The 2017 NFL playoffs have four teams left, with the Pittsburgh Steelers facing the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers to face the Atlanta Falcons.The first game up on Sunday will feature Green Bay at Atlanta in the NFL title game that starts at 3:05pm ET. The Steelers and Patriots will cap the weekend on Sunday in the AFC title game that will start at 6:40pm ET. FOX and CBS will have the respective television coverage.
Competitive games expected
Both games present a lot of intrigue. The Green Bay Packers may be on the road against a team with a better record, however that didn't stop them from winning last weekend when they faced the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers have an amazing quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, a player who is at the top of his game right now. With his leadership, any team will have a hard time knocking the Packers out. They've gone from 4-6 a couple of months ago to where they are now, a 12-6 team that has a reasonable chance of making the Super Bowl.
Will Pittsburgh pass or rush?
The Steelers and Patriots game may be a competitive one as well. New England have not been invincible when hosting as they have lost two games at home this season. Furthermore, the Steelers have a formidable offensive system that may prove tough for any team to counter. With Le'Veon Bell threatening to rush and Ben Roethlisberger threatening to throw, New England's defensive coordinators will be guessing all day as to what's coming.
Red-zone conversion for Pittsburgh may prove more vital this week than it did last week however. The Steelers scored six times in their win over the Kansas City Chiefs, however, each of those six scores was a field goal. The Chiefs were lenient with Pittsburgh in the sense that they did not punish the Steelers for missing so many opportunities to run the score up.
Pittsburgh will likely need to do just that in order to beat New England, a team with their own high-octane offense.
The winners of the conference championships will meet in February's Super Bowl. As always there will be a week off between the games. If you went with the favored home teams, then the Super Bowl would feature New England vs. Atlanta. However, don't be surprised if one of the road teams causes an upset, as both Pittsburgh and Green Bay did that last week.
