NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Breaking Down Each Conference Championship Team

Alas we are down to the NFL's final four and a trip to Super Bowl XLVI is at stake. The New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers all with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in mind, the conference championship games will be sweet.

High-powered offenses, solid defenses, pass rushing and quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Eli Manning will own the spotlight.

With that, here is a breakdown of each team remaining on the road to the Super Bowl.

Baltimore Ravens (13-4)

The 2011 AFC North Division champions, the Baltimore Ravens entered as the AFC's No. 2 seed and will play at the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Not only pitting the ability to run the ball, but having a dual-threat running back in Ray Rice, the Ravens offense revolves around him and Rice is responsible for being productive to setup the passing game.

In addition, Rice has great pass-blocking skills and is a solid safety outlet for quarterback Joe Flacco. Elsewhere in the passing game we see the reliably target Anquan Boldin and the speedy youngster Torrey Smith.

One of the better receiving duos in football, Boldin and Smith can stretch the field while also acting as good possessions receivers. Defensively, Baltimore is great against the run and pass while also having a great pass rush.

With Ed Reed patrolling the secondary, Ray Lewis controlling the trenches and Terrell Suggs owning the outside, Baltimore has a lot for New England to handle. Joe Flacco had a confident performance on Sunday against Houston, so it'll be interesting to see if he keeps that going into New England.

The Patriots will blitz and Baltimore's vulnerable pass-protection must be ready, because they allowed five sacks and six additional hits on Flacco against the Texans.

New England Patriots (14-3)

One of two remaining teams where the offense revolves around the quarterback, the New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday for the first time since getting blasted 33-14 in the 2009-10 AFC Wild Card.

This time around, however, the Patriots have a much better pass rush and pass offense.

Coach Bill Belichick's defense compiled 40 sacks in 2011 and forced 34 total turnovers, 23 being interceptions. Despite losing sack-master Andre Carter to injury, New England never missed a step and kept that rolling into the playoffs.

Against Denver, the Pats pressurized Tim Tebow all day and recorded five sacks as well as eight QB hits. Offensively, Tom Brady is the obvious game general but the dominance of tight-end Rob Gronkowski is virtually unstoppable.

No defense has a definite answer to match Gronk and even if he gets double-teamed, Brady still has Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez and Deion Branch to target. Include Brady's solid pass-protection and capable ground game when needed and New England is tough to slow in both dimensions.

This week Baltimore will have to blitz but at the same time play press coverage. The longer a defense can keep Gronk and Co. at the line of scrimmage, the increased odds of pressuring Brady.

The question is whether the Ravens can get that done, because last week they may have picked off rookie TJ Yates three times but no sacks and only two QB hits were recorded.

New York Giants (11-7)

It seems like deja vu all over again from the 2007-08 New York Giants team. After defeating the Green Bay Packers on the road at Lambeau Field, Big Blue travels to another legendary stadium in Candlestick Park where they lost earlier this season.

And much like their 2007-08 team, New York has arguably the NFL's best pass-rushing/defensive line unit in Chris Canty, Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora.

Behind them are other solid defenders in linebacker Michael Boley as well as defensive backs Corey Webster and Antrel Rolle. And although the Giants ranked No. 29 against the pass this season, they dealt with quite a bit of injuries as well.

Which is also why their rush offense was No. 32 in the league. Having dealt with some injuries on that side, New York had to rely on the right arm of Eli Manning as well as a non-established receiver in Victor Cruz (who's now really established) and tight-end Jake Ballard (now one of the more reliable TEs in the game).

Only getting healthier with every passing week, the Giants have one of the NFL's most prolific passing games, pass-rushes and physically imposing pass defenses. Their weakness is defending the run, so expect San Francisco to attack with Frank Gore early and often.

On the flip side of that, New York will also attack on the ground as their rush offense has really picked up the pace since the postseason began. And if they want to beat the 'Niners, maintaining balance is crucial.

San Francisco 49ers (14-3)

Once again hosting the New York Giants at Candlestick Park, the San Francisco 49ers are looking to make a trip to their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history.

In one of pro football's greatest postseason rivalries, the 49ers need to avenge their loss to New York from the 1990 NFC title game that prevented San Francisco's shot at a Super Bowl three-peat. Here, much like 1990, the Giants have another excellent pass rush to go with a really effective passing game.

So, San Francisco must stick to their strengths and run the football to keep Eli Manning and Co. off the field. The 49ers have one of the NFL's best defenses and are completely dominant at stopping the run.

In turn, that makes life easier on their pass defense which can be opportunistic as they were against New Orleans. The pass rush is also underrated, because of how great the 'Niners defended the run.

Still, they were in the face of Drew Brees all game long and the Saints were affected by San Francisco's front seven. What makes the 49ers defense great is that they have not solely relied on forcing turnovers all season.

On the contrary, the Green Bay Packers only recorded 29 sacks this regular season, gave up the most passing yards and picked off a league leading 31 passes. Well, you can't live off forcing turnovers as we saw in the divisional round.

The 49ers will make you punt and then slam the rock with Frank Gore to setup the pass. Sounds simple and enough, right? Well that's because Alex Smith is also gradually improving with having the mobility to make plays.

Of all the teams remaining, San Francisco is arguably the most complete in both dimensions on both sides of the ball.

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