NFL Championship Sunday is here. The question is, “Will either Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers be denied their chance of another Super Bowl?
And then there were four.The Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers and, of course, the New England Patriots, will do battle this coming Sunday for the right to head to Houston — the city that’ll host Super Bowl LI. More specifically, it’ll be Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady who do battle on Championship Sunday.
Where’s the defense?
For the first time in a long time, the final four squads in the National Football League showcase four prolific offenses with very little defense to speak of. A season ago, the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers were equipped with serious nastiness on the defensive side of the football.
Not in 2016. This season, this tournament has given way to scoring.
This leads the casual onlooker to believe that the all-timers, the studs — Brady and Rodgers — are those who’ll finally meet up in the big game. Though each organization has seen its fair share of success, the two greats have yet to meet up on the big stage.
Two seasons ago, the Packers were mere minutes away from an NFC Title, but a miracle out of Russell Wilson and company prevented an A-Rod-Brady showdown. In 2010, when the Pack won the Super Bowl, Brady was stunningly upset by Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets during the Divisional Round.
Perhaps 2016 will be the year we finally see Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers square off.
Here’s Elite Sports NY’s full Championship Sunday preview:
NEXT: AFC Championship Game
AFC Championship Game
#1 New England Patriots -6 (15-2)
#4 Pittsburgh Steelers (13-5)
AFC Championship Game, Jan. 22, 6:40 p.m. ET, CBS
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
This one stings on many fronts. For one, we had the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. They were our pick back in August when we did our official ESNY NFL preview and stuck with them for our NFL Playoffs preview.
Secondly and far more importantly, we hate the New England Patriots. We respect them, yes, but we can’t stand these guys. It’s every single season with the success and they don’t go away.
To think the Pittsburgh Steelers will walk into Foxborough and beat the Pats would be to not provide New England with the respect it deserves.
SEE ALSO: ESNY's NFL Playoffs Preview, Predictions
Can the Steelers win? Of course, they can. Ben Roethlisberger, for his few faults, is one of the greatest clutch QBs of all-time. Antonio Brown is a stud and Le’Veon Bell is the best back in the world.
Pittsburgh can most definitely win. The problem is: it doesn’t seem likely.
Anytime Tom Brady sees the Steelers defense, he lights it up. In the past, Dick LeBeau has been very stubborn when facing the great No. 12. With his famed zone-blitz (even his new-aged defense after the pass-happy NFL broke out), LeBeau would rarely throw enough defensive backs on the field to better equip his defense with better matchups.
The only chance Pitt has on defense is if pass rushers light it up. They’ll have to win one-on-one battles to a degree that it scares Brady when he’s forced with a conventional four-man rush. That’ll be solely up to James Harrison and rookie Bud Dupree.
The Steelers suspect secondary won’t be able to contain the fifth-ranked offense in the NFL.
On the other side of the ball, Big Ben and company will get their points, but they’ll have to control the clock. As good as Bell and the offensive line has been, their quick-strike offense is famous for short drives.
We’ll take a competitive game, but this one has Brady’s imprints all over it. We’ll also take the Pats to cover.
Patriots 38, Steelers 30 (+6)
NEXT: NFC Championship Game
NFC Championship Game
#2 Atlanta Falcons -4 (12-5)
#4 Green Bay Packers (12-6)
NFC Championship Game, Jan. 22, 3:05 p.m. ET, FOX
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
While the AFC side of things went kerplunk for us (with the Kansas City Chiefs), the NFC side is still golden. Our preseason Super Bowl Champions, the Green Bay Packers, are still alive.
The Pack, led by all-world QB Aaron Rodgers, aren’t coming into this game quietly. Including playoff victories over the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, they’ve now won eight consecutive games.
Green Bay’s opponent, however, remains under-the-radar.
Despite boasting the league’s second-best offense this season (422 yards per game), Matt Ryan‘s squad comes in with a quietness about them that’s familiar.
The defeated the battle-tested Seattle Seahawks rather easily last week and thanks to a banged up Pack secondary, should light up the scoreboard at home this Sunday.
Ah, but so will Rodgers.
The question for this title game will come down to pass rushing — a conventional four-man pass rush.
Vic Beasley versus Clay Matthews is the real matchup of the day. Whichever guy can get consistent pressure will do the best service for his QB.
Much like the Dallas game, we’ll take the Packers simply because of No. 12. He’ll make just one more play than Ryan and it’ll be a big one down the stretch. Give us both No. 12s to face off for the first time in the Super Bowl.