We have reached the final four in the NFL. There are only two games left before the big one down in New Orleans. The NFC Championship between the Eagles and Commanders will kick off at 3:00 PM in Philadelphia. Then the AFC Championship between the Bills and Chiefs will kick off at 6:30 PM in Kansas City. The winner of each game will face each other in the Super Bowl in two weeks. From a Best Bets standpoint, we went 4-0 last week and are trying to get our playoff record back to an even .500. I have gone through the games and picked a Best Bet for each. Let’s make some money!

Best Bets

• Austin Ekeler Receiving Yards o25.5 (-110) FanDuel
• Kareem Hunt Rush Yards o35.5 (-110) FanDuel

Best Bet Background- Austin Ekeler Receiving Yards o25.5

The battle for the NFC Championship is an NFC East showdown. The Commanders are traveling to Philly to take on the Eagles. (As a Giants fan this is a nightmare scenario). This should be a great matchup as these teams face each other for the 3rd time this season. They have split games so far. The last time that they faced each other, the Commanders knocked Jalen Hurts out of the game and went on to win 36-33. Given the high stakes of this game, I believe that we are in for another shootout between these two teams. Both teams are dealing with key injuries, but it should be a high scoring affair. The Eagles offense has been struggling to throw the ball, but they are being bailed out by Saquon Barkley on the ground. He averaged 148 yards per game this year against Washington. We could be in store for another dominant Saquon game as the Commanders have not figured out to stop the run. Additionally, they will be without defensive tackle Daron Payne. On defense, the Eagles are set up to stop the pass. However, their corners are all a bit dinged up and Washington showed in December that they were able to throw against this defense. On offense, the Commies are built for explosive plays. Jayden Daniels can run and throw the ball all over the yard. He has dynamic wide receivers and a stable of backs to rely upon. This game will come down to which ever defense can make the last stop.

Austin Ekeler has been a solid contributor in the pass game all season. With the Eagles pass rush being top of the line, I would imagine that Jayden Daniels will be relying on the receiving ability of Ekeler as a safety valve all game. Ekeler has gone over 25 yards receiving in both playoff games so far. During the regular season, he only hit this mark 6 out of the 12 games that he played. However, he was dealing with injury all year. He is back to full health and could have a huge impact on this game. In his one game against the Eagles this year, he caught 8 balls for 89 yards. I could see him having similar production today.

Best Bet Background – Kareem Hunt Rush Yards o35.5

The NFL is getting the matchup that they wanted in the AFC Championship. Josh Allen and the Bills are traveling to Kansas City to take on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Bills have yet to get over the hump by beating Kansas City in the playoffs. They faced each other earlier this year where Buffalo won 30-21 in buffalo. Now, they travel to Kansas City in a place where not many teams have won. The matchups of this game are intriguing for all betting purposes. The Bills have one of the more balanced offenses in the league as they can beat you either on the ground or through the air. The Chiefs defense is solid against the run but has let up a lot of pass yards. Defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, runs a bend-don’t-break type of defense so this would make sense. The Bills should be able to move the ball, but points might come at a premium. On the other side, the Chiefs have struggled on offense all year. However, playoff Travis Kelce has awoken, and the offense appears to be going through him. There is concern about the Kansas City offensive line and their ability to block for Mahomes.

Kareem Hunt was the leading rusher for Kansas City with Isiah Pacheco being banged up all year. The Chiefs tend to use Hunt in situations that call for a physical running back. These include short yardage situations and running out the clock in the 4th quarter. Hunt averaged 56 yards on the ground during the regular season. He ran for over 40 yards last week. The Bills have shown that they can be run on by physical running backs. Hunt ran for 60 yards the last time that these two teams met. I would expect Hunt to be able to run for over 36 yards today.