NFL Playoff Scenarios: Projecting Most Likely Conference Championship Matchups

Just like in the regular season, anything can happen in the postseason. Just because the field has been whittled down to the 12 best teams in the NFL doesn't make it any easier to predict which teams will come out on top in their respective matchups.

But that doesn't mean we can't try. Here, I detail a few scenarios that seem the most likely to happen when it comes to the conference championship game for both the AFC and NFC.

AFC

New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens

Out of all the teams contending in the AFC playoffs this year, the New England Patriots are the heavy favorite to win-out.

Their high-powered offense, headed by Tom Brady and masterfully supported by tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and wide receiver Wes Welker, is one of the most productive and highest-scoring in the league.

In contrast, the Baltimore Ravens have one of the more middling offenses among AFC playoff teams, but they more than make up for it with their fierce, league-leading defense.

With the Ravens having dispatched every team save two projected to reach the postseason in the AFC, it seems likely they could end up battling it out against the Patriots for the right to reach the Super Bowl.

New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Though the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers twice in the regular season, the Steelers haven't yet been bested by the Ravens in the postseason.

Considering no team in the AFC has the extent of playoff experience the Steelers have, there's an equally good chance that the Steelers could be facing the New England Patriots in the conference championship as the Ravens have. 

The Steelers have defeated the Patriots already this season, doing so by containing quarterback Tom Brady and keeping their own strong offense on the field for as long as possible. It should be an interesting rematch if these two teams should meet again one stop short of the Super Bowl.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Though the New England Patriots have the AFC's top offense, they have the league's worst defense, which should pose more than a few problems to the team as they enter the playoffs.

If that defense costs their team a playoff win, then it seems quite probable that the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers would meet for the third time this year in the AFC championship game. 

The Ravens alone have the key to breaking down the Steelers' vaunted defense. Though the Ravens don't boast a flashy offense, they know just how to make the right plays at the right times to cripple the Steelers' chances to win.

However, the Steelers have the very same advantage over a Ravens team they've become quite familiar with over the years. If these two teams meet in the conference championship, it's going to be one of the hardest-hitting and intense playoff games of the season.

NFC

Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints

The NFC playoff picture is far different than that of the AFC's, with the conference's top teams boasting some seriously hefty offenses. Two of the biggest and baddest, belonging to the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints, could easily face one another in the NFC conference championship game.

The Saints and Packers met once already this year, in the season opener. That game was a shootout from the very first moment and ended in the final second with a failed one-yard run for a potential touchdown, handing the Saints their first of just three losses on the year.

The Packers hadn't lost a game until Week 15, when the Kansas City Chiefs were finally able to stop quarterback Aaron Rodgers while simultaneously exploiting the Packers' poor defense.

This game should be a shootout as well, and will likely again come down to the final seconds. It will be both exciting and compelling, the way an offense-heavy playoff game should be.

New Orleans Saints vs. San Francisco 49ers

There's a scenario I've played out in my mind a few times in the past weeks, one in which the San Francisco 49ers best the Green Bay Packers and reach the NFC championship game because of it. Thus, I have the Niners against the New Orleans Saints, not the Packers, as another likely conference championship matchup.

The 49ers have the strongest defense in the NFC and have the most total turnovers of any squad in the league. They have what it takes to put significant pressure on both the Packers' Aaron Rodgers and Saints quarterback Drew Brees in ways neither quarterback has experienced this season.

That 49ers pass rush will be the most valuable asset to the team in their playoff run this year, and I can easily see them matched up with the Saints, with the winner going on to the Super Bowl.

The Saints high-flying offense is in danger of being grounded by San Francisco's defense, while the New Orleans defense will have to hold fast against one of the more efficient and conservative offenses around.

This contest looks to be more of a chess match than a shootout or a defensively-minded, low-scoring slugfest. It's possible that we will see quite the cerebral NFC championship game this year.