Here are my NFL Championship Picks
(7-1 for the postseason, 156-98-2 for the regular season)
Bye teams: none
GB @ Atl – Wow, what a game this will be. And what a game that Packers/Cowboys matchup was, Rodgers having to work his magic in the 4th quarter after Dallas made a furious comeback. Dak & Co. made one fatal flaw, spiking the ball to waste a down and give Rodgers more time to work with, something that cost them the postseason and, in my opinion, should cost Garrett his job. He’s mediocre at best, doesn’t have that illusive genius that it takes to win championships, and won’t be able to take the ‘Boys to the next level. But that’s neither here nor there, the Pack won, and now they move on to face the Falcons, the only team that’s as hot as GB right now. But the difference here is that Atlanta is hot on offense and on defense, playing their best overall football in all phases. People are calling Dan Quinn’s team Seattle 2.0, but they have a bonus; an aerial attack that can’t be stopped, and I don’t think the Packers are going to be able to slow them down. Can Atlanta’s D slow Rodgers down, that’s the question, and I’m guessing yes, just enough anyway to make this a 31-27 game and hopefully the most entertaining of the year.
Pit @ NE – The Steelers just kicked themselves into the Championship round, and what a tough game that was vs the Chiefs, a team that seemed to be pretty perfect on paper. They just couldn’t get Hill & their offense in rhythm, so credit Pittsburgh for disrupting that flow. They’ll have to do the same and more this week vs New England, and will probably have to score more than just a few FGS; Ben is going to have to find Brown in the endzone multiple times in this game if the Steelers are to have a chance. Because we know that Brady will score, or at least that someone from that team will. It’s funny, I predicted that someone like James White would come out of nowhere to pop off for 3 TDs or something crazy like that, and that’s exactly what happened, but with Dion Lewis instead. That’s how the Pats win, by implementing a unique gameplan that highlights one weakness of the opposing defense and exploits it on the way to victory. Watch Edelman catch 4 TDs this week, or something crazy like that, but look for something wacky that Pittsburgh never saw coming. Whatever happens, I think New England wins 24-20.