The NFL playoffs has come down to just four teams this weekend with the New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens battling it out for a chance to be Super Bowl bound. Perhaps the most intriguing of the two championship games this weekend will happen in the Bay Area with the San Francisco 49ers hosting the New York Giants. This will be a battle fought on the defensive side of the football as both teams will struggle to score against two of the best defenses in the NFL.

After a thrilling late-game victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional round, the San Francisco 49ers are flying high right now with enough confidence on both sides of the football to lead this team into the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that the 49ers are firing on all cylinders coming into the NFC Championship game, they will have their work cut out for them against a Giants squad that has been unbeatable over the past month.

Eli Manning

Not only has the Giants’ defense started to play up to the potential of the talent on that side of the football, but one-time Super Bowl champion and perennial Pro Bowl quarterback Eli Manning is playing perhaps the best football of his NFL career. There have been a lot of questions surrounding Manning’s ability to an elite quarterback in this league, but this season and during the playoffs he has really turned some heads around the NFL with impressive play under center for New York.

In Week 10 of the NFL regular season, the San Francisco 49ers hosted the New York Giants in one of the toughest games of the year for Jim Harbaugh and company. The game was as advertised as the two NFC heavyweights battling it out and as a result the game went down to the wire with the 49ers stopping the Giants on a last-minute 4^th down play. The 49ers came out on top 27-20 with kicker David Akers hitting four field goals and quarterback Alex Smith finishing with 242 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

One thing to note about the 49ers’ win over the Giants in Week 10 is that they were able to get the best of New York without Pro Bowl caliber running back Frank Gore who went down with a knee injury after just six carries. With that being said, San Francisco wasn’t even at full strength offensively against New York and was still able to get the win.

In the NFC Championship game this Sunday, the New York Giants will have to travel back to Candlestick Park in the Bay Area and get the win to advance to the Super Bowl. The Giants might be a better team in comparison to Week 10, especially on defense, but I don’t believe they will top the 49ers at home.

As of right now, the San Francisco 49ers has the edge with a -3 point spread. That is right on the money in my opinion.

Take the 49ers at -3.

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All season long, the New England Patriots have been able to win football games consistently with yet another NFL MVP caliber year out of three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady and an offense that is seemingly unstoppable regardless of the opposing defense. This season there has been no shortage of potent offenses with teams like the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions lighting up the scoreboards on a weekly basis, but none of those teams were able to get this far in the playoffs due to their weak defense being unable to back up the offense.

The glaring weakness of the New England Patriots this season has been without a doubt the play on the defensively side of the football. The Patriots’ defense was able to come up big against Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional round, but this week they will be facing a much better all-around football team in the form of the Baltimore Ravens.

Tom Brady

Much like the Patriots, the Ravens have been one dimensional over the years with a dominant defense and a somewhat weak offense. Fortunately, this season the Ravens’ offense has started to step it up with running back Ray Rice having another Pro Bowl season and quarterback Joe Flacco quickly turning into one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Flacco still has a ways to go before being compared to the likes of two-time NFL MVP Tom Brady, but it would be difficult to argue that he hasn’t improved with every season under center in Baltimore.

Despite Joe Flacco’s improvements as a starting quarterback in this league, last week the Ravens’ number one gunslinger had a tough time against the secondary of the Houston Texans. One player that pointed this out more than any other was fellow teammate and future Hall-of-Fame safety Ed Reed. The perennial Pro Bowl safety had no problem pointing out that the Texans’ defense rattled his quarterback and that Flacco will need to step it up if the Ravens expect to play in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 in Indianapolis.

With that being said, there has been some added pressure put on Joe Flacco coming into this AFC Championship game against the Patriots and the results will either be exactly what Reed was looking for or an absolute disaster. Two years ago, the Ravens dominated the Patriots in the NFL playoffs with some hardnosed running by Ray Rice out of the backfield and the same thing could happen this weekend, but I believe New England might be the better team this time around.

As of right now, the New England Patriots are heavily favored to get the win on Sunday and advance to the Super Bowl with a -9 point spread. This spread is fairly large for a playoff game like this and with that being said I believe taking Baltimore would be the best bet.

Take the Ravens at +9.

