Super Bowl Predictions 2012: Saints and Patriots Will Meet in Epic Shootout

After destroying the rest of the NFL in the regular season, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots are on a crash course to meet in a Super Bowl shootout.

Both teams dominated the second half of their schedule, beating their last eight opponents before entering the playoffs. The Saints added to that total by taking down Detroit, 45-28, on Saturday.

During their nine-game winning streak, New Orleans has won five games against playoff teams, dropped at least 42 points on five occasions and won seven games by double digits.

Aaron Rodgers was the story of the first half of the season, but Drew Brees raised the bar in the second. In his last nine games, he's thrown for 2,896 yards (321.7 per game), 25 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

The Saints have several obstacles in their path to the Super Bowl, and the 15-1 Packers are obviously the most dangerous.

Green Bay beat New Orleans, 42-34, on opening day, but that was before Brees went on this rampage. The Saints have been the best team in football since November and nobody in the NFC, not even the Packers, can stop them now.

Unlike New Orleans, the Patriots have built their winning streak by beating bad teams. However, their competition doesn't get much tougher in the AFC playoffs.

The Steelers are without Rashard Mendenhall and the other three AFC teams are quarterbacked by Joe Flacco, T.J. Yates and Tim Tebow. None of them have a chance of keeping up with Tom Brady and the potent Pats offense.

This season has been dominated by quarterbacks. Records are being shattered left and right as talented signal callers take advantage of this era's style of play.

After what we've seen so far, it's only natural that the NFL's two best passing attacks will meet for football's biggest prize.