NFL PLAYOFFS - AFC and NFC Championship Games Preview

Here we go football fans.
The AFC and NFC Championship games take place on Sunday with a trip to Super Bowl 51 on the line.
Once again, the New England Patriots are there as they make a record sixth consecutive appearance when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC match. The early game will be the NFC title tilt between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons in the last game being played in the Georgia Dome.
All in all, it looks to be a great day of football ahead as quarterbacks Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan lead the way in these games.
The Packers have been rolling, winning eight straight games heading into this one. The Falcons beat Green Bay, 33-32 back in Week Eight in Atlanta.
Both teams can score tons of points to go along with suspect defenses, so look for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Falcons Matt Ryan to spread the football around and the scoreboard to light up as these two teams go back and forth in what should be a high scoring affair.
Meanwhile, in the AFC game that follows up, the Patriots rate a slight edge simply because they are so tough to beat at home. The Steelers offense has to perform better than last weekend when they couldn't put the ball in the end zone in a victory at Kansas City.
New England can score and of course, QB Tom Brady had another monster season (28 TD passes with just two interceptions) and did that without his favorite target Rob Gronkowski, who is out for the season after going on IR after playing roughly half the season.
The Patriots defense led the NFL in scoring 'D', giving up just 250 points in the regular season. The Steelers defense has been steadily improving as the playoffs approached and has given up only 28 points in two post-season games.
This game might not be as high scoring as most "experts" might think even with Brady and Ben Roethlisberger leading the two dynamic offenses.

Heftyinfo predictions -  Green Bay 35, Atlanta 31
                                        
                                       New England 24, Pittsburgh 17


Last Week's Record:  2-2
  
Playoffs Record:  5-3