NFL Conference Championship

Today the final four teams in the NFL face off, the New England Patriots travel to Denver to take on the Broncos, and the Arizona Cardinals take on the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. The biggest story line in the Pats-Broncos game is Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning, both aging superstars, although Manning is much closer to the end of his career. At this point the Broncos are being carried by their defense, they have an excellent secondary along with difference makers such as Von Miller, Malik Jackson, and Demarcus Ware. But the Patriots have an extremely efficient and powerful offense, and it's impossible to stop Rob Gronkowski so you can only hope to slow him down. Plus now the Patriots have some of their other offensive weapons back as many of them had been injured. As it has been with the Broncos for the whole year, the game will be likely be decided by whether their offense can get going, because their defense will likely bottle up the opposing teams offense. Prediction: Patriots 24 Broncos 16.

The second game of the day is all about how far Cam Newton can take the Panthers, because the Arizona Cardinals are probably the best all around team in the NFL. Whereas other teams like New England and Carolina are guided by superstars like Tom Brady and Cam Newton. Both teams have powerful offenses and stingy defenses and both teams have elite players at nearly every position so this game will likely be decided by the second and third options for both teams. Another thing to watch for both teams will be the running game, both teams have underrated running backs, Carolina with Jonathan Stewart and Arizona with David Johnson. Stewart especially could be a difference maker for the Panthers, as last week he rushed for over 100 yards against the Seattle defense, one of the best in the league. Really this is a very even game, both teams excel on both sides of the ball so something has to give. Prediction: Carolina 30 

Either way I think that for the most part we got the four best teams in the NFL, one could argue that the Seahawks and Steelers are also up there, but both teams had their chance. As a Steelers fan myself, it's easy to wonder what this team could've done if they had Le'veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger, and Antonio Brown all healthy. But injuries are part of every sport, and Denver beat us fair and square. As for the Seahawks, they were down 31-0 to Seattle, there aren't many excuses for that.