NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Conference Championship Sunday Makes Weekend Heavenly

With the 2012 NFL playoffs rumbling towards Conference Championship Sunday, the weekend that looked boring is now one of the best in months.

Your normal Sunday spent watching football will now be congested into two games with the ultimate prize on the line: the Super Bowl. This is why you watch football.

Excitement is everywhere for these matchups, but the only place a true fan of football should be on Sunday is stationed squarely in front of a television set.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots—3:00 p.m. ET, CBS

As well as the Ravens have been playing coming into the postseason and in their first playoff game against the Houston Texans, they have not faced a task as tall as the New England Patriots.

While the Patriots have a mediocre pass game, it is masked by the unbelievable passing prowess of Tom Brady. With Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and a plethora of other weapons, New England’s offense will give the aging Ravens’ defense everything it can handle.

The only way that Baltimore can steal a victory in the AFC Championship game will be with their own offense. The Ravens’ defense can stifle Brady a bit, but he will get points no matter what.

It’s up to Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and the Ravens’ offense to keep the ball moving down field and keep Brady and the Pats playmakers on the bench.

New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers—6:30 p.m. ET, FOX

This will be the second matchup of the season for these two teams, but the stakes are oh-so much higher now. When San Francisco squares off with New York this time, a Super Bowl berth is on the line.

The 49ers won the first battle between the teams in Week 10 by the score of 27-20, but this isn’t the same Giants team.

With stars like Justin Tuck, Ahmad Bradshaw and everyone in the secondary banged up for their first meeting, the healthier New Yorkers will give the 49ers a challenge.

As good as the 49ers defense has been all season, sitting in the top ten for almost every major defensive statistic, Eli Manning and the Giants will get their points. The question is whether or not New York can stifle Alex Smith. I know, that sounds weird.

If the Giants can get their elite pass rush going and putting pressure on Smith, it will revert him back into the interception-machine he has been his whole career. This game should be amazing.

Super Bowl Prediction: Patriots vs. Giants

After the Patriots dispose of the Ravens and the Giants shrug off the 49ers, they will face off in the rematch that no one could have expected.

It was 2007 when New England was stunned in the final game of their almost perfect season by the underdog New York. Brady wants retribution, but this season feels like 2007 all over again.

With the Giants fighting for a playoff spot since there were four weeks left in the regular season, the Patriots will once again be the favorites.

That’s right folks: if New York plays New England for the Super Bowl this season, the Giants will walk away victorious again.

Check back for more on the National Football League as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s NFL Page to get your fill of all things football.

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