J-Speaks: NFC and AFC Championship Game Previews

On Sunday four NFL teams will battle in their respective conference’s championship games for the right to represent said conference in Super Bowl LI. In the National Football Conference (NFC) at 3 p.m. we have a matchup that will feature but two of the hottest quarterbacks who have been giving defenses the blues, especially in recent weeks with one trying to lead his team back to the Super Sunday for the first time in five seasons while the other signal caller is trying to advance his team to the big game for the first time since the 1998 season. In the American Football Conference (AFC) at 6:40 p.m. we have a clash between two teams trying to make some history with the gentlemen from nearby Boston, MA trying to advance to Super Sunday for the second time in the last three seasons and their opponent trying to advance to the big day for the first time since winning it all back in the 2005 season.

NFC Championship Game: Green Bay Packers versus Atlanta Falcons

The NFC title clash to see who goes to the Super Bowl features two teams with quarterbacks that have been lighting up defenses in recent weeks and who in their Week 8 clash at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA went blow for blow before the home team pulled a rabbit out of their hat to take the contest.

In that Week 8 matchup with the NFC South Division champion Atlanta Falcons (12-5 including the playoffs) on Oct. 30, 2016, the Green Bay Packers (12-6) signal caller Aaron Rodgers was 28 for 38 passing for 246 yards, throwing four touchdowns and no interceptions. His counterpart MVP candidate Matt Ryan was equally spectacular going 28 for 35 passing for 288 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions.

It was Ryan who would have the final say in this back-and-forth with a 11-yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Sanu to cap a 11-play 75-yard drive that took 3:27 and gave the Falcons a 33-32 win over the NFC North champions.

That began a four-game slide for the Packers, with their fourth in a row coming at the Washington Redskins (8-7-1) 42-24.

Since then, the NFC North champs, who captured their fourth Division crown in the last five seasons, including the postseason have won eight straight games and their last contest was one for the history books.

Trailing 21-3 in the second period, the NFC East champion and No. 1 overall seeded Dallas Cowboys (12-5) made a major comeback that was capped by a seven-yards score by wide receiver Dez Bryant, which capped an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive that nodded the score at 28-28.

After a 56-yard field goal by Packers place kicker Mason Crosby that gave them a 31-28 lead, Rookie of the Year candidate Dak Prescott drove the Cowboys to within field goal range and Cowboys’ place kicker Dan Bailey tied it up at 31-31.

Down to basically their last chance in regulation, Rodgers threw a 36-yard pass to the tight end Jared Cook, who made a toe-dragging catch on the sideline in Cowboys territory and Crosby won the game with a 51-yard field goal as time expired.

That throw from Rodgers to Cook came on third-and-20 with 12 seconds left in the game was as great as Rodgers 21 touchdown passes he has had during this eight-game winning streak, with just one interception.

“When you get to this point. When you’ve reeled off a lot [wins] in a row, the expectation changes from, ‘We’re going to be competitive to, we’re going to win and it’s a dangerous mindset for a team to get into,” Rodgers said of his team’s hot streak.

In the case of the Falcons, they were trying to silence some playoff demons that have plagued them since not making the postseason since 2012.

In their Divisional matchup against the NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks, Ryan was remarkable going 26 for 37 passing for 338 yards, throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions in the 36-20 versus the Seahawks (11-5-1), avenging their 26-24 setback in the Pacific Northwest to their visitors during the regular season.

Unlike years past, Ryan had a lot of help. Running backs Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman were remarkable combining for 102 yards on the ground on 25 carries and a touchdown. Freeman was spectacular as well in the passing game catching four for 80 yards and catch a touchdown pass capping a 13-play 75-yard drive in the third quarter that gave the Falcons a 26-10 lead. That drive capped a second quarter in which the Falcons outscored the Seahawks 19-3 and never looked back.

While the offense was humming as it has all season long for the Falcons, it was their much- maligned defense that really made a statement last weekend.

Seahawks signal caller Russell Wilson despite throwing for 225 yards and two touchdowns, was sacked three times in the contest and threw two interceptions.

