (53.5). Part of the problem is the lack of receiving options past Davante Adams. The Packers defense is just 23rd against the run, which I think is going to allow for plenty of opportunities for aforementioned 49ers backfield. Rodgers looked better against the Seahawks making some vintage clutch passes at the end of the game, but I don’t think there will be enough to overcome the swarming 49ers defense or Pro Football Focus’ top ranked CB in Richard Sherman.

Check out my breakdown of why I think the Chiefs will beat the Titans in my game preview!

Joanne Kong’s Picks

Scott King’s Picks

Scott’s Thoughts:

Here we go, two more weekends of football. Tennessee is a nice story but it ends here. The 49ers are at home and that’s likely the difference. Good luck.

Wole’s Picks

Wole’s Thoughts:

Check out Wole’s thoughts on the Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

Ray’s Picks

Ray’s Thoughts:

Check out Ray’s thoughts on the Urban Sports Scene Podcast!

George’s Picks

George’s Thoughts:

Tennessee at Kansas City: The last two weeks I’ve said the Titans would cover it and not win but they were able to win despite Ryan Tannehill not throwing for more than 90 yards in either game. Can the Titans ride Derrick Henry through another old-school 30+ carry game to the Super Bowl?

This time I say no because Patrick Mahomes and that offense will keep rolling after scoring 51 of the last 58 points against Houston last weekend. The Texans will be feisty, but the Chiefs will finally get back to the Super Bowl. 31-21

Green Bay at San Francisco: This was a rout in the regular season. Aaron Rodgers threw for just 104 yards but he probably played his best game since that one last week. Can Rodgers give them at least what he gave them last week and can Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams take some heat off him by running well against that tough 49er defense. And the other issue is can the Packers force the 49ers to blitz Rodgers and not get pressure with 4 guys which they did consistently in the first matchup. Can Green Bay stop San Francisco’s varied rushing attack? The Packers could still improve a lot from the first matchup and lose by two touchdowns. The 49ers go to the Super Bowl 27-10.

Also check out Ryan Whitfield’s and Joey Alibro’s picks on this week’s Football Garbage Time NFL Podcast!