Every Sunday, they say, and the 2023 NFL playoffs proved just that: From Super Wild Card Weekend, we saw the Jaguars overcome a 27-point deficit to beat the Chargers, the Giants travel to Minnesota and win a shootout with the Vikings, the 49ers hold off the Cowboys’ pass rush in a nail-biting battle, and the Bengals crush the Bills in snowy Buffalo. You just never know exactly what you’re going to get, which makes today’s AFC and NFC championships all the more appealing.
As we do every week, we’ve collected all the best picks and gambling content from CBSSports.com and SportsLine and put them in one place, so you can get picks against the spread from our CBS Sports experts, as well as additional feature content for each game, including games from SportsLine’s top experts and the SportsLine projection model, best bets from our staff, survivor picks and more. Ready? Let’s jump.
Time: Sunday, 6:30pm ET (CBS), streaming on Paramount+ (click here)
open: Bosses -1.5, O/U 48
SportsLine Expert Betting: RJ White is the king of ATS NFL picks, ranked No. 1 in that category among SportsLine pundits for the past half-decade, returning more than $2,500 to $100 punters. He is also 49-32-2 (+1,354) in his last 83 picks involving the Bengals. We can tell you that he bets the Over in terms of the total, but you can find his full match breakdown right here.
Predictions:
“Patrick Mahomes’ mobility will matter against a Bengals defense that has so many moving parts and can attack from anywhere. They’ve done a great job against him late in games the last three times they’ve played. The Jaguars didn’t go after Mahomes enough after he hurt his ankle, but you can bet the Bengals will, even though it’s not the strategy they used to beat him in the title game last year. … Burrow seems to relish the big moments. I expect him to play well here while Mahomes’ limited mobility will come into play. Again, that matters, and that’s why the Bengals are going to their second straight Super Bowl.” — CBS Sports Senior NFL Writer Pete Prisco
“Take the Mahomes situation out of it. Say he is himself. I still look at this as a game to be played around 27-24 with the Bengals getting hope from me. They have the secret sauce to make Mahomes and Andy Reid look Human, Human too. It’s been a struggle for the Chiefs to sustain their offense against this team, and the Bengals have beaten them in the fourth quarter in all three games they’ve played in the last three years. They did it when it was mandatory to spy on Mahomes, rush him and worry about him getting scampered 13 yards on third-and-12. Now they won’t have to worry as much about that outside-the-pocket, spin -around-and-run element that was so important to the Chiefs offense in those big points.” – NFL insider Jason La Canfora
“If Mahomes isn’t healthy enough to move, that’s going to cause a lot of problems for the Chiefs. I mean, he’s struggled against the Bengals when healthy, so it’s hard to see him doing much better when he’s not. the last time we saw Mahomes try to play in a big game with an injury came in Super Bowl LV and we all know how that turned out (if you don’t remember how that turned out, it’s the Super Bowl where the Chiefs lost to the Buccaneers 31 -9 in a game in which Mahomes threw two picks while also being sacked three times)…. Since 2014, there have been a total of 13 AFC or NFC title games that were regular season rematches and in those 13 games , the team that won during the regular season went 10-3 in the title rematch. Burrow is 3-0 against Mahomes. Also, Burrow has never lost in January (7-0), they’ve never lost a road playoff game (3-0) and I think we all know where I’m going with this pick.” — CBS Sports NFL writer John Breach
“Barring Mahomes’ injury, the Bengals defense should not be sleeping. Yes, Joe Burrow needs to get his due and continue to have success against Kansas City’s defense, but his defensive group has the knack of shutting the door on opponents. This postseason, the Bengals have allowed zero points in the fourth quarter. And this is no accident. The Bengals tied for second in the NFL in fewest fourth quarter points allowed on the year. Translation: if you find yourself trailing the Bengals heading into the fourth quarter, you’re toast. Offensively, I really think the Bengals can also take advantage of the Chiefs’ mediocre defense, which means another strong day from Joe Mixon. The Chiefs allowed 7.6 yards per carry in the divisional round against Jacksonville, which means their middle-of-the-pack defense has gotten lost.” — CBS Sports NFL Writer Tyler Sullivan