4th and Long

AFC Championship Preview

by Ryan Frisco

Photo Cred www.patriots.com

So here we are, the AFC Championship game. While it's nice sometimes to see a Wild Card sneak into the playoffs and steal the show with an unprecedented run, I believe it's equally nice to see the truly superior teams in the league prove their worth and roll other teams on their way to the big game.  That's what the Patriots and Broncos both did last week, and that's why this game will be one for the ages.  The two teams with a combined record of 25-7 this year.  The two teams that teamed up for one of the Instant Classics we witnessed earlier this season.  Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning, the big time rivalry of the 2000s renewed in this new decade.

Photo Cred www.nydailynews.com

Two Hall of Fame bound legends in the AFC, two up and coming stars in the NFC.  The AFC matchup displays pure offense, while the NFC matchup brings out the gritty defense vs. the ground and pound game.  Readers, this is going to be one great Sunday of football!

So who's going to win this game?!  We have two fantastic quarterbacks in the last 5 years of their career.  Four Super Bowl titles between them, six MVP awards (most likely 7 after this year) and two of the greatest legacies all time in the NFL.  These guys have been dominant for over a decade.

Let's take a look at the pros for each team, starting with Denver.

1.  They have home field advantage - While this doesn't necessarily mean anything in football, it does when you play in Denver.  For one, the Broncos are more used to playing in the Mile High thin air then the Patriots.  They have conditioned in this atmosphere, and will be able to keep up better and longer then New England.

Photo Cred www.denverpost.com

2.  They have Peyton Manning - One of the greatest signal callers of all time.  He reads defenses better than any other, and is fantastic at using the play clock and changing the play at the line.  He's ready to prove himself as a legit playoff quarterback, and ultimately the best Manning of all time...behind his two time Super Bowl winning quarterback brother Eli.

3. A crazy good, efficient offense - Manning runs this offense, but the team around him makes this dangerous quarterback look spectacular.  A ridiculous receiving unit (Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Wes Welker, Julius Thomas), a two headed monster at running back (Knowshon Moreno, Montee Ball) and a line that is dead set that Manning never needs another neck surgery.  This team moves the ball down the field handedly, at the speed they desire.

Now, for the Patriots.

1. A surprise running game - New England hasn't always been known for their running game, but 2013 is a different year.  Currently, the circulation of Shane Vereen, Steven Ridley and Legarrette Blount has been phenomenal!  And the thing is, you can't prepare for which one you'll get, because they seem to change up the lead back each game, sometimes each quarter!! With all three of these guys healthy and running at the level they currently are, the Broncos D will have their hands full with Tom Brady just handing the ball off!

Photo Cred www.yahoosports.com

2. They have Tom Brady - He is one of the greatest finesse quarterbacks of all time, and arguably the best when it comes to rallying the troops when they are down at the end of a game.  Manning may have broken Brady's TD record this year, but Brady has always proved to own the rivalry between them.  Even when down  earlier this year, when the game seemed wrapped up for Denver, Brady led the team back to pull it out in the end...like he did soooo many times this year.

3. Bill Belichek - Like it or not, this guy is one of the greatest coaches of all time. He lives and breathes football.  Truly, the only thing he does care about is winning, winning every game and winning the Super Bowl.  Anything short of that is failure.  Belichek will have a gameplan going into the game, and he will change that gameplan at halftime, and it will work.

Photo Cred www.washingtonpost.com

In looking at all of the pros for each team here, I am going to take the road less taken...that means choosing the Patriots as the AFC Super Bowl rep.  When it comes down to it, I don't think the Broncos defense can hold this Patriot offense down.  New England is more well rounded on all sides of the ball. Denver may very well go up early in this game, but if Tom Brady is within 16 points at the five minutes to go mark, I have total confidence he will bring the team back, and win the game.

Patriots 34 Broncos 31

In the NFC, I'm taking an extremely low scoring affair in favor of Seattle

Seahawks 13 49ers 10