NFL Championship Weekend Thoughts and Predictions:
This is the greatest collection of quarterbacks on championship Sunday of all time. The matchups are outstanding, Tom Brady against Ben Roehtlisberger and Matt Ryan against Aaron Rodgers. There are no elite defenses to match what was featured a year ago. Sunday will be all about scoring, right?
Green Bay Packers (10-6) at Atlanta Falcons (11-5) Sunday 2:05 FOX
The Atlanta Falcons have averaged almost 37 points per game at the Georgia Dome this season. That includes a 33-32 win over Green Bay on October 30th. The Falcons have been the NFLās best offense all season. The Packers issues are (outside of injuries) all on defense. That should create a mismatch in favor of the Falcons. Keep this in mind, Atlanta is the worst scoring defense to qualify for the post-season this year. The Packers offense is obviously cooking with peanut oilāaveraging 34.8 points per game over the past six games. We can talk about this game as it relates to numbers all dayāand we have actually done thatāall week! I have a feeling this game is about the immeasurables. There is an ingrained memory of the NFC Championship two years ago in Seattle. Aaron Rodgers and so many of his teammates will never forget that feeling. That intangible is a driving force that cannot be measured. The numbers will say Atlanta winsāāthat gameā 24 months ago gives me the feeling that Green Bay wonāt miss another opportunity to get back to a Super Bowl.
Green Bayā36 Atlantaā31
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) at New England Patriots (14-2) Sunday 5:40 CBS
The Patriots have been the AFCās best all year, and despite last weekās bumpy performance against Houston, this is still all about the mastery of Bill Belichick. The Steelers couldnāt find the endzone against Kansas Cityā¦they wonāt find it enough against New England.
New Englandā26 Pittsburghā20