What's At Stake? Conference Championship Edition

There's a lot on the line on Sunday. Let's go team-by-team. 

Cincinnati Bengals

If they win on Sunday, they are in back-to-back Super Bowls.

Burrow goes to 4-0 vs Mahomes, Bengals 4-game winning streak over Chiefs. 

Joe Burrow I think becomes QB1 in the league. He may not have the MVPs, but by dominating Mahomes and two straight Super Bowl appearances (and no fierce NFC competition) I think this is true. 

Bengals are 0-3 in the Super Bowl but would have another shot at the franchise's first title. 

If they lose, they would start feeling snake-bit, that they don't have enough to get over the final hump. They'd be regretting how they missed their chance in last year's Super Bowl.

Kansas City Chiefs

If they win on Sunday, that makes 3 Super Bowl appearances in 4 seasons. With the one exception being an overtime loss in last year's AFC title game. 

They exorcise the demons of the Bengals/Burrow hold over them. 

A shot for many coaches and players to get to 2 rings, which really becomes rarified air. 

If they lose, hosting 5 AFC Championship games but only going 2-3 doesn't feel that good. 

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Okay, so that's what at stake for Sunday...but what about the Super Bowl legacy? One of these four will be written. 

Bengals

Joe Burrow leads Cinci to its first ever Super Bowl title. In the process, proved he owns Mahomes and the Chiefs and possibly gets revenge on the 49ers for the previous Super Bowl losses. Get to write themselves as a true underdog success story. Build Burrow a statue.

49ers

Shanahan gets to move on from 28-3. Kittle and Bosa get revenge/redemption from losing Super Bowl LIV. Purdy becomes a 10-0 Super Bowl Champion rookie. Gets the best Mr. Irrelevant trophy forever. 

Eagles

Sirianni wins the Super Bowl in his 2nd season as a Head Coach. Becomes the next McVay in terms of young prestige coach. Hurts stakes his claim as elite QB and MVP candidate. Jason Kelce wins his 2nd ring. Two titles for the Eagles in six years. It's not a dynasty, but they become the most successful team of the last six years. 

Chiefs

Mahomes wins his second league MVP and second Super Bowl at 27. Andy Reid joins the list of multi-ring Coaches. Two for Travis Kelce. Tyreek Hill seems less and less part of the winning equation. Two titles for the Chiefs in four years. They become the gold standard for the league, the team that every other team is chasing.

It all sounds like a fairy tale. One of these will happen. Three will not.