NFL Playoffs 2017: Schedule and Predictions for Conference Championships

The divisional round of the NFL season is over, and the conference championships have been set. In less than seven full days, we'll know which two teams will be battling in Super Bowl LI.

Considering the quality of the four remaining playoff teams—the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons—that Super Bowl matchup is virtually guaranteed to be a tremendous one.

Today, we're going to look ahead at the final weekend of playoff football before the big game. We'll examine the schedule, the games and the latest storylines coming out of Divisional Round Weekend. We will also make our own predictions for the final results.

NFL Conference Championships

Time (ET)	Conf.	Game	National TV	Prediction
3:05 p.m.	NFC	Green Bay at Atlanta	Fox	34-32 GB
6:40 p.m.	AFC	Pittsburgh at New England	CBS	31-27 NE

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Top Quarterbacks Remaining

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league. If you had a dollar for every time you've heard or read this phrase, you might be in position to retire. While this has become a bit of a cliche statement, it's still one that holds true.

Consider that the four quarterbacks remaining in the postseason are four of the six quarterbacks named to the 2017 Pro Bowl. We'll be getting two very good quarterback duels—Ben Roethlisberger versus Tom Brady and Matt Ryan versus Aaron Rodgers.

Brady, Rodgers and Ryan were three of the top four quarterbacks rated by Pro Football Focus in the regular season. Roethlisberger wasn't as highly rated in the regular season (34th overall), though it's definitely worth noting that he played a portion of the year coming off a torn meniscus.

For fans of top-tier quarterback play, Championship Sunday is going to be a real treat.

Patriots Looking to Rebound

For as good as Tom Brady was in the regular season—Pro Football Focus rated him first among all quarterbacks—he was probably the least impressive off all winning quarterbacks on Divisional Round Weekend.

Brady was frequently pressured and flustered by the Houston Texans defense on Saturday. He ended up completing less than 50 percent of his passes, failing to throw for 300 yards and tossing two interceptions.

Brady only threw two interceptions throughout the regular season.

"We have to play better, we have to coach better than we did, or there won't be much left in our season," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said, per Associated Press sportswriter Kyle Hightower.

Part of the problem for New England was that the offensive line struggled against the Houston front. Brady was sacked twice and was hit several times more. As a team, the Patriots accomplished very little on the ground too. The team averaged just 3.6 yards per rushing play.

Similar problems could arise against the Steelers, who did an excellent job against the run on Sunday. Pittsburgh held the Kansas City Chiefs to just 61 yards rushing in the divisional round.

If the Patriots cannot produce some semblance of a strong rushing attack, the Steelers could get the opportunity to tee off on Brady the way the Texans did.

Steelers Defense on the Rise

Limiting the run against the Chiefs wasn't the only good thing the Steelers defense has done this postseason. Pittsburgh limited the Chiefs offense to just 227 yards of total net offense and a mere 16 points.

On Wild Card Weekend, the Steelers held the Miami Dolphins to 305 yards of total offense and just 12 points. This means Pittsburgh has held its two playoff opponents to just 28 combined points. The Steelers defense has also forced five turnovers so far in the postseason.

Pittsburgh has actually been showing improvement defensively since late in the regular season. During the team's seven-game winning streak to close out the regular season, the Steelers allowed just 17.3 points per game to the opposition.

That Steelers defense is now rated 10th overall by Pro Football Focus.

Pittsburgh's game plan against the Chiefs—focusing on playmakers Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce—is a strategy the Patriots might be able to carry into New England.

"It was a big focus trying to prevent their playmakers from making plays and just keeping them contained," said linebacker Bud Dupree, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com

The Patriots seem to have more pass-catching weapons—like Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Dion Lewis and Martellus Bennett—than the Chiefs do, but a similar principle could apply. A lot will depend on Pittsburgh's ability to slow LeGarrette Blount and the Patriots rushing attack.

If the Steelers can contain Blount and can force Brady into relying on his third and fourth reads, their defense could have another strong day.

Packers Continuing to Roll

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers won't be facing a defense that is exactly elite when they head into Atlanta to play the Falcons. However, they will be going up against the prolific offense of this NFL season. The Falcons averaged an NFL-best 33.8 points in the regular season and just dropped 36 points on the vaunted Seattle Seahawks defense.

The Packers might have to conjure up some magic in order to outpace the Falcons on the scoreboard. Fortunately, Rodgers and the Packers are no strangers to creating the unexpected.

The most recent example is the ridiculous pass and catch between Rodgers and tight end Jared Cook that set up the team's game-winning field goal as time expired. This tremendous play helped secure Green Bay's eighth straight victory.

A team that once sat at 4-6 and virtually out of the postseason is now just a win away from Super Bowl LI.

"We've obviously won a lot of games in a row," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said, via the team's official website. "And our focus is obviously now on to Atlanta and the goal that I think every team has when the season starts."

It's probably not a coincidence that the Packers and the Steelers are the only two road teams to win so far this postseason. Neither team has lost over the past two months and neither should be counted out on Championship Sunday.