The NFL's Final Four

Wild Card weekend was full of excitement capped by the outstanding comeback of the Indianapolis Colts against the Kansas City Chiefs. But for all the excitement that occurred 2 weeks ago, last weekends games had a much different feel to them. It wasn't explosive quick strikes strung together to mount furious comebacks, it was tough grind it out football that saw the two top seeds from the AFC and the number one team from the NFC move on with what could be deemed, convincing victories.

In the NFC Championship we have the third meeting between NFC West division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. Believe me when I tell you, there is no love lost between these two teams. Both teams have stalwart defenses, the 49ers led by all pro linebackers Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman. While the Seahawks have the most dynamic secondary in all of the NFL, the self proclaimed "Legion of Boom".

Both of these teams also have very similar offensive approaches, both run heavy, lead by veterans Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore. Both rely on the mobility of their quarterbacks to escape pressure and create on the run. With such balanced attacks on both sides of the ball this will truly be a knock down drag out brawl with the slight edge in favor of Seattle for playing in front of the loudest fans in the country.

As amazing a game as that should be, the poster matchup for this weekends Championship round is the AFC Championship, pitting old rivals and familiar faces against each other as Tom Brady leads the New England Patriots into Denver to take on Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

The Broncos took the top seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record, and coming off the bye took down the San Diego Chargers in a game that was never nearly as close as the final score makes it seem. All the talk heading into last week was would Peyton continue his torrid pace from the greatest regular season ever, or would he continue his playoff woes and earn his 9th 1 and Done in his 13th playoff appearance. Now the talks shift to can Manning get over the hump against fellow future hall of famer Tom Brady?

In his career (regular and post season) Peyton Manning is 4-10 in matchups against Brady and Belichick, with one of those losses coming in Foxboro just a few short months ago after his Broncos blew a 24 point halftime lead. Granted playing in Denver is much different then playing on the road in a place he has always struggled to win. In the past these two storied quarterbacks have meet in this Championship game three times, with Brady winning two, and the winner of all three eventually winning the Super Bowl.

No one expected this Patriots team to even make the playoffs, let alone have the second best record in the AFC at 12-4. Despite relying on unproven rookies and extremely undersized veterans, as well as being riddled with injuries that saw six starters (4 defensive, 2 offensive) land on injured reserve, this team has still managed to prove everyone wrong and win enough to find themselves just one game away from taking part in their sixth super bowl since 2001. And on top of the injuries we can't forget that the 3 of the top 4 offensive weapons from last years high powered offense are no longer with the team as Danny Woodhead is a Charger, Wes Welker is a Bronco, and Aaron Hernandez is in jail.

This team just always manages to fight til the end and grind out close victories, while Denver consistently blew people out. But heading into this matchup it is the Patriots who blew out the Colts last week by 21 points, and the Broncos who saw their already below average defense take a serious hit as their top cornerback tore his acl. With these two quarterbacks and the brains of Bill Belichick, anything could happen and I expect a lot of scoring coming down to the last possession.


Predictions: Seattle wins at home 24-14, Patriots go into Denver and steal a victory 35-28