NFL Playoff Predictions: Predicting the Conference Championships Studs and Duds

In any football game, some players shine while others don't live up to their reputations and expectations.

However, with the right to play in the Super Bowl on the line, those players who step up in this weekend's NFL Conference Championship Games will be praised, while those who struggle when they weren't supposed to will be blamed should their respective teams lose.

In the following slides, I detail my predictions concerning just who the studs and duds will be in the AFC and NFC Championship Games.

Stud: QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots

The Baltimore Ravens' defense will do all they can to stop New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in Sunday's AFC Championship Game, but it's unlikely that they will be consistently successful.

Brady has been stopped in the regular season, that's true, but with the Patriots one win away from yet another Super Bowl appearance, and playing on their home field, Brady is set up to have a big day.

In the Patriots' Divisional Round win over the Denver Broncos, Brady threw for 363 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. While he likely won't throw six scores this week, four touchdowns and well over 300 yards are not out of the question, even though he's facing the Ravens' strong defense.

Dud: RB Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants

The San Francisco 49ers' defense is especially adept at stopping the run this year, giving up an average of 77.3 rushing yards per game in the regular season.

Though New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs racked up 92 yards on 14 carries in their Wild Card win over the Atlanta Falcons, he had just 22 yards against the Green Bay Packers.

On a team with two running backs with disparate styles, it will be Jacobs' production that suffers against the Niners this week.

Jacobs' strengths lie in his ability to run up the gut of a defense, break tackles and get to the second level. He isn't a lateral runner and doesn't have left-to-right burst; those responsibilities belong to fellow back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Jacobs isn't going to have much success running through the middle of the 49ers' defense on Sunday. Very few running backs have done well with this approach, and it's likely that once the Giants try to do so, they will realize it doesn't work and won't involve Jacobs much when they want to run the ball.

Stud: WR Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants

Running the ball isn't going to come easily for the New York Giants on Sunday when they take on the San Francisco 49ers and their top-ranked defense, meaning the team will have to go to the air if they are to win and move on to the Super Bowl.

While Giants quarterback Eli Manning is obviously essential to that effort, it will be who he throws to and what they make out of it that will be of the greatest importance. And as long as Manning can get the ball to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, he should have a successful day.

Nicks has been the most important playoff wide receiver for the Giants, with six receptions for 115 yards and two scores in the team's wild card win over the Atlanta Falcons, and seven catches for 165 yards and two more touchdowns in their defeat of the Green Bay Packers the following week.

Despite the best efforts of opposing defenses, Nicks continues to find himself open and able to make plays even when he appears to be covered. The Giants will need Nicks playing at a high level on Sunday in order to defeat San Francisco.

Dud: QB Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco hasn't been the most reliable passer in the league, but his weaknesses have been augmented by the strength of the Ravens' run game and their strong defense, and his team has made the playoffs each of the four years he's been under center.

Flacco rarely costs his team wins, however he's rarely the sole architect of their victories like the top quarterbacks in the league.

In his team's Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans, Flacco threw two first-quarter touchdowns but wasn't heard from again, as the Texans' defense kept his deep-threat receivers covered and sacked him five times.

Though the New England Patriots' defense—especially their secondary—has been susceptible all season, they stepped up in a big way against the Denver Broncos and quarterback Tim Tebow last week, getting a good pass rush and holding him to just 136 passing yards and a 34.6 completion percentage.

Flacco is similar to Tebow in the sense that when he's forced to throw, he struggles. If the Patriots defense employs the same strategy they did against Denver last week, they should be able to stop the Ravens' run game, force Flacco to drop back and bring constant pressure.

Even if Flacco is able to make the occasional play, it is unlikely to be enough to catch up to the inevitable multiple touchdowns the Patriots' Tom Brady is liable to put up.

Flacco completed barely more than 50 percent of his passes against the Texans; if he repeats that outing this week, it will be the one game he surely costs the Ravens.