We now know that next Sunday at 2 pm, the Seattle Seahawks will welcome the Green Bay Packers to town for the NFC title game. I think it goes without saying that the reigning champion Seahawks will enter this game as favorites. They're home, where they are money. They're the reigning champions and top seeds. They have the best defense in football. Basically everything leans their way, but the most important piece is probably that Aaron Rodgers calf injury will not be 100% healed by next week, so he will have limited mobility again. Rodgers and his Packers showed a ton of heart in their win over Dallas though, and he actually may have an easier time in slightly warmer Seattle of getting loose. It's hard to count him out ever.
When that fun is done, up in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will welcome Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. Again, I don't think you can say the Patriots are not the favorites. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are coming into their 9th AFC title game, of which they have won five of the first eight already, not to mention their three Super Bowl rings together. Their thrilling win over Mr. Clutch, Joe Flacco, is an instant classic of a football game that won't be forgotten anytime soon. On the other side is the most hyped young quarterback since... Peyton Manning.... in Andrew Luck, the guy who replaced Manning. This is his first AFC title game of what should be many. The Colts dominated the Broncos in the divisional round in a way that has people smelling an upset here.
Both of these games were played in the regular season, and the top-seeds won both games. Both games were also an eternity ago. So, will either switch? Despite having got all four games right this week, I'm not sure. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on Seattle and New England winning. I'm really uncertain of either though. It's awful hard to bet against Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck at this point. I'll be that fool who does so.
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