NFL Conference Championship Picks

Last Week's Record 2-2 (Correct: Seahawks, Patriots Incorrect: Panthers, Chargers)
Overall Record: 4-4

New England Patriots over Denver Broncos: It's fitting that Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are squaring off for the bajillionith time in the AFC Championship game. Everywhere you've went in the world of sports this week has made the mention of Brady and Manning. Their respective strengths, weaknesses, stats, etc have been analyzed up-and-down but there's really only one piece of information that matters to me: Brady is 10-4 in his career against Manning. This afternoon, I believe Brady will make it 11-4 against Manning. The Broncos have been the talk of the NFL this season with their offense and it's warranted because their offense has been outstanding year-round. However, I believe it will be the Broncos defense, not Manning and their high-powered offense, that ultimately prevents them from defeating the Patriots and advancing to the Super Bowl. Losing cornerback Chris Harris makes this already weak unit that much worse and I believe Tom Brady will expose that weakness. It's been all about the running game in New England the past two weeks, but I believe today will be the day Brady puts up huge numbers and the running game becomes secondary. If the Broncos want to win this game, Manning is going to have one of the best games of his career. Manning typically struggles against Bill Belichick. The fact that this is in Denver is a good sign for the Broncos, but I still don't like their odds in this one. There's just no real healthy playmaker on the Broncos defense that can mess up the flow of the Patriots offense and I think that will force the Broncos dream season to end in a nightmare.


Seattle Seahawks over San Fransisco 49ers: This one is going to be a bloodbath. The Patriots/Broncos game is strictly a rivalry between Manning and Brady, the 49ers and Seahawks genuinely despise each other on every possible level. This is one of the fiercest rivalries in the league and the intensity is going to naturally be heightened in the higher-stakes of the playoffs. The Seahawks and 49ers are nearly-identical football teams: they have elite defenses, they run the ball well and they have quarterbacks that can hurt you with their legs and their arm. While these two teams are certainly evenly matched and the 49ers are riding an incredible hot streak right now including road victories in Green Bay and Carolina, I'm going to go with the Seahawks in this game. The two catalysts of the 49ers offense, quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Frank Gore, just can not perform in the hostile environment of CenturyLink Field. If Kaepernick and Gore can't get anything going, the 49ers aren't going to win the game. It would be a great story if the 49ers were able to stop their woes at CenturyLink Field and take out their rivals on their home turf, I just don't see the Seahawks stifling defense and Russell Wilson/Marshawn Lynch allowing that to happen.