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Pittsburgh Steelers @ San Francisco 49ers Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 8:30 p.m. EST

Last season the Pittsburgh Steelers were arguably the best team in the AFC Conference as they were able to dominate the competition in playoffs and make it all the way back to the Super Bowl for the third time in the Ben Roethlisberger era. With Mike Tomlin proving his is once again the right man for the job on the sidelines and the Steelers defense living up to the hype, Pittsburgh was able to make an inspired run on their way to what was supposed to be their seventh Super Bowl title in franchise history.

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Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way the storied NFL franchise had planned and they ultimately fell to a much better Green Bay Packers squad led by Super Bowl MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. With the loss to the Packers still fresh in the minds of the Steelers’ players, Pittsburgh was on a mission this season despite being labeled old and potentially passed their prime.

Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled at times this season and were dominated by the arch division rival Baltimore Ravens in both head-to-head matchups this season, Mike Tomlin’s squad has a 10-3 record heading into Week 15 of the NFL regular season. The winning the AFC North division title might be a stretch at this point in time with the Ravens on the verge of clinching the division, but the Steelers seem to have one of the two spots in the AFC Wild Card locked up.

In Week 15, the Pittsburgh Steelers will face arguably their toughest test of the last three games of the regular season in the form of Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers. Even though the 49ers are coming off a loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals in Week 14, San Francisco is without a doubt one of the best teams in the NFL this season and will be looking to bounce back with a vengeance this week against one of the toughest opponents on their remaining schedule.

Fortunately, the 49ers will have the advantage of going up against the Steelers in Week 15 as Pittsburgh will almost certainly be without superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger due to a leg injury he sustained in the win over the division rival Cleveland Browns last week. With Big Ben most likely watching from the sidelines, the Steelers will have trouble on offense and might not be able to contend with the likes of the 49ers’ lockdown defense led by linebacker Patrick Willis.

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Not only will this game be played on the 49ers’ home field in San Francisco, but even if Big Ben was healthy this would be a matchup that Jim Harbaugh’s squad could win. The Steelers may still be one of the best teams in the league, but they will most likely be on the losing side on Monday Night Football this week.

As of right now, the San Francisco 49ers has been given the edge in this matchup with a -3 point spread. That sounds just about right to me.

Take the 49ers at -3.

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Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders Sun. Dec. 18, 2011 4:05 p.m. EST

Over the last two years, the Oakland Raiders have slowly but surely started to move up the rankings in the AFC Conference with a bright future on the horizon. With talented young players on both sides of the football and veterans like quarterback Carson Palmer and defensive tackle Richard Seymour; the Raiders have become a force to be reckoned with once again and seem to get closer and closer to finally ending the playoff drought.

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This season the Oakland Raiders have arguably been the best all-around team in the AFC West division with a first place standing throughout the majority of the season. Last week that all changed when the undefeated Green Bay Packers dominated the Oakland Raiders (46-16) at Lambeau Field which dropped to the silver and black to a 7-6 record. With the Raiders losing and the Denver Broncos winning, Oakland fell to second place in the AFC West and might be in serious danger of missing the playoffs entirely.

Matthew Stafford - Detroit Lions

With that being said, the Oakland Raiders need to bounce back immediately in order to salvage the once promising season with only three regular season games remaining on the schedule. Fortunately, the Raiders will play the lowly division rivals in the Kansas City Chiefs (Week 16) and the San Diego Chargers (Week 17) in which they will probably be favored to win, but they must first face the up-and-coming Detroit Lions in Week 15.

Now that the Detroit Lions have become a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the NFC Conference, Matthew Stafford and company could be headed to a playoff appearance. Much like the Raiders, this would be the first playoff appearance by the Lions in a very long time, but Detroit’s chances of making the playoffs are much better than Oakland’s at this point.

Since they play in the same division (NFC North) as the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers who remain undefeated heading into Week 15 (13-0), the Detroit Lions will have to settle for a playoff berth through the NFC Wild Card. Even though the Lions look like they could be on their way to making the playoffs for the first time in quite some time, Detroit will have to keep their foot on the gas pedal moving forward as they have to contend with the Oakland Raiders this week and both the San Diego Chargers and the undefeated Green Bay Packers in the last two weeks of the NFL regular season.

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Both the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders are talented football teams on both sides of the ball with potentially bright futures down the road, but coming into this matchup I believe the Lions are the better team and should get the win.

As of right now, the Detroit Lions are favored to get the win over the Oakland Raiders with a -2 point spread.

Take the Lions at -2.

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