NFL Playoff Bracket 2018: AFC, NFC Championship Picture, Odds and Predictions

The Jacksonville Jaguars were given no chance to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by many handicappers and observers.

They managed to quiet their critics with a 45-42 victory in Sunday's divisional playoff game. However, the Jaguars will likely hear from the same critics as they prepare for the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots.

Jacksonville safety Barry Church said his team took inspiration from hearing the talk that it had no chance to beat the Steelers.

"We knew we had this team's number," Church said, per Stats AP (h/t CBS Sports). "'All we did was feed on the fuel that everybody was providing, the media, everybody was talking about how they're going to run through us, it's not going to be like last (time). Blake Bortles this. Blake Bortles that. All he did was dominate their defense."

Conference Championships

Game: Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots

Date: January 21 at 3:05 p.m. ET

TV: CBS

Spread: Patriots -9.5

Game: Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles

Date: January 21 at 6:40 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

Spread: Vikings -3.5

The Patriots are making their seventh consecutive AFC title game appearance, and they opened as 8.5-point favorites, according to OddsShark, and the line quickly moved to 9.5 points.

The Patriots disposed of the Tennessee Titans 35-14 in their divisional playoff game Saturday night. The Titans opened the scoring with a first-quarter touchdown, but Tom Brady and the New England offense took over after that, scoring the next five touchowns to put the game away.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

The Patriots' defense has been much maligned this season, but that unit came up with eight sacks in the win over the Titans and is playing much better than it did in the first month of the season.

New England was playing the worst defense in the league at that point, but they have gotten steadily better since then. The performance against the Titans was arguably their best defensive showing of the year.

While they finished the regular season ranking 28th yards allowed, the Patriots allowed 17 points or fewer in 11 of their last 13 games.

That's the key to defensive coordinator Matt Patricia's defense. He is far more concerned with the numbers on the scoreboard than he is with the yardage given up between the 20-yard lines.

The Jaguars have taken dramatic steps up the NFL ladder this year, and while quarterback Blake Bortles is clearly improved and rookie Leonard Fournette is a formidable running back, it is the Jacksonville defense that is likely to cause the most problems for the Patriots.

Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue combined for 26.5 sacks, and if the Jaguars are going to give the Patriots a battle, they will have to figure out a way to get to Brady.

The Philadelphia Eagles will host the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC title game Sunday, and the Vikings may finally come back down to earth by the time that game kicks off.

The Vikings scored on the final play of the game against the New Orleans Saints as quarterback Case Keenum tossed up a prayer and wide receiver Stefon Diggs turned it into a 61-yard miracle touchdown that gave Minnesota a 29-24 triumph.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Keenum was hoping to throw a pass toward the sidelines that would allow Diggs to catch it and step out of bounds so placekicker Kai Forbath could attempt a game-winning field goal. However, when New Orleans defensive back Marcus Williams failed to tackle Diggs, the receiver raced into the end zone and the Vikings had their victory.

"I'm just thankful," Diggs said, per Stats AP (h/t CBS Sports). "They count us out all the time. Nobody thinking we can do it. This game was over. I don't stop playing till the clock hit zero. That's it."

The Eagles had beaten the Atlanta Falcons 15-10 in Saturday's divisional playoff game, and since they had earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC, they get to host the conference title game. 

The Vikings are 3.5-point road favorites, according to OddsShark.

Predictions

It looked like the Patriots and the Steelers would have an epic battle for the AFC title. However, the Jaguars refused to play the role of punching bags, and they eliminated Pittsburgh on the road.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Now they get to try to do the same thing to Brady and New England. While the Jaguars have played admirably all season, the Patriots have too many offensive weapons. Jacksonville will not be able to contain Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola, Brandin Cooks or Chris Hogan.

New England will win the game and cover the 9.5-point spread, and the Patriots will try to win their sixth Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick-Brady era.

The Vikings have a history of hard-luck losses, but they turned it around after Diggs' amazing catch and run for the winning touchdown. 

They appear to have the more complete team since Keenum is functioning quite well, while Philadelphia backup quarterback Nick Foles appears somewhat erratic.

The Eagles will try to counter Keenum with a strong defense, but the Vikings have the No. 1 defense in the league and should be able to handle the Philadelphia offense.

Minnesota wins the NFC title game and will host New England in Super Bowl LII.