NFL Conference Championship Picks

Here are some picks for this weekend's upcoming NFL Conference Championship Games:

New England Patriots/Baltimore Ravens: New England annihilated the Broncos last weekend and Brady had a fierce Super Bowl Championship winning look in his eyes. Baltimore defeated the Texans but didn't play that well. In 2009, Joey Flacco and the Ravens went into Foxboro and pulled off the upset, stunning the Patriot's devoted and boisterous fans. Last week New England avenged themselves in regards to their 2005 playoff loss to Denver and are likely revved up to do the same to the Ravens this Sunday. One factor makes me think Baltimore will win. The Patriots looked like they could have defeated anyone last weekend and may have used up all their momentum against an opponent who didn't show up for the game. Baltimore, on the other hand, struggled but still won and may be difficult to beat this weekend if they end up playing their A-game as a consequence. I don't think this will happen and predict that New England is heading back to the Super Bowl on Feb. 5th.

Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be running back into the Giants.

San Francisco 49ers/New York Giants: these teams have already played each other 7 times in the playoffs with San Francisco winning 4 of those games. A Giants win would therefore tie up the series but I don't think they'll be able to get past San Francisco's defence. Manning hasn't thrown that many interceptions this year but once the 49ers shut down the run he'll be forced to throw often and unless he can perform better than Drew Brees did last weekend he may be run into trouble. New York's defence played well last week but didn't stand out this season, letting in 171 more points than that of the 49ers (and 61 more points than New Orleans). They played earlier on in the year with San Francisco coming out on top 27-20. Manning is much more familiar with big game pressure than Alex Smith but with San Francisco's defence at his back, Smith doesn't have to be. It is true that somehow the Miami Heat ended up meeting the Dallas Mavericks again in the NBA Finals last season which was quite surprising in my books. But I don't think the Giants are destined for the Super Bowl this year unless they can shut down Alex Smith's offence and find a way to grind it out.