Championship Sunday Picks

I'm sorry if I am not so enthusiastic about the NFC and AFC Championship games. After Denver's heartbreaking loss to Baltimore last Saturday in the AFC Divisional Playoffs, my excitement and anticipation has waned tremendously. Don't get me wrong, I will be in front of my television set on Sunday watching both the NFC Championship between the 49ers and the Falcons and the AFC Championship between the Ravens and the Patriots, but I will be watching with an empty feeling. The Broncos should have been there. If their defense doesn't commit the cardinal sin of letting Jacoby Jones get behind them with 30 seconds to go and leading by a touchdown, then Denver would be hosting the Patriots this Sunday in one of the most highly anticipated AFC Championship games in NFL history. Unfortunately, they will not be there, and as a Broncos fan I am torn between who I should actually root for in the AFC title matchup. Can I root for the Ravens after they ripped my heart out last week? Do I actually have to root for the Pats to go to another Super Bowl? Put it this way: This won't be a fun AFC Championship for me by any stretch. Championship Sunday will be a tough one for me to digest, but it is the last real football Sunday, so I will have to rally up and watch the games because after this week, the NFL season is basically over and done until next September. I couldn't really get myself to give an ultimate breakdown of each game, but I have given thought to each matchup and came up with some storylines to watch for the games. Also, at this point of the postseason I like to look at what would be the best possible Super Bowl matchups out of the four possibilities that could occur. Here are the best possible matchups for this week's title games:

Best Matchup: New England vs. San Francisco (Two best teams left in the playoffs)
Worst Matchup: Baltimore vs. Atlanta (Not the juiciest or sexiest game)
2nd Best Matchup: Baltimore vs. San Francisco (The Harbaugh Bowl)
3rd Best Matchup: New England vs. Atlanta (Brady/Belichick going for 4th Super Bowl against Matt Ryan and the Falcons franchise going for first ever Super Bowl win)

Onto the picks for Championship Sunday......
Last week's record: 2-2
Overall playoff record: 5-3
(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

NFC Championship
ATLANTA (+5) over San Francisco:
The Niners and Colin Kaepernick looked amazing in their playoff win over Green Bay last week. The Niners are definitely the better team, and they are looking to avenge their bitter defeat in last year's NFC Championship to the Giants. Maybe Kaepernick is going to just continue his roll through the playoffs, but will the Niners defense be able to contain the Falcons passing game? That is what this game comes down to for me. Everyone loves the Niners this week, and that always scares me. Plus, Matt Ryan and the Falcons got the monkey off their back with their dramatic win over the Seahawks last Sunday. Even if Atlanta loses this week, you can still keep your chin up if you are a Falcons fan. I think the Falcons play fast and loose, and they will keep this game close. Look for a late Falcons rally, but they will fall short and the Niners will survive and advance to their sixth Super Bowl, and their first since 1994

Final Score: 49ers-27 Falcons-24

AFC Championship:
Baltimore(+9) over NEW ENGLAND:
This line is way too high. Look, the way that Baltimore won last week makes you think that this may be the Ravens year to go to the Super Bowl. It is starting to feel like the run that the 2005 Steelers went on, and that is not even counting the Ray Lewis-Jerome Bettis retirement comparisons. This was probably the worst possible matchup for the Patriots. Every time these two teams play it is close, and the Ravens won't get intimidated by the Pats and Tom Brady. Rob Gronkowski The Patriots are the better team overall, but the Ravens are riding an tremendous amount of karma and fate right now. The Ravens were better than the Pats last year in the AFC Championship, and now they get the opportunity to go back to Foxborough and avenge last year's defeat. Sometimes you just can't go against fate, and the Ravens run to the Super Bowl continues.

Final Score: Ravens-31 Patriots-24