Football fans are used to seeing future Hall of Famers like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady duke it out on the biggest stage.  On the other hand, fans are not so used to seeing the new, more mobile generation of quarterbacks in the spotlight.  This year, football fans will get to see the best of both worlds.  Manning-Brady is the classic matchup that everyone will be watching, but the newcomers, Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, look to leave their own mark on the history books and advance to face one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game in Super Bowl XLVIII.

 

New England at Denver -  3 p.m. EST Jan. 19, CBS

The consensus from the beginning of the season has been that the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos are the two best teams in the AFC.  It is no surprise, then, that these are the last two teams standing in the league.  Their paths that led them to the AFC Championship Game, though, could not have been more different.

Manning and his Broncos are a high-powered offense that has been tough to stop all season long.  They led the NFL in yards per game during the regular season, averaging 457.3 per game.  This yardage translated into an average of 37.9 points per game for the Broncos, over ten more points per game than the next closest team.  Manning threw for 340.3 yards per game, with a plethora of weapons surrounding him.  From Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball out of the backfield to Julius Thomas, Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker down the field, Manning has had no shortage of weapons to choose from.

Brady, conversely, has had an entirely different stoke of luck this season.  He has managed to have a highly productive season despite a roster depleted by injuries.  Some of the notable injuries were to tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Danny Amendola.  Gronkowski played in just seven games while battling back and forearm injuries, and Amendola played in only 12 games while he battled a groin injury and concussion.  With two productive players out of the lineup for a good chunk of the season, Brady has had to look to other options on the team, like virtual unknowns in wide receivers Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson, who have also battled injuries this season and postseason.  Thompkins and Dobson each caught four touchdowns this season, but maybe the most surprising performance of all came from the Patriots’ leading receiver, Julian Edelman.  Edelman, normally a second or third option, was forced to become the Patriots’ number one receiver due to the injuries. He finished the year with 1,056 yards receiving and six touchdowns, almost tripling his previous season high of 359 yards in 2009.

Both teams carried their impressive regular season performances into the postseason.  The Patriots took care of business against the Indianapolis Colts behind an impressive performance from running back LeGarrette Blount, another unlikely contributor.  Blount took pressure off of Brady against the Colts by running the ball 24 times for 166 yards and four touchdowns after surpassing the century mark just one time during the regular season.

It truly has been a “next man up” mentality for the Patriots that has carried them this far, but I believe they are a few men too short.  Brady has his security blanket in Edelman, but Manning has about four of them in Julius Thomas, Demaryius Thomas, Welker and Eric Decker.  The game will be played in Denver, where the Broncos have lost just three games in the past two years.  All four of the Patriots losses this season have come on the road, and I see no reason for that to change on championship Sunday.

Prediction:  Broncos 31, Patriots 27

 

San Francisco at Seattle – 6:30 p.m EST Jan. 19, FOX

As with the AFC matchup, the 49ers and Seahawks were widely considered to be the two best teams in the NFC at the beginning of the year.  This will be the third straight conference championship game for Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers, and the first for the Seahawks since 2005.

The two most intriguing matchups to watch will be Russell Wilson against the 49ers defense and Colin Kaepernick against the Seahawks defense.  The 49ers and Seahawks possess two of the best defenses in the NFL and are ranked third and first in total defense, respectively.  The Seahawks have forced an astounding 28 interceptions this season and gave up the least amount of yards and points in the NFL.

The 49ers defense ranks fourth in rushing defense, allowing 95.9 yards per game.  In last week’s divisional round game against the Carolina Panthers, the 49ers defense had one of their most impressive performances of the entire season, sacking Cam Newton five times, playing impressive goal line defense and holding a revitalized Panthers offense to just ten points.

Kaepernick and the 49ers offense are playing their best football of the season at the right time, and the team has won eight games in a row.  Kaepernick has thrown 12 touchdowns to just two interceptions over that span.  One thing the 49ers have struggled to do, though, is beat the Seahawks on the road.  The 49ers have lost their last two games in Seattle by a combined 55 points.  That, coupled with the fact that Russell Wilson has only lost one home game as the Seahawks’ quarterback, does not bode well for this weekend.

Even when Wilson struggles, as he did last week against the New Orleans Saints, the ever-reliable Marshawn Lynch is there to support him.  Lynch had 140 yards rushing in the Seahawks’ 23-15 victory, scoring on two of those carries.  Wilson threw for just 103 yards in the game, but as wide receiver Percy Harvin gets acclimated, Wilson will be fine.  Last week was Harvin’s first game of the season and he is surely still getting used the speed of the game.  Regardless, having even a limited Percy Harvin in the game gives Wilson a lot of flexibility.

Due to the 49ers recent history in Seattle, I am picking the Seahawks to win this game.  These are two franchises that hate each other with players that will do anything to win.  I will give the Seahawks the advantage because of the venue.  It is pretty simple: the Seahawks do not lose very often at CenturyLink Field.  The last time the 49ers played in Seattle, in Week 2 of the regular season, Kaepernick threw for 127 yards and three interceptions.  The stakes are higher in the NFC Championship Game, and doubt will creep into the mind of Kaepernick when his team is down seven with two minutes to play, leading to an errant throw that will end his team’s season.

 

Prediction:  Seahawks 20, 49ers 13