NFL Playoff Schedule 2012: Power Ranking the Best 1-on-1 Matchups This Weekend

With great conference championship games between the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots of the AFC and the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers of the NFC, any Super Bowl matchup would be awesome.

That being said, there's some really great one-on-one matchups and in The Year of the Quarterback, three relate to his blindside protection.

4. Justin Smith vs. David Diehl

The interesting aspect about this matchup is that New York's David Diehl has experience as both a guard and tackle.

San Francisco's Justin Smith on the other hand, plays in a 3-4 front so he'll be able to utilize the presence of his outside linebacker to his advantage against Diehl. The question is whether the Giants decide to move Diehl back to guard if Smith dominates on the inside.

Not to mention there's rookie Aldon Smith who'll be coming off the edge, however, with Diehl on Justin Smith, it's likely that either Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, or tight end Jake Ballard help isolate that side.

That being said, Diehl is one of the most dynamic offensive linemen in the game and Justin Smith is coming off an All-Pro selection year. If the Giants offensive passing game slows down, take a look at this matchup.

And the same goes for San Francisco's pass defense, provided that it allows more yards than expected.

3. Jason Pierre-Paul vs. Joe Staley

The Giants ultimate sack-master in 2011, Jason Pierre-Paul, will have tough matchup against San Francisco left tackle Joe Staley.

This season Pierre-Paul recorded 16.5 sacks, forced two fumbles, had six passes defended, eight run stuffs and 86 total tackles. In short, the man has established himself as a complete defensive end and was a Pro Bowl/All-Pro selection this year.

As for Staley, he earned his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection this season as well, so it's obvious that two of this season's best at their respective positions are duking it out.

Fortunately for Staley his quarterback Alex Smith has great mobility, so if Pierre-Paul slips past, not all hope is lost.

When the 49ers have the ball, check out this matchup pre-snap because it could very well determine how effective and consistent San Francisco is on offense throughout the game.

2. Terrell Suggs vs. Matt Light

Easily the best matchup of the weekend when protecting a quarterback's blindside, as New England's Matt Light has been Tom Brady's protector for quite some time.

Terrell Suggs for Baltimore, however, has been a menace to opposing left tackles and quarterbacks, so this colossal battle will arguably be the highlight of the AFC Championship.

Light is a three-time Pro Bowl and one-time All-Pro selection while Suggs has five Pro Bowls and two All-Pros to his credit.

All season long the entire Patriots offensive line has protected Brady well and Baltimore's front seven has dominated the line of scrimmage. For New England to remain balanced on offense, Light must make Suggs obsolete.

And for the Ravens to slow down New England enough for their offense to keep pace, Suggs must be unblockable. For just in case purposes though, don't be surprised if the Pats have a running back or tight end chip-block Suggs to help out Light, as wearing Terrell down is the main objective.

Tom Brady vs. Ed Reed

Not a physical one-on-one matchup, but a duel that will be eyeing one another on every single down.

Tom Brady versus Ed Reed is a cognitive one-on-one matchup because Baltimore is not going to leave Reed in any single coverage situations. The reason is because isolating Reed to man coverage restricts his ability to patrol the secondary and from trying to bait Brady when back deep.

Ed works best like Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu—roaming in coverage while being able to see the field and playing up to where the ball is thrown.

Put Reed in man coverage and Brady will just throw elsewhere all game long since he won't have to worry about a deep safety threat.

So, since Reed needs to be back deep in cover-2, cover-3 or rolling down to stop the underneath routes, Brady will need to look him off all game long.

It's a one-on-one mental battle that can only be won by deceit and risk. Reed knows that Brady will try to look him off and Brady knows that Reed will try to bait him. The question is, who out-smarts who?

Well, since both have an extremely high football IQ, something has to give.

John Rozum on Twitter