Green Bay @ Atlanta, 3:05 ET on Fox- Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the Call.
A week 8 rematch in which a Packers team started their free fall, the Falcons barely inching out a victory at 33-32. The Packers, while beat up, are a much different team now. They ran the table after 4 straight losses, including 2 blowouts to non-playoff teams. They are also coming off beating the #1 seed at home. Aaron Rodgers is on fire, he is on a mission to take his team to Houston and the only way that Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons can put out this fire is by winning in a shootout. Neither team has an impressive defense, the Falcons might have the upper hand with Vic Beasley, but both teams have injury ridden secondaries and are quite easy to pass on. The MVP voters have probably already voted, but this is a true battle between MVP candidates. Whoever comes out on top is much deserving of the MVP and I believe it to be Aaron Rodgers. I'm sticking to my pre-season Super Bowl which had the Packers coming out of the NFC and the Patriots coming out of the AFC. I am still rooting for Atlanta to win this game because I feel like it's time for some new blood in the Super Bowl, but Rodgers vs Brady will be a battle for the ages.
My Prediction: Packers 30 Falcons 28. Another very close game, but the red-hot Green Bay Packers will try to make it 3 consecutive wins indoors.
Pittsburgh @ New England, 6:40 ET on CBS- Jim Nantz and Phil Simms on the Call.
Another rematch, this one in Week 7, where the Patriots won handily 27-16 vs a Big Ben-less Steelers. Nothing I want to see more is a Patriots loss, as a Jets fan, but I just cannot see it happening. The Patriots looked very beatable last week @ home vs Houston. If Houston had started Tom Savage over Brock Osweiler, Pittsburgh might be hosting the AFC Championship Game. That's not the case, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots look to punch their ticket to Houston vs a Steelers team that could not score a Touchdown last week @ Kansas City. I have the Patriots winning by 8, they will be too much for Steelers. A Steelers team that hasn't won at Gillette Stadium since 2008, when Matt Cassel was the Patriots starting QB (Brady tore his ACL- Week 1 vs KC). Mike Tomlin will see Bill Belichick's shadow and the Patriots will ultimately prevail. This is not an indictment on the Steelers, they are a very good team, but don't ever bet against Tom Brady or Bill Belichick at home, hosting a playoff game. New England has only lost one championship game at home in recent memory and that was 2012 to the Baltimore Ravens.
My Prediction: Patriots 31 Steelers 23. This game will be very close, but the Pats will pull away late in the 4th Quarter and meet the Packers for Super Bowl 51 in Houston.
I want to see a Pittsburgh-Atlanta Super Bowl very badly, two battles between two prolific offenses. The American people will be stuck with Green Bay-New England, which will still be a hell of a game. The Battle between Rodgers and Brady, who have never faced in a Super Bowl, that was Bledsoe and Favre in Super Bowl 31.
