2011 NFL Conference Championship Predictions

Hello friends! It's Saturday night and you know what that means! Time for bingo! LOL! No no it's time for me to give you my predictions for the NFC and AFC Championship games!

NFC Championship Game: Green Bay Packers @ Chicago Bears

Wow how cool is this huh? We have the NFL's oldest and perhaps greatest rivalry determining the NFC representative in Super Bowl 45! Before I get into the X's and O's for this game let me give you an interesting little fact and that fact is the Packers and Bears have met 180 times in the regular season including 2 hard fought games this year in which both teams split by winning on their respective home fields! The Bears won a very thrilling Monday night game in Week 3 in Chicago 20-17 while the Packers won an equally thrilling 10-3 defensive battle at Lambeau in Week 17 securing their spot in the playoffs! However would you believe that this is only the 2nd time these 2 storied franchises have met each other in the playoffs? The other meeting came back on December 14, 1941 at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field when these 2 played a 1 game playoff to determine the winner of the old NFL Western Division! The Bears won that game 33-14 and then went on to win the NFL Championship! Now on to this game. This is a classic matchup of explosive offense versus punishing defense! The Packers ranked 9th in total offense averaging 358.1 yards per game while ranking 10th in points per game averaging 24.3 points per game. The Bears were a very dismal 30th in total offense averaging only 289.4 yards per game while ranking 21st in points per game averaging 20.9 points per game. Advantage Packers! When it comes to the QB matchup no QB has been hotter than Aaron Rodgers has because ever since he came back from that concussion he suffered against Detroit Rodgers has been lights out especially last Saturday night when he went 31-36 for 366 yards and 3 TD's in a 48-21 beatdown of the top seeded Atlanta Falcons! Bears QB Jay Cutler had a nice game against a very weak Seabag defense going 15-28 for 274 yards and 2 TD's in a 35-24 win! But let's face it Jay Cutler is Brett Favre 2.0 because he has been known to throw costly INT's at the absolute worst time! Advantage Packers! As it pertains to the running game the Packers have found themselves a young stud in James Starks coming off a 123 yard performance against the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wildcard round! While the Bears have a future star in Matt Forte coming off a 134 total yard performance against Seattle in the Divisional Round! Advantage Bears! Finally in terms of recieving cores the Packers have a who's who of receivers including Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, James Jones, Jordy Nelson, and Donald Lee! While the Bears have some good young receivers of their own including Johnny Knox, Greg Olsen, and the always dangerous Devin Hester! Advantage Packers! Now to the defensive side of the ball! The Packers ranked 5th in total defense allowing an average of 309.1 yards per game while ranking 2nd in points per game allowed holding opponents to an average of 15 points per game! The Bears on the other hand ranked 9th in total defense allowing an average of 314.3 yards per game while ranking 4th in points per game holding opponents to an average of 17.9 points per game so in all honesty I can't really give 1 team a decisive advantage because both D's are really that good not to mention punishing! So who wins? Well when it comes to defense it's really anybody's ball game! But if it comes down to offense then you really have to give the advantage to Green Bay mainly because of how awesome Aaron Rodgers has played over the last month! So with that I am going to go with the Green Bay Packers to win this game and represent the NFC in Super Bowl 45 but mark my words friends this NFC Championship game is going to be special because like I said earlier you have the NFL's greatest rivalry determining the NFC representative in Super Bowl 45! Enclosing, the last 3 NFC Championship games have been 3 of the best NFC Championship games I have ever seen and in all honesty I don't expect this 1 to be any different because this game is going to be close, competitive, hard hitting, and most of all epic and I cannot wait to see how this 1 plays out!

Winners: Green Bay Packers

AFC Championship Game: New York Jets @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Just like their NFC counterparts these 2 teams are meeting for only the 2nd time in the playoffs! Their only other playoff meeting came back in the 2004 season in which the Steelers outlasted the Jets 20-17 in overtime in 1 of the greatest Divisional playoff games of all time! Now on to the X's and O's for this game! Let's start with the Jets who ranked 11th in total offense averaging an even 351 yards per game while ranking tied for 13th in points per game averaging 22.9 points per game. Now on to the Steelers who are making their 15th appearance in the AFC Championship game! In terms of total offense the Steelers ranked 14th in total offense averaging 345.3 yards per game while ranking 12th in points per game averaging 23.4 points per game. Advantage (slightly) Steelers! Now let's look at the QB matchup in this 1! Jets QB Mark Sanchez is 4-1 as a starter in the playoffs with all 5 games coming on the road! This postseason Mark Sanchez can say something that I'm pretty sure only he can say and that is I beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in back-to-back weeks to put my team in the AFC title game! On the other side however is Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger who is 9-2 in the playoffs with 2 Super Bowl victories! So with that - Advantage Steelers! In the running game the Jets are led by their 2 headed monster of Ladainian Tomlinson who in my honest opinion has discovered the fountain of youth and Shonn Greene while the Steelers are led by Rashard Mendenhall! Advantage Jets! In terms of receiving cores the Jets are led by former Steeler Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery, and Dustin Keller! While the Steelers are led by the veteran Hines Ward, big time playmaker Mike Wallace, Heath Evans, and the hero of the Divisional win over the Baltimore Ravens by being in the right place at the right time Antonio Brown! Advantage Steelers! Now on to the side of the ball that both of these teams just like their NFC counterparts thrive on and that is the defensive side of the ball! The Jets ranked 3rd in total defense by holding opponents to an average of 291.5 yards per game while they ranked 6th in points allowed by holding opponents to an average of an even 19 points per game! The Steelers ranked 2nd in total defense by holding opponents to an average of 276.8 yards per game while ranking 1st in points allowed by holding opponents to an average of 14.5 points per game! Advantage Steelers! So who wins? Well when these 2 teams met back in Week 15 the Jets won 22-17 mainly because the Steelers did not have their defensive playmaker and my x-factor in this game Troy Polamalu! However Troy Polamalu is playing in this game and with that I like the Pittsburgh Steelers to win this game and represent the AFC in Super Bowl 45 because when you have a proven Super Bowl winning QB in Ben Roethlisberger and perhaps the best defense in football that spells victory for the Steelers and disaster for the Jets! But none the less I expect this to be just as close, just as competitive, just as hard hitting, and just as exciting as the NFC Championship game!

Winners: Pittsburgh Steelers

Overall I am very much looking forward to both of these games because both of these games are going to be played under very chilly conditions and being the cold weather enthusiast that I am I cannot wait to see these 4 teams show how tough they really are! Please leave me a comment below with your thoughts and your picks and I will be back next Saturday night with my predictions for the 2011 WWE Royal Rumble PPV! So until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!