Things will be a lot different in the rematch between the two on Sunday afternoon. For starters, the Packers have some injury issues as the wide receiver trio of Jordy Nelson (97 catches, 1,257 yards, 14 TDs), Davante Adams (75 catches, 997 yards, 12 TDs) and Geronimo Allison are all questionable because of injury. Nelson, who has all been battling the flu, is very unlikely of the three to play because of a rib injury he sustained in the team’s 38-13 win in the Wild Card Round versus the New York Giants (11-6) two weeks back.

That means the Packers defense is going to have to find a way to put up a serious road block against the offensive attack of the Falcons, who led the NFL with 540 points scored in the regular season, which is also a franchise record.

That side of the ball is limping coming in as well as safety Morgan Burnett has been dealing with a quadriceps injury.

On top of that, the Packers ground game has been reduced to them using wide receiver Ty Montgomery as their ace ball carrier. In fact, he led the team in rushing in the regular season with 457 yards, scoring three times. Rodgers finished second on the team in rushing with 369 yards and a team-leading four scores.

For the Falcons, their defense is going to face their biggest test of the season who lowest scoring output during their eight-game winning streak came in Week 13 back on Dec. 4, 2016 versus the AFC South champion Houston Texans (10-8), when they won 21-13.

They put up 38 points versus the Seahawks in a 38-10 home win one week later. That was followed by a 30-27 win at the division rival Chicago Bears (3-13) in Week 15 on Dec. 18, 2016 and 38 points in a 38-25 win versus the Minnesota Vikings (8-8) on Christmas Eve in Week 17.

In this stretch of games, Rodgers has thrown 21 touchdowns and just one interception, which came last week at the Cowboys.

“There has been a shift and there has been a shift and there has been a jump in his play,” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said on Friday about the out of this world play of Rodgers.

“The biggest thing for this game is just to get pressure on him,” Rookie safety out of Florida Keanu Neal said on Friday about defending Rodgers. “Get him off his spot and pasture on the back end. He makes the impossible plays. He’s scrambling. Throwing the ball across his body and throws it on a dime.”

For the Falcons and how their offense, they must be able to be in attack mode like they have all season long. Why is that important?

In the last six seasons, no team that lead the NFL in total points in the regular season won a Super Bowl. The Falcons have a chance to change that tomorrow afternoon.

“In our room, we set a standard. We’re going to hit people in the mouth. We’re going to go out there and just compete,” Falcons wideout Julio Jones said on Friday.

To put the history of the two teams in their playoff history into perspective, the Packers will come into this game looking to add to their storied history by trying to win their 13^th playoff game on the road. The 12 they have coming in is the most in NFL history.

For the Falcons, this will be their fourth NFC Championship Game appearance. Their last one was back on Jan. 20, 2013 where they lost 28-24 versus the San Francisco 49ers, who lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl two weeks later.

For the Falcons and for Ryan, who is now 2-4 in his playoff career, they will be looking to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since Jan. 31, 1999 when they lost to eventual Hall of Famer John Elway and the Denver Broncos 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami, FL.

The Packers, who are making their first NFC title appearance since the 2014 season, when they fell at the Seahawks 28-22 in overtime. They are looking to make an appearance in the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2010 season when they beat the Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV.

You can see all the action in the final game in the history of the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA at 3 p.m. EST on FOX.

AFC Championship Game: Pittsburgh Steelers versus New England Patriots

The AFC title game features two teams that will be trying to make NFL history and get one step closer to adding another Vince Lombardi Trophy. This is also a rematch from earlier in the season in which the AFC East champions took down the AFC North champions on their field and the Steelers will be looking to return the favor. This is also a matchup of two teams where it is strength versus strength in terms of playoff history.

For the Steelers (12-5), they are 5-2 on the road in the postseason since two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger has been under center for them.

For the Patriots (15-2), they are 19-4 all-time at home in their history, which includes a 16-3 mark in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era.

Brady himself has built a whole other career in the postseason ranking first in wins with 23. He is the all-time leader in postseason completions with 756; in postseason passing yards with 7,844; postseason passing touchdowns with 58 and in 300-yards passing games in the playoffs with 10.

Brady is also the all-time leader in NFL postseason history with 32 starts, compiling a 23- record, which includes the previous mentioned record of 16-3 at home.

To further illustrate how great he has been, Brady has more postseason wins that 22 current NFL franchises have all-time.

