NFL Playoff Predictions: NFC Championship Game Will Be Real Super Bowl

The days of the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts dominating the NFL are gone. The top teams in the NFL all reside in the NFC. 

On Jan. 22, two of those teams will play in what's officially known as the NFC Championship Game. Two weeks after that, the winner of that game will go to Indianapolis to claim their real prize, the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It won't be officially won until Feb. 5, but the winner of the NFC Championship Game will go on to earn the sport's greatest prize. 

There's just nothing particularly daunting about any of the AFC's top teams. 

Starting at the bottom, we have the Broncos, Bengals and Texans. The Broncos don't have anywhere near the kind of offense to sustain a run, and the Bengals have shown this year that they're not ready to beat playoff caliber teams. 

The Texans would be a viable Super Bowl contender, but they have far too much talent sitting on injured reserved. The team that will take the field won't do anything more than possibly beat the Bengals in the first round. 

That brings us to the top three teams.

The Steelers are technically the No. 5 seed, but are easily a top-three team in the conference. The problem is that, without Rashard Mendenhall and with a banged-up Ben Roethlisberger, they're not going to do what it takes to get beyond the second round. They'll beat the Broncos, but don't expect more than that. 

Then you have the Ravens and Patriots. The Ravens don't play consistent enough on offense, and the Patriots have one of the worst defenses in the league. One of those two will get to the Super Bowl, but won't do well in it. 

That brings us to the NFC, specifically its Top Three seeds.

The Packers and Saints are eerily similar. They are not far from the Patriots, but there's a big difference in both of those teams. 

The Packers and Saints both allow yards and points, but they also have defenses that come through in the clutch. The Patriots don't have that. New England is just reliant on Tom Brady to outscore everyone. 

Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are obviously a big part of the success of their teams, but their defenses come through with big turnovers at opportune moments. 

That leaves us with the 49ers. Unlike the Packers and Saints, the 49ers don't score a lot. They just don't allow a lot. They're similar to the Steelers and Ravens in the AFC. 

Matchups with either of those two teams works well for the 49ers. 

They already beat the Steelers. I know that Roethlisberger was hurt, but he'd be hurt again for the Super Bowl. Those kind of injuries aren't going to get better with him playing every week. What's more, the 49ers beat the Steelers with Mendenhall. He wouldn't be in a Super Bowl matchup. 

The Ravens are a bit more interesting. They did beat the 49ers in the season, but that game gave the 49ers no chance for success. That was a short week and a cross-country flight to take on a good team. No teams are going to succeed in that spot. Give them two weeks and it will be a different story. 

Against the Patriots, the 49ers offense will be good enough to score the needed points. 

This week, the Saints will get their playoff stretch underway with a win against the Lions. That will earn them a date with the 49ers. The winner of that game will take on the Packers the next week. 

Whoever wins the NFC Championship Game will be the Super Bowl champions. The AFC doesn't have the teams to put up enough of a fight. 

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