NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Previewing Conference Championship Weekend

This weekend should be like a second Christmas for football fans.

We have been given the gift of two outstanding matchups in the conference championship games. Both contests should be fun to watch, and either way they go, we will end up with two worthy teams meeting in the Super Bowl.

Here is a preview of what to look for this weekend.

AFC Championship Game: Baltimore Ravens (13-4) at New England Patriots (14-3)

The Baltimore Ravens finished the regular season with the NFL's third-ranked defense, allowing 288.9 yards per game. The defense features four Pro Bowl starters in Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, and if any defense can stop New England's potent offense it will be this unit.

Suggs may end up being the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year, and his ability to get into the backfield and disrupt Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's timing will be key to this game.

On offense, expect the Ravens to do what they've done all season and rely on running back Ray Rice to win games for them. Rice led the NFL in yards from scrimmage this year with 2,068, and he should only add to that total this week. 

Across the field, the Patriots enter this weekend's matchup having won nine straight games. Brady, the NFL's reigning MVP, has been incredible over that span, throwing for 2,895 yards (321.7 yards per game), with 25 touchdowns and three interceptions. 

Brady has supreme confidence in all of his targets.

Receiver Wes Welker led the NFL in receptions (122), finished second in yards (1,569) and had nine touchdowns. Tight end Rob Gronkowski finished the regular season with 90 catches, led all tight ends in receiving yards (1,327) and set an NFL record for touchdowns at the position with 17. "Gronk" added three more scores in New England's 45-10 divisional-round win over the Denver Broncos. 

Meanwhile, tight end Aaron Hernandez (79 catches, 910 yards) and receiver Deion Branch (51 catches, 702 yards) both turned in solid years as well. 

Defensively, the Patriots allowed a ton of yards this season but improved as the year went along. Their main focus will be getting some pressure on Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco, who has been shaky all season.

The main tangle in this one will be between Brady and Baltimore's outstanding defense. Whoever wins that battle should win the game.

NFC Championship Game: New York Giants (11-7) at San Francisco 49ers (14-3)

The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers have each reached the NFC title game thanks to their toughness. Neither team is ever out of a game.

These two squads met back in Week 10, and San Francisco came out on top 27-20, but these are two different teams now.

The 49ers went toe-to-toe with the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round, coming away with a miraculous 36-32 win, largely thanks to a seven-catch, 180-yard, two-touchdown performance by tight end Vernon Davis.

San Francisco won games all year with a simple philosophy: stop the run and pound the ball on offense.

The 49ers had the league's top run defense during the regular season, allowing just 77.3 yards per game, and against New York's anemic ground game (worst in the NFL, average of 89.2 yards per game), Jim Harbaugh's team should shine again against the run. 

Offensively, the 49ers should rely on veteran running back Frank Gore as they did all season. The team was eighth in the NFL, averaging 127.8 yards per game on the ground. 

But don't overlook quarterback Alex Smith, who might be the NFL's real feel-good story of the season. The seven-year veteran shone against the Saints on Saturday, throwing for 299 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding a 28-yard rushing touchdown.

If Smith can play at that level on Sunday, the 49ers could find themselves in the Super Bowl.

On the other sideline, the Giants are peaking at the right time on both sides of the ball. The key defensively this weekend will be New York's defensive line. The team's pass-rush racked up 48 sacks during the regular season and has added six more through two playoff games.

Against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the Giants constantly harassed quarterback Aaron Rodgers, forcing mistakes and disrupting his timing. If they can do the same thing to Smith, San Francisco's offense could be shut down. 

On offense, the Giants will have to rely on quarterback Eli Manning's arm to win the game, as their running game will almost certainly be strangled by San Francisco's stout defense.

Manning has been fantastic during the team's current three-game winning streak, throwing for 953 yards with nine touchdowns and just one interception. 

They key for the Giants will be getting to Smith the way they got to Rodgers, and then taking advantage of the holes in San Francisco's secondary that the Saints exploited in the divisional round.

If they can do those two things, Manning will have led them to a second NFC title.