Super Bowl 2017: Date, Schedule and Predicting Teams for NFL Championship Game

The participants who have earned entry to the NFC and AFC Championship Games that will take place on Sunday, January 22, have been decided, and it's only natural to start predicting what the final combination of teams that will advance to Super Bowl LI will be. 

In the NFC, the red-hot Green Bay Packers will have to see if their momentum can carry them past the Atlanta Falcons, who had the highest-scoring offense in the league in the regular season with their 33.8 points per game.

Meanwhile, in the AFC, the Pittsburgh Steelers will see if their Big Three of Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell can provide them with enough firepower to sneak by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, a tall order at Gillette Stadium. 

Which teams will advance to the Super Bowl? We'll make some predictions below, as well as go over all the essential information for tuning into the NFL's 51st championship game. 

Date	Location	TV	Time
Patriots Odds	Steelers Odds	Falcons Odds	Packers Odds
Sunday, Feb. 5	NRG Stadium, Houston, TX	Fox	6:30 p.m. ET
+150	+425	+260	+375

Super Bowl LI Prediction 

New England Patriots vs. Green Bay Packers

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Admit it: This is a Super Bowl matchup you've been wanting to see since Aaron Rodgers came onto the scene. And with Tom Brady's years in the NFL coming to a close, this may be our last chance to see the matchup play out on the big stage. 

Atlanta is favored over Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game by 5.5 points, and there's no question that the Packers need to be firing on all cylinders if they have any hope of beating the NFC heavyweight Falcons. 

For so many games this season, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense have been able to compensate for the shortcomings of the secondary, which has given up big yards this season and postseason.

But that strategy is going to be difficult to enact against the Falcons and their scoring ability. Given how deadly each quarterback's arm is, this game could easily turn into a shootout.

However, given the playmaking ability that Rodgers brings with his legs, as well as his uncanny ability to either throw a touchdown pass or set up a field goal at exactly the necessary time, it's hard to bet against him in that matchup. 

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

If the Packers advance, they'll more than likely meet the Patriots. Make no mistake: The Steelers offense is deadly, and if the Patriots' unit looks the way it did on Saturday against the Houston Texans, New England will be in big trouble. 

But New England, for the first time in years, has a legitimate feature back in LeGarrette Blount, so it can match the one-two punch that is the Steelers' Roethlisberger and Bell.

If the Packers and Patriots meet in Houston in February, it will only be the third time the two teams have played one another since Rodgers took over as the Packers' starter. These unfamiliar opponents are built similarly, but their defenses have differed wildly this season.

The Patriots featured the best scoring defense in the league in the regular season and could give the Packers serious trouble if the two teams meet on the national stage on February 5. 

Odds via OddsShark and current as of Jan. 16.