NFL Playoff Preview 2016: Previewing the Conference Championships

The 2016 NFL playoffs are living up to the high expectations of fans.

The four best teams are left standing as we move from the divisional round to the conference championships next weekend. And the winners of those two games will compete in Super Bowl 50 on February 7.

There’s a lot to unpack from the divisional round before we jump forward to next week.

The NFC had two wildly different games. While the Carolina Panthers defeated the Seattle Seahawks after getting off to a big first-half lead, the Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers shared one of the most thrilling playoff games in recent memory.

The AFC featured two quality games, starting with the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. New England played as if it were Week 8 of the regular season again, when the team was 8-0 and beating down every opponent. The Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers had a close, last-minute ending that led to the Broncos retaining home-field advantage with a victory.

We’re going to break down the four remaining teams then preview Sunday’s showdowns. Who will make it to the Super Bowl? Make sure to leave your prediction in the comments section below.

AFC Playoff Seeding

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

AFC No. 1 Seed: Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos withstood the Pittsburgh Steelers’ best shot and pulled out a 23-16 victory.

Denver needed the entire game to beat Pittsburgh, which was surprising considering the numerous key injuries affecting the Steelers. The Broncos must be worried about the quality of football they played off a bye week.

With the Patriots up next, Denver has to find a way to be more explosive and consistent on offense. Quarterback Peyton Manning had just 222 yards on 37 passing attempts. His receivers need to help him, though, as they dropped several passes that hit them directly in the hands.

The positive for Denver is it advanced.

It wasn’t pretty, but style points don’t matter at this stage. With home-field advantage in their favor and a fairly healthy roster, the Broncos must remain opportunistic to defeat New England. In a 30-24 victory over the Patriots in Week 12, Denver got a big performance from running back C.J. Anderson.

Someone must come through for Denver’s offense this time around. Relying on Manning to carry it may not be enough for a victory.

AFC No. 2 Seed: New England Patriots

The New England Patriots made a strong statement after a bye week. Their 27-20 win against Kansas City on Saturday wasn’t as close as the score suggests, as their 21-6 lead held late into the third quarter. It never felt like the Chiefs had a realistic chance to win.

Instead of using the running game they prioritized in Week 17, the Patriots began the game with 14 straight throws. The pass-heavy attack worked well, and the Chiefs recorded zero sacks and interceptions. It turns out the return of receiver Julian Edelman and a healthier Rob Gronkowski were the differences for this team.

Moving forward, the Patriots should be considered the AFC favorite. This is a versatile team that will outgame-plan every coaching staff it faces. So it boils down to execution. As well as the Broncos have played this season, it’s hard to go against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

The Patriots’ defense deserves credit as well. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has been phenomenal working with this collection of talent. There were many questions surrounding the secondary entering the season, but the scheme Patricia designed reduced the pressure on these young players.

NFC Playoff Seeding

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NFC No. 1 Seed: Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers made their presence felt with an impressive victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Carolina jumped out to a 31-0 lead by halftime and ended up winning a close game despite a late rally from Seattle. It was an efficient performance from Carolina—and a total team effort.

Working off a playmaking defense, Carolina’s offense needed just 295 total yards to put this game away. Quarterback Cam Newton completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. A more explosive attack would have saved the Panthers some nervousness toward the end of the game, but they got the job done.

What makes Carolina so dangerous is its talented defense. The Panthers don't have to blitz often, as their defensive line is good at reaching the quarterback with four rushers. Along with an athletic linebacker unit, this front seven is special.

The big question about Carolina is the offense. If the defense doesn’t force turnovers, can the offense survive a shootout with Arizona?

NFC No. 2 Seed: Arizona Cardinals

Coming off one of the most entertaining fourth-quarter and overtime sequences in NFL playoff history, the Arizona Cardinals have that team-of-destiny feel to them.

Larry Fitzgerald’s brilliant performance was probably the biggest reason Arizona is in the conference championship. Fitzgerald finished with eight receptions, 176 yards and one touchdown.

But Arizona looked rusty outside of Fitzgerald.

Green Bay's defense did have a solid showing, but Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer missed several routine passes that could have blown the game open. The Cardinals need Palmer to play at his usual MVP-candidate level to beat the Carolina Panthers.

This Arizona defense played well until the final Green Bay drive, which bodes well moving forward.

Holding opponents to 20 points allows the powerful Cardinals offense to be in the middle of any game. The only worry is the defense's inconsistent pass rush. The team tends to blitz the quarterback, which puts immense pressure on its secondary.

Arizona features several complementary pass-rushers such as Markus Golden and Dwight Freeney. If those two can carry the pass-rush load and allow this secondary to be more balanced in its play-calling, then the odds of success will only rise.

As talented as Arizona's secondary is, the margin for error is significant when blitzing. 

AFC Conference Matchups

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New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

The last time these teams played, the Denver Broncos gave the Patriots their first loss of the season. At 10-1, New England didn’t look like the same team as it had in previous weeks. Health was a big reason, but now the Patriots have their best players back and making a huge difference.

New England’s impressive win against Kansas City was not only a sign the Patriots are going to be a handful to deal with but also indicates that an elite defense may not be able to stop them. The Broncos’ defense matches up well with New England’s offense, but can the Broncos offense score 30 points if it needs to?

That’s the big issue for Denver heading into this game.

One problem that emerged in the divisional round was the numerous dropped passes. According to Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post, head coach Gary Kubiak knows this was a major roadblock for the offense last week, and it cannot continue. "We were struggling because we didn't catch the ball," Kubiak said. "We would have had a really big first half."

