Championship Sunday has finally arrived in the NFL, with the Bengals headed to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game at 3:00 p.m. ET on CBS, and the 49ers in L.A. to face the Rams in the NFC Championship game at 6:40 p.m. ET on Fox.
With the Super Bowl on NBC this year, these are the two biggest games of the season for Fox and CBS, and they treated them as such, with big-time promos and wall-to-wall coverage like a mini-Super Bowl. CBS tapped into their broader Paramount family for a Bengals-Chiefs hype video starring Tom Cruise delivering a Top Gun themed promo that is about as good as it gets, with the Top Gun: Maverick star waxing poetic about football, America, and chasing greatness.
Two teams coming off heart-pounding wins.
Both committed to being the BEST of the BEST.@TomCruise sets the stage for the AFC Championship. pic.twitter.com/lcPKJjZWkL
— NFL on CBS
(@NFLonCBS) January 30, 2022
Sometimes the cross-promotions in these pieces can feel forced, but a game featuring Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow getting the Top Gun treatment feels about as natural as it can get. I would love to know how much football Tom Cruise actually watches because I feel like it is either absolutely none or he is a maniacal fan and there is no chance of anything in between. Whatever the case, the man is a pro’s pro and after watching this hype video we are very ready for kickoff (and the new Top Gun movie which is sadly still a few months away).