NFL Playoff Bracket 2016: AFC, NFC Championship Picture, Odds and Predictions

And then there were four.

NFL fans would be hard-pressed to ask for better matchups heading into the respective conference championship games. There is star power aplenty under center with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Cam Newton and Carson Palmer, and the defending Super Bowl champions are still alive in the New England Patriots.

What’s more, both games will feature the top two seeds in each league, with the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals matching up in the NFC and the Patriots and Denver Broncos in the AFC.

With that in mind, here is a look at an updated bracket, the championship weekend schedule, Super Bowl odds (current as of Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, per Odds Shark), predictions and keys for the upcoming games.

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	Channel	Predicted Winner
Sunday, Jan. 24	New England Patriots at Denver Broncos	3:05 p.m.	CBS	Patriots
Sunday, Jan. 24	Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers	6:40 p.m.	Fox	Panthers

Team	Odds
Arizona Cardinals	+425
New England Patriots	+450
Carolina Panthers	+500
Denver Broncos	+550

Keys to Watch

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers: Cardinals Run Defense and Panthers Pass Defense

Even with the potential MVP at quarterback, Carolina's attack starts with the rushing game. It just so happens that Newton is a big part of it.

Carolina finished second in the league in rushing yards per game this season behind 989 yards and six touchdowns on the ground from Jonathan Stewart, 636 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground from Newton and various contributions from Mike Tolbert, Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker.

Newton and Stewart control the game with a read-option attack that is largely effective because Newton can barrel over defenders from the quarterback position.

The Cardinals defense must find a way to slow down that rushing game with its front seven; otherwise it will be forced to move additional defenders into the box. That opens up the vertical passing attack for Newton with speedy wide receivers such as Ted Ginn Jr. and Corey Brown, who clocked 40-yard dashes as low as 4.22 and 4.3 seconds, respectively, per ESPN.com's David Newton. 

Perhaps more importantly, safeties in the box would free the middle seam for superstar tight end Greg Olsen, who burned the Seahawks for 77 receiving yards and a touchdown catch Sunday while Seattle was concerned with Stewart (106 rushing yards and two touchdowns).

On the other side, the Cardinals torched the Green Bay Packers for 349 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air. Larry Fitzgerald put the team on his back and notched 80 yards and the touchdown in overtime after quarterback Aaron Rodgers shocked Arizona with a Hail Mary pass at the end of regulation.

The receiver clearly saves his best performances for the most meaningful moments, as Bleacher Report Insights noted:

"

Larry Fitzgerald just caught his 10th career playoff TD, tying him for 3rd most in NFL history. Cardinals win 26-20. pic.twitter.com/C2IMKUTTeV

— B/R Insights (@BR_Insights) January 17, 2016"

Pro Football Talk believes Fitzgerald is well on his way to historical status:

The trio of Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd is incredibly difficult to slow down (hence, Arizona’s standing as the second-best team in the NFL in passing yards per game this season), and running back David Johnson is more than capable of getting involved in the aerial attack with 457 receiving yards and four touchdown catches.

Carolina’s pass defense was a solid 11th in the league in passing yards allowed per game this season and does have star cornerback Josh Norman available to at least stick with Fitzgerald.

While it is almost unfair to ask a secondary to completely stop that receiving corps, especially with Palmer at quarterback, the thought here is Carolina’s offense will help its defense. Its rushing attack will control the clock and gradually pick up chunks of yardage, which will keep Palmer and his weapons on the sidelines.

The Cardinals have an impressive run defense, but Seattle’s was tops in the league this season. If it couldn’t slow down Stewart and Carolina, Arizona won’t either.

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos: Broncos’ Wide Receivers and Ability to Slow Down Gronk 

Manning is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the league, but at age 39, there is no question his arm strength and effectiveness are nowhere near where they used to be in his prime. That means his teammates will have to carry some of the offensive load against a Patriots team that has turned itself into a dynasty.

New England has four Super Bowl titles since 2001 and lost two more during that span. This is also the fifth straight year Brady’s team reached the conference title game, and it would prove incredibly difficult to knock it off even with Manning in his prime.

Wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders must find a way to make plays on 50-50 balls and rack up yardage after the catch against a Patriots secondary that was a middling 17th in the league in passing yards allowed per game this season.

They didn’t exactly do that in the first half against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, as Troy Renck of the Denver Post acknowledged:

On the other side, the Broncos need to at least slow down tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is nearly as important to New England’s offense as Brady himself. Football Outsiders ranked Denver as the eighth-best defense in the league against tight ends, although stopping the dominant Gronkowski is a different task entirely.

Even after he was limited or missing in action during practices throughout the week with an ailing knee, he racked up 83 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round. As if that wasn't enough, he recovered the onside kick in the final minutes that clinched the victory for the Patriots.

Gronkowski figures to be even more explosive in the AFC Championship Game as he continues to recover from his knee injury, and that is certainly concerning for the Broncos. He is a matchup nightmare and earned plenty of praise from Brady in the aftermath of Saturday’s win, per Kevin Dillon of MassLive.com:

"

I mean he's a tough matchup for everybody. He's got size and speed, so he's a tough match-up. He definitely made some big plays today. The touchdowns were big. It was a good defense. They were giving up 11 points a game in the last however many weeks, so we knew it was a challenge. They had a lot of good players, and I thought we just made a few more plays than they did.

"

If Denver can’t contain him, it will be forced to double, which opens up the underneath routes for Julian Edelman, who torched Kansas City for 10 catches and 100 yards, and Danny Amendola.

Brady will surely find them, and the Broncos offense will not be able to keep pace with a limited Manning.