NFL Conference Championship Predictions

January 16, 2007, 9:13 PM | 2 Comments

Last week’s divisional matches were as good as they come. All 4 games were both exciting and entertaining… and I picked 3 of the 4 correctly! I should’ve known not to pick against the Patriots in the post-season though. I wonder if I’ll learn my lesson…

This week brings us 2 great match-ups between 3 teams that were expected to be here when the season began, and one team that has emerged has “America’s new team” in the New Orleans Saints. One thing is for sure though, you couldn’t ask for better match-ups than the ones we’ll see take place on Sunday afternoon to determine who will be in Miami on February 4^th.

This week I’ll be taking another poll and in it I’d like to find out which Super Bowl you’d like to see. My ideal Super Bowl match-up now would have to be between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. First off, the Colts are my second favourite team and secondly, based on sheer entertainment value out of the 4 teams left, that’s the match that I think would be the best. So go ahead, let me know which teams you’d like to see in the Super Bowl, place your votes!

Here are my 2007 Conference Championship picks!

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Saints (11-7)	Bears (15-3)	See below:
Last week the Bears had a chance to prove to everyone that they really were as good as their record indicates. Well, they sure didn’t prove it to me. If anything they showed that they’re still a very beatable team. Rex Grossman didn’t lose the game last week, but he’s still got to play better if he expects the heavy scrutiny he’s been under lately to subside. The defense that the Bears have been famous for has really started to show their cracks during the last month or so and they’re in for a real tough test against the Saints. The Bears could win this game, they have the talent required and they’ve proven that they can grind out games and get a win in the end. What it’s going to take this week against New Orleans is zero mistakes. The New Orleans Saints have shocked everyone this season, including me. Sean Payton has done an absolutely incredible job this season and I’ve said it before, but he’s well deserving of that Coach of the Year award. The Saints are a picture of balance, and that’s what it will take to beat the Bears in Chicago on Sunday. They’ll need to have their defense play well enough to contain the Bears offense, put pressure on Grossman, and possibly cause a few turnovers. On offense, the Saints are probably going to need a few big plays, but the 2-tiered running attack of Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister should be able to provide that. Drew Brees’ experience at QB is big for this game and I’m expecting him to lead the Saints right to Miami. It’ll probably be a close game, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes down to the last drive for each team and in this situation I’d take Brees.
Patriots (14-5)	Colts (15-4)	See below:
Tom Brady. Bill Belichick. 12-1 in the playoffs. All I can say is that I wouldn’t want to have Tony Dungy’s job right now of trying to figure out a way to stop that machine. Last week the Patriots should have lost. Plain and simple they didn’t really deserve to win that game, but the Chargers let them off the hook and they took advantage of it. When Brady has his worst playoff performance of his career and throws 3 interceptions, most people would think that the Patriots were done. I have to give credit to the Patriots for never giving up in that game because some teams would have. In recent times, the Patriots haven’t had as much success against the Colts as they had a few years ago, but there’s no doubting that things are different when the match is in January. Even though it’s in Indianapolis, this game is very winnable for the Pats, however… As a Colts fan, I want to see Peyton Manning finally make it to the Super Bowl. As someone who analyzes football, I think this game for the Colts is probably a far better match-up than if the Chargers would’ve won last week in San Diego. They’ve played very well against the Patriots lately and are far more familiar with them than the Chargers. Indianapolis’ defense has really stepped up over the past couple of week and kept them in games and for once, Peyton Manning isn’t the one who has had to carry the entire team on his shoulders. Back in November, Manning and the Colts marched into Gillette Stadium in New England and handed the Patriots one of their 4 losses in a 27-20 victory. The Colts will have to build on that outing though because the Patriots are a different team when it comes to the playoffs. They’ll need to take a look at that game as well as what the Chargers did to the Patriots for the first 3 quarters of last week’s game if they expect to win. This is the time for the Colts and I can’t go back on my start of season prediction, so I have to pick the Colts this Sunday. Manning needs to win, or he’ll never shed his image of the greatest regular season QB to ever play.

Chances are high that I could go 0-2 with my predictions this Sunday, but it’s a risk that I have to take. Realistically, I’m expecting to go 1-1 because I think there’s one team that’s just ready to explode this weekend. Who that team is, I don’t know, but I can feel it, someone’s going to get embarrassed!

Here, once again, are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks. Check back later for updates and more thoughts on this weekend’s games.

Update: Well, I guess I was right about one team getting embarrassed, I just didn’t think it would be the Saints. New Orleans played well for the first half of the game, but just seemed like they gave up when the game got out of reach. What a great game the Patriots/Colts match was! Finally Manning, Dungy and the Colts are going to the Super Bowl and have lifted that enormous monkey gorilla off their collective backs. Just as I expected I would, I went 1-1 with my picks this weekend to bring my playoff total up to 8-2. My Super Bowl pick will be coming next week, so stay tuned.

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