NFL 2022: Football Food For Thought (Conference Championships)

All four of the remaining NFL franchises looking to make the trip to Glendale, Arizona, have their share of Super Bowl history. The 49ers (7), Eagles (3), Bengals (3) and Chiefs (4) have played on Super Sunday a combined 17 times. All have made recent Super Bowl appearances: Philadelphia in 2017 (LII), San Francisco in 2019 (LIV), Kansas City in 2019 and ’20 (LIV and LV) and Cincinnati last season (LVI).

NOTE: Win-loss records include playoffs

Sunday, Jan. 29

San Francisco (15-4) at Philadelphia (15-3): While there is obviously a fascination regarding 49ers’ rookie signal-caller Brock Purdy, Kyle Shanahan’s club is riding a 12-game overall winning streak and have done it with two different starting quarterbacks.

The 49ers have done an excellent job of taking care of the football this season, committing only 18 turnovers in 19 overall contests. Combine that with a defense that surrendered the fewest total yards in the league and a club that allowed the fewest points per game in the NFL and it is little wonder that this club has dominated for the past three months.

Around Full Press Coverage

NFL OPINION: Morten Andersen: The Toughest Place To Kick? For Me, It Was This Place

NFL: NFL 2022: Five Key Statistics for Week 2

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs Stock Report: Week 2 2022

FULL PRESS BETS: NFL MVP Odds: Patrick Mahomes Leapfrogs Josh Allen For Top Spot

FANTASY FOOTBALL: Fantasy Football Value Picks In Every Round

PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 54: Chargers At Chiefs Preview

Of course, the Philadelphia Eagles finished second in the league behind the Niners in terms of fewest total yards allowed. Then again, this team had its ups and downs when it came to stopping the run. Can they slow down Christian McCaffrey and the NFL’s eighth-ranked ground attack?

Cincinnati (14-4) at Kansas City (15-3): Talk about having a team’s number as of late. The Chiefs got off to a disappointing 3-4 start in 2021 but rebounded to win 11 of their final 13 outings (including the playoffs). However, both losses were to the Bengals, the latter in the AFC title game.

This season, Andy Reid’s club opened 4-2 (losses to the Colts and Bills). But including last week’s 27-20 playoff victory over the Jaguars, the Chiefs have won 11 of their last 12 games. The lone setback? A 24-21 loss at Cincinnati in Week 13.

In those combined three losses to the Bengals, Reid’s team owned leads of 14-0, 21-3, and 24-17, respectively, and still wound up on the short end of what would be a trio of three-point decisions (34-31, 27-24 in OT and 27-24).