Super Bowl 2016: Updated Odds and Predictions Ahead of AFC, NFC Championships

There will be no dark-horse run to the Super Bowl in 2016. Following a divisional round that featured an instant classic, an epic near-comeback and two other one-score games, it's the first and second seeds in the 2016 NFL playoffs left to contest the AFC and NFC championships.

The divisional round began with No. 2 New England's 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, a victory sealed by a Julian Edelman tip-drill reception for a first down late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots will travel to Mile High Stadium to take on the top-seeded Denver Broncos, who edged out a banged-up Pittsburgh Steelers team 23-16 on Sunday.

NFC's Saturday game was the aforementioned classic. No. 2 Arizona took down Green Bay 26-20 in overtime in a thrilling contest that saw Aaron Rodgers complete his second Hail Mary in the last six weeks, only to be outdone by a just-as-epic catch-and-run by Larry Fitzgerald on either side of a botched coin flip. Sheer madness.

The Cardinals will hit the road next week to the home of the one-loss Carolina Panthers, who stormed out to a 31-0 halftime lead over the Seattle Seahawks, only to let their opponents make it game again late before sealing a 31-24 victory.

Here are the odds, schedule and quick-hit predictions for the AFC and NFC championship games. Odds are courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Monday, January 18 at 1 p.m. ET.

Sunday, January 24
Time (ET)	Away	Home	Over-Under	TV	Live Stream
3:05 p.m.	New England Patriots (-3.5)	Denver Broncos	44.5	CBS	CBSSports.com
6:40 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals	Carolina Panthers (-3)	47	FOX	FoxSportsGo

New England Patriots (13-4) vs. Denver Broncos (13-4)

Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. Something tells me I've seen this before. Ah, ESPN has it:

Despite being the lower-seeded away team, New England is favored over Denver in this game. It's easy to see why, as the Patriots offense was healthy and in excellent form on Saturday. Edelman made a triumphant return after a long injury absence, catching 10 passes for 100 yards. If Rob Gronkowski's knee was bothering him, you couldn't tell from his two-touchdown performance. 

Brady picked apart a Kansas City defense that had been one of the league's best this year, even without any semblance of a run game.

Denver's own defense is a cut above Kansas City's, so the disappointing performance of Steven Jackson and Co. on the ground will be cause for concern in this game. The Broncos have a fantastic pass rush and two elite cornerbacks in Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib. A little more balance would be nice, but the offense doesn't necessarily even need to be firing on all cylinders to win this one.

Manning was underwhelming against Pittsburgh, completing 56 percent of his passes for 222 yards and no scores. While it's nice that he managed to get through the game without tossing a pick, his performance doesn't bode well for Sunday.

The Broncos will rely heavily on C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. It worked well when Denver beat New England 30-24 on November 29, but the Patriots did have to deal with a competent, mobile Brock Osweiler in that game. The Patriots run defense should also be in better shape this time out, per ESPN.com's Mike Reiss: 

"

The Patriots surrendered 179 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries to the Broncos on Nov. 29, one of their worst performances of the season. Their tackling in the secondary has improved since that game, and another part of that was not having starting linebacker Jamie Collins [illness] and then losing starting linebacker Dont’a Hightower late in the second quarter. There’s reason to think they’ll be better this time around, even with the health status of Collins an unknown [back injury], as Hightower is back in the middle and a difference-maker.

"

While the Broncos could bleed New England out with tough defense and a strong run game, there's no guarantee Manning will hold up his end of the bargain. The Pats will win the turnover battle and do enough on offense to win the game.

Prediction: New England 23, Denver 17

Arizona Cardinals (14-3) vs. Carolina Panthers (16-1)

While Brady vs. Manning in a monster game is hardly anything new, the two quarterbacks contesting the NFC championship will actually be making history on Sunday. Carson Palmer vs. Cam Newton is a playoff first for two signal-callers that happen to have won one of college football's most prestigious awards, per Bleacher Report:

Carolina's tale of two halves in the divisional round makes it a tough team to peg going up against Arizona's own juggernaut. An opportunistic defense and strong running from Jonathan Stewart powered the Panthers to their huge first-half advantage. Little was asked of Cam Newton, as he totaled just 161 passing yards and one touchdown for the entire game. 

They did nothing on offense in the second half, and the defense completely let up and allowed Russell Wilson to have his way with the secondary. It's sure to lead to questions about their tenacity and ability to hold off a multifaceted Cardinals attack on Sunday, but they've been facing doubts all season long. 

“At the beginning of the season, nobody gave us a chance except for the guys in this room, and it was like that throughout the year,” said fullback Mike Tolbert, per Ken Belson of the New York Times. “We didn’t listen to it, and this pretty much puts a stamp on the type of team we are.”

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Holding Marshawn Lynch to 20 yards on six carries should give the Panthers hope against Arizona. David Johnson is averaging just 2.3 yards per carry over his last two games. Turning Arizona into a one-note offense could prove successful, considering Palmer's shaky play against the Packers.

Palmer was definitely off his game in the divisional round. He made several questionable or inaccurate throws, two of which resulted in interceptions. One of his touchdown passes was pure, dumb luck. Still, he made several great throws when it counted, and 349 passing yards is nothing to sneeze at in the playoffs.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

He'll have to be much sharper against Carolina. Luke Kuechly is always lurking on the underneath routes, and Josh Norman can and will make him pay for his mistakes. Lucky for him in that Fitzgerald had one of his best-ever games on Sunday, and Michael Floyd continued to produce with two touchdown receptions. Johnson too made his mark in the passing game, with six reception for 43 yards.

The Panthers have talent at every level of defense, but few teams have been able to keep all the Cardinals contained for four quarters this year.

This game really feels like it's going to come down to the wire. While the youthful, exuberant Newton might get the Panthers off to another hot start, Palmer and Fitzgerald will recognize this year as a potential last chance at a Super Bowl ring and lead the team to a late victory.

Prediction: Arizona 27, Carolina 24