Looking Forward to the AFC and NFC Championships

After another week of NFL playoff games, the match ups are now set for both the NFC and AFC Championship games next weekend.

Taking a look at the NFC Championship, there are some intriguing match ups.

After the way the Vikings defense looked today against a hot Cowboys offense, that will probably be the focus of next week's game. With Drew Brees being one of, if not, the best quarterbacks in the league this year, will he be able to have continued success against the Vikings defense or will Minnesota actually be able to shut him down?

If the Vikings are able to slow Brees and the Saints' passing attack, the emergence of Reggie Bush and the ground game Saturday gives them some hope. Bush seemed to transform his running style Saturday against the Cardinals, and really became a much more physical back. His east/west running style was thrown out the window, and he started going north.

On the other side of things, Brett Favre continued to dominate through the air, while Adrian Peterson was limited once again. The Vikings offense was able to put up 34 points on an impressive Cowboys defense on Sunday. The Saints probably don't have the same quality of defense, although they held the powerful Arizona offense to just 14 points.

No doubt, the two best teams in the NFC all season will actually be playing for the NFC Championship next weekend in New Orleans.

The AFC Championship game looks to provide just as much excitement.

With the Colts quieting the controversial decision to rest the final two weeks of the season, they were able to have their normal offensive production. The real story was the defense of the Colts, not the Ravens. The Baltimore Ravens were held to just three points, and the Colts stepped up when they really needed to.

Peyton Manning will be ready to play next weekend, and they will need to do their homework for this one. The Jets boast the best defense in the league, and they have been hot recently, and proving they can win on the road. The Jets held the hot Chargers offense to just seven points in San Diego until the final two minutes of the game.

Obviously the Colts will try to establish an early lead, forcing the Jets to have to throw the ball more than they want to with rookie Mark Sanchez. The Colts defense played great against a similar team on Saturday, so this could really help the Colts out. Both the Ravens and Jets have great defenses, but lack the offensive production from the quarterback. They both rely heavily on the run, so the Colts must stop the run and force them to pass.

The Jets offense has been able to produce just enough against the Bengals and Chargers, but they will need a few more points against the Colts. Their strategic game plan has been working the last four or five weeks; just run the ball and play great defense. If they can do that and win the special teams battle, they have a decent shot at keeping this amazing run alive, and making their way to Miami for the Super Bowl.

Predictions:

The NFC contest shouldn't come down to which offense can put up points, because both teams are very capable of scoring often. The key will be which defense can slow the other team down, and with that, I give the edge to the Vikings.

Vikings 31  Saints 27

The AFC game will be good, the main storyline being the Colts resting their starters and giving up on the perfect season in week 16 against the Jets, who faced playoff elimination. The Jets with the number one defense in the league going up against Peyton Manning and company.

Jets 10  Colts 24