How to Watch NFL Conference Championship Games 2024: Preview, Matchups, Streaming

Can Kansas City’s receivers do it again?

Kansas City’s receivers have had an up-and-down season but made up for it against the Buffalo Bills. Mahomes had an 80% completion percentage to players besides tight end Travis Kelce in last week’s game. However, the Ravens’ defense will be a much tougher challenge than the Bills.

Will the Ravens continue their hot streak?

The Ravens’ defense leads the league in multiple stats, and they’re coming in hot off of last week’s second-half shutout against the Houston Texans. They’re more than capable of locking down Kansas City’s non-Kelce receivers and forcing the Chiefs to lean on Mahomes and running back Isiah Pacheco.

And if that wasn’t enough, the Ravens are one of two remaining teams to rank in the top five in the statistic Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA, which measures on-field efficiency) on both sides of the ball. If Lamar Jackson performs as well this weekend as he did against the Texans, he’ll all but guarantee his second MVP award.

How many shirtless Jason Kelce shots will we get on the broadcast?

CableTV.com is a firmly pro-Swiftie zone, but we’re equally on board with more Jason Kelce/Big Fella content when it comes to Chiefs’ side plots.

That said, a Bills win would’ve given us an excuse to explain The Pit (a TikTok trend involving Bills fans throwing themselves into a Buffalo-area hole to guarantee Bills wins) to our incredibly patient editors. Sadly, we’ll have to wait until next season.

This is the Niners’ year, right?

On paper, everything’s finally lining up for a 49ers return to the Super Bowl. They’re mostly healthy (Deebo Samuel notwithstanding), and their star-loaded roster has been among the league’s best. As with Baltimore, San Francisco ranks in the top five in offensive and defensive DVOA.

We won’t wade too deep into the “Is Brock Purdy elite?” discourse, but Purdy was hardly the only 49ers player struggling through an off game against Green Bay. If you’re a Niners fan, cross your fingers for Samuel’s return and rain-free gameday weather for the AFC Championship Game.

Unless it’s the Lions’ year?

What else needs to be said about Detroit right now? Quarterback Jared Goff and the Lions offense are playing out of their minds, coach Dan Campbell has fans and players ready to run through a brick wall, and the Lions are one game away from making their first-ever Super Bowl appearance.

If there’s any blemish on the Lions’ record right now, it’s a defense that was wildly streaky during the regular season. But thanks to returning players like safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson alongside Aidan Hutchinson’s hot streak against the Rams and Bucs, the Lions’ defense has hit another gear at the right time. If the Lions and Dan Campbell maintain their aggressiveness against the 49ers, they’ll improve the odds for an upset.

Which playoff team has the best celebrity fans?

One of our favorite postseason developments involves the Lions adding actors Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson to their celebrity fan rotation and sprinkling in references to the show I Think You Should Leave (ITYSL) on social media:

Beyond the immediate questions this raises (Which lawyer at Lions HQ had to watch Tim Robinson sketches?), it also gives us an excuse to power-rank the remaining NFL playoff teams by celebrity sideline fans:

1. Kansas City Chiefs (don’t hurt us, Swifties)
2. Detroit Lions (ITYSL, Chad Smith, Taylor Lautner)
3. Baltimore Ravens (Jim Harbaugh, Stavros Halkias)
4. San Francisco 49ers (every celebrity at Niners-Packers was there for Green Bay, you couldn’t have thrown E-40 a ticket?)