One upset: Ravens
Nick Fierro
The Morning Call
The Patriots will host the Ravens for the AFC championship and the Falcons will host the Bears for the NFC crown next weekend.
I say this because the Patriots are, well, the Patriots, and the Ravens know how to win in Pittsburgh, where they've already won this season. That said, the Patriots have exited the playoffs as heavy favorites the last two times they qualified, including in the 08 Super Bowl.
In the NFC, it's hard to believe the Seahawks are still alive, but they won't be after this weekend, when the Bears advance to the conference title game against ... the Falcons, who will find a way to win in their dome. The Packers may have more talent, but they still do too many things to beat themselves. The Falcons, on the other hand, do not. And they're just about impossible to beat in their building.
nfierro@tribune.com
A return to form
Chicago Tribune
The weekend for wild upsets has passed, and the NFL should return to form this weekend. The championship game participants, then, should be the Patriots and Steelers in the AFC and the Falcons and Bears in the NFC.
The two teams with the best chances of pulling off upsets are the Ravens and Packers.
The Ravens beat the Steelers once before this season in Pittsburgh, so they know it can be done. But the Steelers are a better team now, having won six of their last seven.
The Packers nearly beat the Falcons in Atlanta and are capable of doing it Saturday if they hit on all cylinders. One thing they know, however, is the Falcons are not likely to beat themselves.
dpompei@tribune.com
Ravens, Pack pull upsets
Ken Murray
Baltimore Sun
I expect to see the Ravens facing off against the Patriots in the AFC and the Packers against the Bears in the NFC. That means I'm looking for the Ravens and Packers to pull off road wins in the divisional round. Here's why.
The Ravens have lost six straight times to Ben Roethlisberger, including the championship game after the 2008 season. Roethlisberger has outplayed Joe Flacco in five of those games, and that's been the difference. I think Flacco wins this time because he's got more weapons and more big-game experience.
I like the Packers in Atlanta despite the Falcons' record at home because Aaron Rodgers will be even harder to stop now that he's got a running game. This is new territory to the Falcons — No. 1 seed, first-round bye — and it takes experience to handle it right.
kmurray@tribune.com
Elite QBs prevail
Sam Farmer
Los Angeles Times
The Bears, Packers, Patriots and Steelers will advance.
In the AFC, it will be the Steelers at the Patriots, franchises that have won half the Super Bowls in the past decade. In the NFC, it will be the Packers at the Bears, a matchup that dates to 1921 and is the longest consecutive-games rivalry in NFL history.
Not surprisingly, the championship round will feature four elite quarterbacks, two of whom (Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger) have combined for five rings. Most of the divisional games figure to be close, and it's possible that the Ravens, Falcons and even Seahawks could prevail. The mismatch in this round is the Jets at New England. The Patriots should be able to put that one on ice pretty early.
sfarmer@tribune.com