Two rematches of regular season games for bragging rights in the conference and a chance to punch a ticket to the Super Bowl in Houston. Game one will be the NFC Championship between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, that game will be played Sunday at 3:05pm and will air on Fox. Game two will see the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to New England, that game will start at 6:40pm and will air on CBS. A lot of big name players who can make big time plays will be laying it all on the line, the packers and Steelers will look to avenge losses from earlier in the season. 32 teams started the journey back in August when training camps opened up, the Patriots, Steelers, Packers and Falcons are one step closer to holding that Lombardi trophy
NFC Championship
This game is a rematch of a week 8 showdown between the two offensive juggernauts. In that meeting, the Packers came up 32 seconds short of beating the Falcons in the Georgia Dome. On the last drive of the game, Matt Ryan found Muhammad Sanu over the middle for the tying touchdowns and with the extra point the final score 33-32 Atlanta by the skin of their teeth. That is how the first meeting went down, a combined 65 points, seven touchdown passes between the two teams. No surprise when this game hit Vegas as the NFC Championship game the spread going in is 61 points. That could also be that the number one and number three offenses in the playoffs are the Falcons and Packers, look for this to be a back and forth game but give the edge to Green Bay.
Prediction
Aaron Rodgers playing the way he is, the Falcons defense will need to get after him from the opening whistle, until there are zeros on the scoreboard. In the first meeting Rodgers did his thing through the air going 28-38 with 4 touchdowns and 246 yards, but also led the Packers in rushing with 60 yards. The Falcons were forced to have a player spy or follow Rodgers around which opened the short to mid routes for receivers. When you get Rodgers scrabbling, he is at his best and the Falcons will need to contain Rodgers in the pocket if they want to have a chance to win. The Falcons will also need to have Julio Jones 100% and get that deadly one, two punch in the backfield going early. Take all of this and put it together, the packers will come away on top 38-28 in Atlanta to punch their ticket to Houston. What do you think will be the outcome? Who will be the player of the game that makes a difference?
AFC Championship
Since Bill Belichick has been the coach of the Patriots dating back to 2000, the Steelers have gone 0-4 in New England’s Foxboro stadium. Tom Brady who is having a lights out year (even with his deflategate suspension), but that is not what jumps out. Steelers defensive Keith Butler has been involved in two games since Dick LeBeau left the defensive play calling, said “the Patriots offense doesn't do anything special” the tale of the stats in Butler’s two games says differently. In those two games “Terrific Tom” has stats that should keep Butler tossing and turning all week leading up to the game. Brady's stats against Butlers defense look like this; 75.9% completions, 510 yards passing, 6 touchdowns no interceptions and a scorching 136.4 passer rating. If that is not enough Ben Roethlisberger has not played well away from Hienz Field this season. Away from home the Steelers offensive play caller has completed only 60% of his passes while throwing 9 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, those numbers tell that if the running game is not there for the Steelers it could be a very long day for the Black and Gold. The Steelers secondary will need to do a better job with Julian Edelman who in two games has 20 of the 22 passes thrown his way for 157 yards, if nothing else look for Edelman to be a go to target to help move the chains for the Patriots.
Prediction
After watching the way the Steelers and the Patriots played this past weekend, there is no overthinking this one. Tom Brady and the Patriots will win if the Steelers think that they can rely only on field goals. The killer Bs will need to be in top form with Roethlisberger needing to shake the road dust off, Bell will need to have a big game and Brown will need to as well. The tools that Brady can use will wear the Steelers defense down. The Patriots are just a team that like the Steelers has the next man up mentality and they execute like a well-oiled machine. For the Steelers faithfully out there this is gonna hurt but Patriots 31 Steelers 17.
Regardless of who you are a fan of there are going to be two very good games for the chance to go to the Super Bowl. Twenty-eight teams down, four left fighting for NFL supremacy. In the NFC, it will be Matt Ryan and the high-flying Atlanta Falcons against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. In the AFC as everyone thought at the end of the regular season, to get to the Super Bowl in Houston the road will take you through New England when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC crown. Aaron Rodgers vs Matt Ryan and Tom Brady vs Ben Roethlisberger; four of the games best fighting scratching and clawing to win one more game and get their team to the big dance. Both games are rematches from earlier in the season where the current home team Falcons and Patriots won, but history in the same season can be hard to repeat itself. Regardless of who you are cheering for this is what playoff football is about, and why the fans come back year in and year out. My prediction is a New England vs Green Bay Super Bowl in Houston. Who do you think will make it to the big dance? Do you agree or disagree with me?
Written by:
Carlo Guadagnino
http://cguadagn.wixsite.com/carlo-guadagnino
Edited by:
Daniel Bishop M.A.
References:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.si.com/nfl/2017/01/15/nfl-divisional-wrapup-scores-highlights-storylines-conference-championship-game-preview-matchups%3Famp%3D1?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/www.silverandblackpride.com/platform/amp/2017/1/14/14276996/nfl-playoffs-2017-schedule-afc-championship-will-go-through-new-england?client=safari
https://www.google.com/amp/nesn.com/2017/01/nfl-playoff-schedule-2017-dates-times-and-tv-listings-for-each-game/amp/?client=safari
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The NFC game will be a great game. The Packers are banged up but you can never count out a team that has Aaron Rodgers. He can keep a team in any game. The Falcons looked scary good against the Seahawks though. I think the falcons will end up pulling off a win at home.
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