“It’s the final four, it’s the NFL playoffs”
Well here we are in the final couple of weeks of the NFL year and there have been some surprise teams and some that we knew would be where they are now. For the most part the playoffs were a whole lot of blowout games with the exception of a couple. For the NFC it was just as it was scripted, the number one and two seeds made it to the championship game, for the AFC it was a little different with the number one seed making it but a surprise number five that made it. This will make for an incredible weekend to set up an awesome Super Bowl match-up, so in this article we want to break down the match-ups for this weekend.
NFC championship game
New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans is well rested and coming off a smashing of the Arizona Cardinals. For New Orleans everything was clicking for them, on offense Brees and his receivers were in full stride and for the defense they disrupted Arizona’s passing game and made Kurt Warner uncomfortable all game long. Minnesota was prepared for Dallas, they came to play in ever way. Brett Favre played his best game, arguably, in his playoff life and it could just keep getting better. The Vikings are still waiting for Adrian Peterson to have that big playoff game and with the way the Cardinals ran against the Saints it could be this weekend. This is a shoot-out in the making but don’t be surprised to see the defenses for both teams step up.
Key Match-ups:
New Orleans offense vs. Minnesota defense
Minnesota thrives off pressure on the quarterback and by creating pressure that creates turnovers. New Orleans takes pride in ball security and exploiting the defensive weaknesses, so you know that this will be an awesome chess match between the two teams. It will be interesting to see how much pressure Minnesota can put on Brees, because if they can’t get pressure that will allow him to pick them apart.
> Find a great selection of Minnesota Vikings apparel and New Orleans Saints Merchandise online through Pro Football Fans!
AFC championship game
Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Jets
Yes I said it the New York Jets, no one thought that they would have made it this far but they did. They are flying high off an upset special beating the Chargers in San Diego and they believe there is nothing they cannot do. Indianapolis is coming off a defensive domination of the Baltimore Ravens, oh and the offense was good too. I am only kidding; Peyton Manning had his corps of receivers ready to play and the offense looked good and in rhythm.
Key Match-ups:
Mark Sanchez vs. Indianapolis defense
The ‘Sanchise’ has been making a huge splash in the NFL but he has struggled in his consistency and his defense has played ‘make-up’ football. Sanchez must not turn the ball over in order for the Jets to have a shot at a win, but he will be playing the fastest defense, possibly, in the NFL. The Colts’ held one of the NFL’s most explosive young runners, Ray Rice, to only 67 yards rushing and that is a credit to the speed on defense. It will be interesting to see if the Jets offense can withstand the Colts pass rush, even more if Mark Sanchez can make wise choices while under pressure.
These games should be really great to watch and should be very competitive but we will see, if all goes according to previous games they could be blowouts. Look for strong defenses to set the tone in these final playoff games, the big plays could come on the hands of the most unlikely players, the X-factors.
By: Sam Adams
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer