We’re down to two. If you had Cincinnati versus the LA Rams in your preseason picks, stop reading now, you obviously know more than I do.

This is shaping up to be a crazy offseason. Tom Brady retired. Ben Roethlisberger retired. Nine coaching vacancies. Uncertainty surrounding Aaron Rodgers’ future, which has the domino effect on all of free agency as the top WR on the market, Davante Adams, is undoubtedly tied to Rodgers.

I’ll address all these possible moves in future writings, for now I’ll focus on the two teams whose offseasons have begun.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: On the one hand, this is still the Kansas City Chiefs and they still have Patrick Mahomes and it’s hard to pinpoint an exact reason for why they fell short, unlike last season where the offensive line was a point of focus.

On the other hand, the Chiefs and Mahomes never really felt the same this year. Sure, there were stretches where it looked like they were ascending back to the mountain top, but unlike years past, there were also a lot of moments where they didn’t come close to resembling the dominant unit of the past 3 years.

The AFC is loaded with young and coming teams, Cincinnati & Buffalo are on the cusp. Tennessee, Indianapolis, New England, Los Angeles, Baltimore and even Cleveland are a couple of tweaks away. Even the rest of the AFC, outside of Houston and Jacksonville, could be next year’s Bengals.

This is all to say, the road doesn’t get any easier for the Kansas City Chiefs. They’re still the big dog in the AFC, but they’ll be in a fight for that supremacy.

Defensive secondary and another WR should be top priorities for the Chiefs this offseason.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: The Niners had a great run in the post season, one that fell short because of their biggest weakness. Jimmy Garrapolo is a fine QB, but he’ll never carry a team over the hump. He won’t make the big play when his team absolutely needs it. Maybe, just maybe, San Francisco has that in Trey Lance, we’ll see.

The Niners have everything else, a great defense, strong running game, good pass catchers. If Lance’s learning curve was sufficiently flattened by his year of apprenticeship, San Francisco could very well find themselves in the Super Bowl next year, especially in a weakened NFC.

All eyes are on Trey Lance.

I went 1-1 on Championship Sunday, putting me at 8-4 for the playoffs. On paper, everything tells me to pick the Rams, but I’m officially on the Bengals train. I will not pick against Joe Burrow and company.

Super Bowl Pick: BENGALS 30 Rams 27

I’ll go a step further and make a bold MVP prediction, Evan McPherson will be the first kicker to raise the trophy after hitting a 50+ yard walk off.