The running game continues to elude the Broncos, but that cannot be the case in this matchup. New England’s passing defense is predicated on excellent front seven play and getting just enough from the secondary. While Denver is deep with talented receivers, the trigger man for the offense is who will ultimately determine whether it has a chance to win this game.

Statistically, the Patriots' offense is much more powerful. This is a top-six offense overall that finished third in scoring offense. The Broncos can't compete if this game becomes a back-and-forth scoring-fest. Denver was 19th in scoring after its offense stumbled through the second half of the season. 

Denver's No. 1-ranked defense must have a huge performance. Forcing turnovers is hard against New England, which finished with the fewest giveaways in the NFL. If the defense can give the offense more advantageous field position, that may help Denver score. If not, the Patriots' top-10 defense can stifle an already-struggling offense. 

Prediction: New England 27, Denver 17

NFC Conference Matchups

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Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

We’re in for a special matchup on the NFC side as well.

The Arizona Cardinals will look to dethrone the No. 1 overall seed, the Carolina Panthers, who are coming off an impressive 31-24 win against the Seahawks.

The Panthers are at home again this week, and Arizona will be tasked with fighting the colder climate and a high-energy crowd. While Carolina is undefeated at home this season, the Cardinals have been excellent on the road, posting a 7-1 record. We’re definitely looking at the two best overall teams in this conference.

They greatly differ in styles, though. Both teams ranked in the top four of time of possession on offense. Outside of that, the only other comparison is each has a top-five quarterback.

Carolina ran the ball the second-most times this season, with a healthy 50.4 percent of its plays being runs. Using Newton and Jonathan Stewart as their primary rushers, the Panthers force defenses to stay honest while watching plays unfold. They don’t put too much pressure on a fairly limited group of playmakers around Newton in the passing game.

Arizona is balanced as well, running the ball 42.66 percent of the time. But it has a dangerous passing attack with a deep receiving core. Even running back David Johnson is a legitimate receiving threat, as he’s tallied 457 receiving yards on 36 receptions. The Cardinals stretch defenses vertically unlike any other team.

Expect Carson Palmer to be aggressive from the jump. According to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com, Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians wants Palmer to go downfield often.

"He picked a lot of shorter completions early instead of going for them like we normally do," Arians said. "I think that was part of ‘I don’t want to screw this up.’

"Now that we don’t have to worry about that anymore we can go back to being ourselves."

Both defenses are deep with talent from the front seven to the secondary. But they do the job differently. Carolina allows its linebackers to drop into coverage to support the cornerbacks on underneath routes, which suffocates passing attacks by covering a great amount of space quickly. This defense has forced the most turnovers in the NFL, with 39.

Arizona blitzes early and often. This creates chaos around the pocket, and the Cardinals have the secondary to capitalize on poor passing decisions. The defense is riskier but has been effective in forcing turnovers as well, ranking second with 33 takeaways. 

Prediction: Arizona 31, Carolina 28

Injury Notes

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

AFC

• Chris Harris Jr. of the Denver Broncos entered the divisional round with a shoulder injury, and he may have aggravated it Sunday. According to NFL Network’s James Palmer, Harris said his shoulder is worse than that of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Harris' status for next week is unknown.
• According to Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post, Broncos’ return man Omar Bolden suffered a non-contact knee injury. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, and his status for next week is unknown.
• Chandler Jones of the New England Patriots left the game Saturday with a right leg injury. New England's leading sacker was impactful against Kansas City, totaling one sack and a forced fumble. His status is uncertain for next week.
• Linebackers Jamie Collins and Jerod Mayo each left the game against the Chiefs in the third quarter. Collins’ back and Mayo’s shoulder injuries led to questionable-return announcements from the team, so their injuries may not be severe. Right now, their status is unknown.

NFC

• Carolina tight end Greg Olsen left the game against Seattle in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury. He said after the game it was a “burner,”per Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer, and is expected to play this week.
• Panthers’ defensive end Jared Allen broke his foot against the Seahawks and will be re-evaluated Monday, per ESPN Panthers writer David Newton. 

Odds and Ends

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• Will the AFC conference championship round be the final Peyton Manning and Tom Brady showdown? I believe so. Manning isn’t the same player he once was, but he will be looking to beat Brady one last time. This duo is 2-2 against each other in the NFL playoffs. 
• Manning and Brady are the two oldest quarterbacks in the playoffs. They couldn’t be trending in more opposite directions, though. Manning had a 74.4 passer rating against Pittsburgh, while Brady posted a 103.5 rating against Kansas City.
• The gamesmanship has already started between the Broncos and Patriots. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Broncos' linebacker Brandon Marshall said Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski gets open for one reason.
  “I say ’cause he pushes off,” Marshall said. “I mean, he pushes off and he gets away with it about 98 percent of the time.”
• New England is advancing to its fifth-consecutive AFC championship. This marks only the second time that's ever been done. The Oakland Raiders are the only other franchise to accomplish this same feat.
• When the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers face off, this will be the first time two Heisman-winning quarterbacks will meet in the NFL playoffs. Cam Newton won the award in 2010; Carson Palmer in 2002.
• This will be the third time since 2008 the Panthers have hosted the Cardinals in the playoffs. Arizona defeated Carolina 33-13 in 2008 in the divisional round. In 2014, the Panthers defeated the Cardinals 27-16 in the Wild Card Round.

All stats used are from sports-reference.com.

Ian Wharton is an NFL Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. 

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