NFL Playoff Picks: Predictions for Conference Championships, Super Bowl XLIX

The calendar year itself has barely begun, but the NFL playoffs are most ephemeral amid Championship Game Weekend.

Two teams will go home just shy of the biggest stage imaginable on Sunday, while the league's elite advance to battle for Super Bowl XLIX glory February 1.

The NFL on ESPN notes how the two top seeds, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, have historically held their own at home:

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Sunday's 60 minutes on the gridiron are watershed-moment markers for each franchise, and individual legacies are sure to be analyzed, particularly with regard to the top-tier quarterbacks involved. That should culminate in offering fans a fitting, fantastic finale to the football postseason.

Read on for TV information for the remainder of the NFL playoffs, along with updated predictions for the mere three games remaining on the schedule.

AFC Championship: Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots

What the Patriots have perhaps succeeded the most at in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era is complementary football. They don't often self-destruct with careless turnovers, often get timely giveaways and are the beneficiary of Brady's knack for thriving in the clutch.

Until an astonishing upset of the Denver Broncos last week, Indianapolis relied almost solely on the exploits of wunderkind QB Andrew Luck and the array of receiving weapons at his disposal. However, Indy's defense came to play and shut down a high-octane offense led by Peyton Manning.

Interesting enough, after the Pats thrashed the Colts in Indianapolis 42-20 earlier this year, it marked a turning point of sorts, per ESPN's John Buccigross:

Just as some basketball teams live and die by the three-pointer so to speak, the Colts have lived and died by the extraordinary plays Luck makes, along with the high rate of turnovers that occur with his aggressive style of play.

Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork acknowledges the leap Luck has taken in leading the league with 40 touchdown passes, and that the Colts have changed since Week 11, via NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala:

Sunday, January 18	Time (ET)	TV
Sunday, February 1	Time (ET)	TV
No. 2 Green Bay Packers vs. No. 1 Seattle Seahawks	3:05 p.m.	Fox
No. 4 Indianapolis Colts vs. No. 1 New England Patriots	6:40 p.m.	CBS
Super Bowl XLIX	6:30 p.m.	NBC

Uncredited/Associated Press

The key for Luck is to keep the "Wow!" plays intact while exuding better judgment and not forcing the ball into coverage versus a secondary that features Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty. Even Luck's tight ends in Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen will have their work cut out with versatile Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins dropping into disguised coverages at times.

Luck threw four interceptions in a divisional-round loss at Gillette Stadium in the previous postseason, and he also tossed two careless picks in Denver that were thankfully not of too dire consequence.

In the regular season, New England was plus-12 in turnover ratio, while Indy was minus-five. Such a disparity—just over one per contest in the Patriots' favor—is one that is bound to surface when the stakes are highest. Revis is also coming off a tough game, so he's due for a big outing in facing whomever the Pats decide to put on Revis Island.

This is a tough matchup all around for the Colts to handle, not to mention amid an environment in which Brady and Belichick are borderline unbeatable. Luck will make enough plays to keep it close, but as has been the case over the past decade-plus, New England is going to adapt and find a way to win.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Colts 23

NFC Championship: Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks

As tough of a player as Packers legend Brett Favre was, his successor in Aaron Rodgers would add quite an exclamatory to his legacy if he were to go up to CenturyLink Field and beat Seattle on a bum calf.

The task at hand is mountainous, but Green Bay does have a bruising running back in Eddie Lacy to rival the physicality the Seahawks attack opponents with. Its stud cast of receivers in Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams is formidable enough to give even the Legion of Boom a significant challenge.

The following words from Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner are fitting, though:

Rodgers was healthy in Week 1 when the Packers last traveled to the Emerald City. The result was a 36-16 triumph for the reigning champions, and that Rodgers is hurting this time around and facing a team playing with even more confidence has to be discouraging for Cheesehead fans.

Superstar cornerback Richard Sherman closed off an entire half of the field in last encounter, as Rodgers didn't throw at him even once. Sherman described the conversation he had with Seattle coach Pete Carroll after Green Bay refused to throw his way, per USA Today's Jim Corbett:

"

He said, "Don't get frustrated. This isn't going to be the only time it happens. Treat it as a sign of respect. Just stay locked in, continue to do your job and we appreciate your contributions." After a game like that, you feel like you haven't contributed anything. Everybody's like, "Man, that's cool. Nobody threw to your side." But if you're a player, you want to make plays in the game, want the ball coming my way more.

"

It is fascinating that someone can cause arguably the best QB in the game to not even think about throwing into any coverage despite laser-like precision.

What's most telling about Sherman's comments, though, is that he is unafraid. He embraces the pressure these types of games entail and, like all the all-time greats, wants a piece of the action. This mentality is part of what has made the Seahawks such a great success.

Beyond the team's ability to prevent opponents from scoring points, Marshawn Lynch is the foundation of Seattle's offense with his bruising running style. The Packers have struggled to defend the run all year, as it's been their most evident flaw.

The plays Russell Wilson can create with his feet as a scrambler and a pure ball-carrier make him a threat Green Bay should be terrified of.

Dom Capers has struggled to deny the likes of Colin Kaepernick and other mobile QBs in the Packers' recent past, so Wilson can expect to see running lanes open up on Sunday.

Seattle's "12th Man" fans feed off Wilson's uncanny playmaking, Lynch's explosive runs and the hard-hitting tenacity the whole team brings. In case there was any confusion, ESPN Stats & Info clarifies the real edge the Seahawks faithful provide:

Presuming Rodgers is still limited in his mobility and can't quite move like he's capable of, Seattle should do enough to stop him, pressure him and put him in obvious passing situations late.

That formula is a winning one to put the Seahawks in the Super Bowl for the second straight time.

Prediction: Seahawks 27, Packers 17

Super Bowl XLIX: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks

Two of the NFL's exemplary organizations chasing immortality. It couldn't get much better than this on paper, and the storylines in this potential matchup are incredible.

After Brady would have to negotiate a pass defense that's playing as well as anyone in football, he'd have to go up against the very best. Week 11 was a pivotal point in Seattle's season as well. Wagner's return to the lineup in the subsequent game was huge, and the Seahawks haven't lost since.

It would be fitting if Brady could at long last get his fourth Super Bowl ring by defeating what should go down as one of the best defenses in NFL history.

The competitive tenacity Brady exudes is rivaled by the myriad of Seahawks who play with chips on their shoulder. Wilson, in a quieter fashion, has that built in his DNA as a more diminutive signal-caller, doubted at every turn, only to prove those who doubted him wrong.

For Belichick and Brady, a fourth championship and the first in the post-Spygate era would have to quiet almost all critics.

In the modern era of NFL parity, dynasties are almost inconceivable. New England has been the closest to that status on the scene. The Seahawks are approaching that territory and would cement themselves as such by becoming the first team since—yes—the Patriots to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

If the Seahawks didn't have a historic defense, all the more impressive in a time where offense is so favored by the rules, perhaps the limited weapons in Seattle's receiving corps would allow the Pats to focus on the run and hold their adversary in check.

But the magic Wilson can create as an improviser and the tough running Lynch can do against a modest New England unit that ranked 14th versus the run, per Football Outsiders, are the differences to make Seattle capable of winning back-to-back titles.

Prediction: Seahawks 24, Patriots 20