The team with the most NFL championships in history, the Green Bay Packers, the team with the most Super Bowls in history, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team with the most Super Bowls this century, the New England Patriots, and the team with no Super Bowls but the best offense in football, the Atlanta Falcons, play in conference championships on Sunday.
One of these teams may not be as renowned as the others, but all four have a chance at winning the Lombardi Trophy this year.
Let's take a look at the latest odds for Sunday's games and offer a few predictions.
Conference Championship Point Spreads and Predictions
Game
Date, Time (ET)
TV
Point Spread
Prediction
Green Bay at Atlanta
Jan. 22, 3:05 p.m.
Fox
Atlanta (-4.5)
GB 38-34
Pittsburgh at New England
Jan. 22, 6:40 p.m.
CBS
New England (-4.5)
NE 31-24
Packers-Falcons odds and Steelers-Patriots odds via OddsShark's Twitter account.
NFC Championship Game Prediction
Who can bet against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers?
No matter how good the Falcons offense has been playing—they scored 540 points this season—Rodgers is playing on a higher level than anyone else in football.
Seeing him throw a bad pass is surprising. Seeing him throw a 30-yard dart down the sideline after evading a pass rush for nearly 10 seconds isn't.
Albert Breer of The MMQB is impressed:
Rodgers gets to face a Falcons pass defense that is not the same without cornerback Desmond Trufant, who is on injured reserve.
With Trufant on the field, Rodgers led Green Bay to 32 points against Atlanta on October 30 this season, although the Falcons stole a win in the last minute by one point.
Football Outsiders ranked Atlanta 27th in defense (19th against the pass), so Rodgers should take advantage again with or without wide receiver Jordy Nelson, whose status is up in the air after he suffered an injury against the New York Giants in the Wild Card Round.
The Falcons are going to score—in particular, the running back duo of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman could wreak havoc catching passes out of the backfield as they did against the Seattle Seahawks—but Rodgers can't be stopped. He'll lead the Packers to a shootout win in the Georgia Dome.
AFC Championship Game Prediction
It's Le'Veon Bell or bust for the Steelers against the Patriots.
The tough, patient running back led the Steelers to an 18-16 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Bell rushed for 170 yards on 30 carries, stymying the tough Chiefs defense all night. Credit also goes to the Steelers offensive line, which was stout and gave Bell time to do work.
Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus tweeted this stat after Bell's big performance:
Bell didn't get much going on the ground (21 carries, 81 yards) when he faced the Patriots on October 23, a 27-16 New England win that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed with an injury. He did catch 10 passes for 68 yards, however.
The Steelers are going to need him to lead them to victory again. Big Ben's struggles on the road continued against Kansas City, as he only threw for 224 yards and made a costly interception on the Chiefs' five-yard line. It's hard to believe that he will turn things around in Gillette Stadium.
Furthermore, the Steelers offense might be its best defense in this contest. As good as the Steelers defense has been for the past nine games (16.6 points allowed on average), the Patriots are a cut above the rest of the league.
Tom Brady and the Pats are 12-1 in their last 13 games. They scored 27 points against Pittsburgh in Heinz Field and get to play at home Sunday. Furthermore, we're seeing just how deep the Patriots' skill positions are this year. Three running backs, five wide receivers and a tight end all have a chance to be the hero on any given week.
Every game, it seems like someone new steps up—on Saturday, it was running back Dion Lewis.
Couple this with a defense that finished first in scoring this year, and the edge goes to New England.
Bell should help keep this game close, but New England will win by a touchdown.
Super Bowl LI Prediction
If the above predictions come to fruition, that means football fans finally get the Brady vs. Rodgers matchup that has somehow evaded us.
Green Bay may have been the No. 4 seed this year, but the Pack present the toughest challenge for the Patriots. Rodgers certainly has the ability to go toe-to-toe with Brady.
The problem for the Pack is that the Patriots defense is good. Of note, their cornerbacks are playing great football. Per Jahnke:
Yes, Rodgers already scorched a good defense (the Giants) for 38 points earlier in the postseason, but can he beat a solid D twice?
As painful as it is to make a prediction against Rodgers, the call here is that the Patriots are too tough and win 28-20.