NFL Conference Championships Picks

Green Bay Packers/Seattle Seahawks: damn it. I always take the Pack. They're always good enough to take. They're solid this year having racked up 486 points during the regular season, winning 12 games, and beating Dallas at home last weekend (on a controversial call [that was the best playoff catch I've seen in years {they may have still won the game had Dallas scored a touchdown}]). They can beat Seattle if they move the ball but the Seahawks are good at figuring out ways to shut down high-powered offences and know how to keep the lead once they've gained it. Rodgers is one of the best. If he has one of his best games, Green Bay can win. Wilson may not play well either, but, so far, he seems built for the playoffs and generally takes on crucial game changing hysterics without even breaking a sweat. Seattle's offence scored 394 points during the regular season and their team has won 7 in a row. Can the Packers run the ball? Can the Packers continuously pick up third downs to keep the ball in their possession? They can do this. But I'm still picking Seattle. Hoping the Pack wins, picking the Seahawks. *Hold on. Went downtown yesterday to watch Whiplash and I only saw 2 people wearing NFL gear, both wearing tuques, one, a New England Patriots tuque, the other, a Green Bay Packers tuque. At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I'm switching my pick to Green Bay. Go Packers Go. - updated on Jan. 16th/2015

Indianapolis Colts/New England Patriots: a potential changing of the guard in this one. If Andrew Luck can beat Brady as well, the Brady/Manning era may be coming to an end. Both Dalton and Manning didn't play well versus Indianapolis, but neither quarterback has had much success in the playoffs. Did they both just have another bad playoff game, or did the Colts's defence figure out a way to ensure that they did? Brady was impressive last weekend. He's been impressive all season. 468 points for the Patriots during their first 16, and they quickly came back from being down 14 twice last weekend. They were down 14 twice though, and if Luck plays as well as Flacco did, and Indianapolis's defence continues to shine, the Colts can win, even if they were crushed at Gillette Stadium in the playoffs last year. I was surprised Baltimore didn't win last weekend honestly after seeing the Patriots abandon their running game altogether. They only ran for 14 yards. I figured it would be easy to shut down a team who's passing on every play, especially if you're winning by 14, for the second time, but they didn't, New England's offence is that good. Can they play that well two weeks in a row? Can Indianapolis shut down the Patriots's running game with as much efficiency as the Ravens did? Who knows honestly. But New England's playing at home. They had a bad game last week and still won. They beat the Colts 42-20 earlier on in the year. I think they'll beat the Colts again after scoring early and often, giving Luck too much of a deficit to overcome. Maybe he'll play like he did versus Kansas City last year in the playoffs. That would be amazing. Picking New England.