While 28 teams have started their off-season, four are still playing for it all. Two of the four teams remaining made it this far last year, and they will both be hosting their respective conference championship game. Four great teams remain. This Sunday, we will trim the field down to two. Let's get right to my predictions.
Green Bay Packers (12-4) @ Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
Sunday, 3:05 PM ET (Current Line, Seahawks -7.5)
The big question mark for this game is whether or not Rodgers will be at 100%. Fans in Seattle say that their defense is good enough to beat Rodgers at any level of health. Fans in Green Bay know the quality that their franchise quarterback brings to the table. However, no matter what anyone thinks, Rodgers will have to be mobile if the Packers have a chance at winning this game. Rodgers can make all the throws, but he is going to have to be spot on to beat this vaunted Seahawks secondary. Meanwhile, as long as Seattle sticks to their mistake-free football, they should be able to win this game. The Seahawks offense won't wow you, but Wilson won't throw picks and Lynch won't fumble the ball away. When you have the best defense in the league, just holding onto the football on offense is usually enough. Add in a couple of great plays by Russel Wilson, and you have a team that can simply ruin the morale of the opposing team. I expect this game to be very competitve all the way to the end. In Week 1, we thought we may be watching the NFC Conference Title Game preview, and we were. All we can hope is that this game is more competitive than their previous matchup, when Seattle dominated Green Bay, 36-16.
Prediction: The Packers get off to a great start, leading 10-0 after the first quarter. However, it is short-lived and a Seahawks comeback keeps this game interesting. Down by one point, Wilson leads the Seahawks down the field, on the potential game-winning drive. Wilson spikes the ball with 4 seconds remaining, setting up Hauschka for the game-winner from 51 yards out. Hauschka hooks it wide left, Packers win 25-24.
Indianapolis Colts (11-5) @ New England Patriots (12-4)
Sunday, 6:40 PM ET (Current Line, Patriots -7.0)
Once again, Brady and the Patriots will be defending their home turf in the AFC Title game. New England has been good for a long time now, but they haven't been able to come home with Super Bowl Championship since 2005. Brady is coming towards the end of his career, and if Peyton Manning's lackluster season is any indication, Brady may be running out of opportunities to win it all. Meanwhile, Luck is one of a few emerging young stars at quarterback, and he is looking to get his hands on the Lombardi Trophy very early in his career. You never know when the Super Bowl opportunities will dry up, so you have to take advantage of them while you can. After Brady won three Super Bowls during his first five seasons with the Patriots (which includes a rookie season where he threw only three passes), I'm sure few predicted that Brady would still be stuck on three at this point in his career. Similarly, Peyton Manning is arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, and he only has one Super Bowl to his name. Basically, the lesson to Luck would be, play like this is your only chance; Super Bowls are hard to come by. However, before Luck and the Colts can even think about Glendale, they'll have travel to cold New England. This game certainly won't be easy for either team.
Prediction: This game ends up being a shockingly defensive affair, as both defenses step up against two All-Pro quarterbacks. As the game wears on, it is clear that this game will come down to the last drive. Down by 4, Brady hits Gronk on a 12-yard touchdown pass, with 1:38 left in the game. Luck gets his opportunity to be the hero, but the Colts turn the ball over on downs on their final drive. Patriots win, 20-17.
Super Bowl XLIX is right around the corner. I'm mainly just hoping for three more exciting games. However, I will also admit that I am pulling for the Packers and Colts. I'm not really interested in seeing Brady win another, and I have this unreasonable bias against teams trying to repeat as champions, unless it's the Raiders. The Raiders could go ahead and win 20 Super Bowls in a row for all I care. I wonder how many Raider back-to-back championships it would take to ruin the NFL. I can imagine that the NFL product would be pretty lousy if the same team that everyone hated (other than the fans in Oakland) kept winning the Super Bowl. I'd give it six years. Enjoy the games this weekend. Go Raiders.
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