“That’s a very dynamic duo when talking about Bill Belichick and Tom Brady,” Steelers safety Mike Mitchell said earlier in the week.”

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin concurred by saying of Tom Brady, who threw 28 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions in the regular season, “You can’t talk about those guys without talking about Tom Brady, but I don’t talk exclusively about Tom Brady. He is a great player, but they are a great team.”

The Patriots are also 3-1 lifetime in the postseason against the Steelers, including 2-0 in the AFC Championship Game. The last meeting with the AFC crown on the line took place in Roethlisberger’s Rookie season at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA on Jan. 23, 2005 and the Pats won 41-27.

“Awesome challenge we got to go play them. Kind of ‘the team to beat,’” Roethlisberger said on Friday about facing the Patriots on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.

The two teams met back in Week 7 on Oct. 23, 2016 and the Pats slowed down the high-powered Steelers 27-16.

The Steelers signal caller on that day was Roethlisberger’s understudy Landry Jones, who played okay going 29 for 47 passing for 281 yards, a touchdown pass and an interception.

The Patriots in that contest rushed for 140 yards and held the Steelers to just 94 on the ground, with running back Le’Veon Bell managing just 81 yards on 21 carries.

The Patriots scored three touchdowns on all three chances in the red zone, while the Steelers scored just one touchdown on their four red zone possessions. The Pats also were flagged for just four penalties for 40 yards while the Steelers were flagged 10 times for 85 yards.  

Brady on that afternoon was an efficient 19 for 26 for 222 yards passing, two touchdowns and no interceptions and now sacks.

Since their 35-30 setback in Week 10 on Nov. 13, 2016 versus the Cowboys that brought their record to 4-5, the Steelers have not lost winning seven straight games to close the season.

In their Wild Card matchup versus the Miami Dolphins two weeks back, the dynamic “Killer B’s” of Roethlisberger, Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown played in their first playoff game together and made it one to remember.

Roethlisberger was okay going 13 for 18 for 197 yards passing and two touchdowns, with both going to Brown, who had five catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers beat the Dolphins (10-7) 30-12. Both of Browns scores, a 50-yarder and a 62 yarder came in the opening quarter.

Bell, who was sidelined the last two Januarys for the Steelers playoff runs because of injury, set a postseason franchise record with 167 yards rushing and two scores.

The defense for the Steelers, which has gotten better as the season has gone on registered five sacks and forced three turnovers. They also held the Dolphins, who had 222 yards on the ground in that 30-15 win back in Week 6 on Oct. 16, 2016, to just 52 on 21 rush attempts. That equates to just 2.5 yards per carry.

To put this into perspective, the Steelers have led the NFL in sacks since Week 11 with 31.

Last Sunday night in the Divisional Round at the Kansas City Chiefs, the Steelers after giving up a five-yard touchdown score to wideout Albert Wilson that gave the Chiefs a 7-3 lead, the Steelers held them without a touchdown over the next two and a half quarters.

The Steelers 18 points came off the foot of place kicker Chris Boswell. Roethlisberger was solid going 20 for 31 with 224 passing yards. Bell set a new postseason franchise record with 170 yards on the ground and Brown had six catches for 108 yards.

The Steeler defense held the Chiefs to just 61 yards rushing and forced two turnovers. They held all-world tight end Travis Kelce, who caught 85 passes for 1,125 yards and four touchdowns, to five catches for 77 yards.

A one-yard score by Chiefs’ running back Spencer Ware cut the deficit to 18-16 in the closing moments. A two-point conversion had nodded the contest 18-18, but Chiefs’ offensive tackle Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft was called for a holding penalty, nullifying the attempt. The next attempt failed and a third down conversion for seven yards from Roethlisberger to Brown allowed the Steelers to run out the clock and secured their ninth win in succession.

Since their Week 10 home loss 31-24 to the Seahawks on Nov. 13, 2016, the Patriots have won seven in a row, winning their eighth straight AFC East crown.

In their Divisional matchup versus the Texans, the Patriots managed to win the game 34-16, but by their standards it was not their best showing.

While Brady had 287 yards passing and two touchdowns, he was just 18 for 38, with as many interceptions as he had the entire regular season with two. He was also sacked twice and faced constant pressure by the Texans defensive line.

