NFL Conference Championship Preview

We're down to what a lot of people consider the best weekend of football in the entire season. Two games with the best four teams left, often teams that know each other really well, makes for great drama. The fact that we have four of the preseason favorites combined with great storylines in each game makes this weekend even better. On one side, a battle of up and coming teams with incredibly talented young dual-threat quarterbacks and relentless defenses. On the other side, a renewal of a rivalry between two of the best quarterbacks of all time. I am giddy.

Like last week and the week before, I'll predict a final score for each game in a vain hope of matching my once in a lifetime feat of nailing the final score exactly in Super Bowl XLVIII. This will serve as both a straight up pick and a pick against the spread. Spread information is pulled from Vegas Insider, but again, no money is being wagered. Let's get to it.


AFC Championship

New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos (-5)

One of the best things about NFL scheduling is that every year, you'll often get to see the best teams face each other during the season, and it's something that's set up fourteen prior matchups between teams led by Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Manning is on his second team now, but the rivalry is still great.

This is a Denver team that put up a ton of points this season, with Peyton throwing for a record 55 touchdowns. They had some trouble with a few elite teams though, like this Patriots team that won on a last second field goal in Foxboro earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Patriots had to overcome a big preseason distraction and tons of injuries to get to this point, but they regained some of the luster from their title teams last decade, when LeGarette Blount decided to romp at will for four touchdowns against Indy last week. It adds another dimension to a really good attack. Who would have thought Julian Edelman would have developed into Brady's go-to guy? It's worked.

I think ultimately this game is going to come down to who has the ball last. These teams played pretty much even earlier with the edge going to the home team. I'm calling for the same thing again this time.

Lucas' Prediction: Broncos 37, Patriots 34

NFC Championship

San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks (-3.5)

To me, the greatest rivalry in the NFL is Packers-Bears. It's partially because I'm biased, but it's also because of the rich history and tradition between the two teams. Even with all that though, there isn't really any bad blood between the two teams. In recent years, that Most Heated Rivalry title belonged to the Baltimore-Pittsburgh duels. Now, it's clearly San Francisco-Seattle and it's not even close.

These two teams split their meetings this season, with the home teams winning each matchup so far. That goes as no surprise for Seattle, a team on a 16-1 run at home in the last two seasons. There's just something about that building, that fan base, and its connection with the team that may or may not unleash the apocalypse because of earthquakes. But if any team is capable of knocking off this Seahawks team at CenturyLink, it's the Niners. I wasn't too convinced after the Wild Card round obviously, considering I picked Carolina to be here. But they looked fantastic against the Panthers en route to this stage. I worry a bit about Colin Kaepernick, seeing as he's thrown a couple bad interceptions so far in these playoffs, but he's done enough else to be a threat.

In the end, I have to ride the hot hand. And if that means I have to watch grimly as the Adderall kicks in Seattle takes the Niners' best shot and comes up standing, so be it.

Lucas' Prediction: 49ers 24, Seahawks 23

Records So Far
Spread: 144-118-2 (1-2-1 last week, 1-5-2 playoffs)
Straight: 4-4 (2-2 last week)