The Pats defense kept the Texans anemic offense in check as they went just 3 for 16 on third down. The Texans also scored a touchdown on just one of their three opportunities in the red zone and committed three turnovers themselves. All three of those miscues were at the hands of signal caller Brock Osweiler, who was just 23 for 40 passing for 197 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and was sacked three times.

When the Steelers and Patriots meet on Sunday, it will be a match of two teams that have a high level of respect for one another and how they conduct their business.

“The way he plays. Very tough. Hard noise,” Brady said of Roethlisberger, who threw for 3,819 yards in the regular season with 29 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions.

For the Patriots, though, their main objective will be to put the clamps on Bell, who despite missing the first four games of the season because of suspension by the NFL, finished fifth with 1,261 yards on the ground in the regular season and seven touchdowns. He also caught 75 passes for 616 yards and two scores.

“He’s really fun to watch, unless you’re getting ready to play them,” Pats’ defensive end Chris Long said on Friday.

As far as slowing Bell and Brown, who had 106 catches for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich said to Trey Wingo on Friday’s edition of ESPN’s “NFL Live” that it comes down to him and the rest of his teammates on defense doing their job and playing together on a string.

“Anytime you have a quarterback like Ben who can stay in the pocket. Get out of the pocket. Whip the ball all over the field. All over the place and have a check down to a running back who can make an explosive play is tough,” Ninkovich, who has 46 career sacks and leads the NFL since 2010 with 14 forced fumbles said. “Everybody has to stick to the game plan and play together. Play fast.”

The Patriots did just that in the regular season, leading the NFL in points allowed this season, surrendering just 15.6 per contest.

To put that into better context, that is better than the four the last five Super Bowl winner in the 2011 Giants, who gave up 25.0 points per contest; the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, who surrendered 21.5 points on average; The 2014 Pats, who allowed 19.6 points per game and last season’s Denver Broncos, whose opponents averaged 18.5 points. The only team that allowed the fewest points on average that won it all, the 2013 Seahawks, who allowed just 14.4 points per contest that season.

That Patriots defense has been a major help to an offense that had to adapt to life without tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has been sidelined since injuring his back in the team’s 22-17 victory in Week 12 at the New York Jets (5-11) on Christmas Eve 2016, that required season-ending surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back.

Even without their best pass catcher, the likes of wideouts Julian Edelman (98 catches, 1,106 yards, 3 TDs), Chris Hogan (38 catches, 680 yards, 4 TDS) and even tight end Martellus Bennett (55 catches, 701 yards, 7 TDS) have held their end of things.

On top of that, the Pats have become more of a running team first on offense and leading the way has been running back LeGarrette Blount, who finished eighth with 1,161 yards in the regular season and led the NFL with 18 scores on the ground.

When the dust is settled on Sunday night, the winner of the AFC Championship Game will be representing the American Football Conference for the ninth time in their franchise’s history in Super Bowl LI. For both teams, this game is an opportunity they are relishing to take on.

“We’re going up to the lion’s den. The dragon’s lair,” Roethlisberger said on Friday. “We’re trying to slay them. Doesn’t matter who it is, but they are the gold standard.”

Ninkovich said of the Patriots playing in the team’s 6^th AFC title game in succession, “I’m just very happy that we’ve been able to get to this point. It’s not easy. It’s always tough to get to this game. So, we have to take advantage of it and play well come Sunday night.”

The action gets underway on Sunday night at 6:40 p.m. EST from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on CBS.

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of 1/14/17 8:15 p.m. NFL AFC Divisional Playoff contest between the Houston Texans versus New England Patriots on CBS with Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson and Jay Feely; 1/20/17 NFL news on ESPN Bottom Line news crawl; 1/20/17 3 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “NFL Live,” with Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi; www.espn.com/nfl/standing; www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/_/seasontype/2;   www.espn.com/nfl/team/schedule/stats/_/name/atl/atlanta-falcons;  www.espn.com/nfl/team/stats/schedule/_/name/gb/green-bay-packers; www.espn.com/nfl/team/stats/schedule/_/name/pit/pittsburgh-steelers; www.espn.com/nfl/team/stats/schedule/_/name/ne/new-england-patriots; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXlll; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_England_Patriots_seasons; http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Gronkowski#2016_season and http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers#2010:_Super_Bowl_XLV_champ.