Andy Cash’s Money Playoff Picks – The NFL Conference Championships

The biggest game of the NFL season is weeks away and this weekend's NFL Conference Championship games are worthy of a Hollywood script. It has taken me all week to come to a conclusion I can feel confident about on who will make it past this round and move on to play for the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy in New Jersey. I went 3 for 4 last week with my picks and I would have been 4 for 4 if I used my common sense. San Diego did almost come back though! Let's get right into it.

The AFC Championship Game - The Patriots at The Broncos

This game will be a battle of epic proportions. The match up of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is the equivalent of Godzilla vs. King Kong. When their teams play each other it's like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Sunday's AFC Championship game will be the 15th chapter of this quarterback rivalry. Tom Brady and his Patriots have defeated Manning and the team he was on 10 out of the 14 times. There is no doubt that these two guys are arguably the best quarterbacks to have ever played the game, already. Manning and Brady are the only two players at their position to have thrown over 50 touchdown passed in one season. Check out an awesome QB comparison by Yahoo Sports.

Even though these two are both phenomenal quarterbacks, there can only be one winner. I won't keep you in suspense. I think that Peyton Manning and this Broncos team will come out victorious. So many things told me that I should pick New England. Tom Brady in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last week didn't throw one touchdown pass and the team still scored 43 points because he didn't have to. Their running game played incredibly. I think the balance between the run and pass game is phenomenal. I just don't think that the Patriots will be able to go into Denver, again, and beat this team. Denver is too good and Peyton Manning has a huge chip on his shoulder and I feel he will lead his team to victory not only in this game, but the Super Bowl as well. Predicted Score: The New England Patriots 31, The Denver Broncos 34.

You Can See This Game Sunday, January 19th at 3:00pm on CBS

The NFC Championship Game - The 49ers at The Seahawks

The story in this game is the coaching match up, at least my story is. Yes, they are divisional rivals and it will be an incredibly exciting game, but really the focus has to go to Jim Harbaugh of the 49ers and Pete Carroll of the Seahawks. It's very hard sometimes for successful college coaches to come into the NFL and have the same amount of success. Harbaugh and Carroll are the exceptions. Jim Harbaugh who was hired by San Francisco three years ago came out of Stanford, coaching Andrew Luck. Pete Carroll of course coming out of USC, had great success there. Both of these men took their respective teams from losing records to powerful playoff teams. It's no secret they had help from two incredibly talented young rookie quarterbacks in Kaepernick and Wilson.

These teams have many similarities. Both of their young quarterbacks were drafted by MLB teams, as I said previously their coaches hailed from the college level, and their obviously in the same division. This game will no doubt be a shootout. I highly doubt that one team will blow the other out. A lot of people are underestimating the ability of the Seahawks in this game because of the fact their offense has been struggling slightly the past two weeks. To that I say every game is a new chance, a fresh start. Seattle usually does well against their divisional rival and they have the advantage of being at home, a venue San Francisco has trouble in. This is a stadium that has broken the sound record twice this season. One of the biggest hurdles for Seattle is that Percy Harvin, their star wide-receiver is out with a concussion. I really believe that Kaepernick doesn't have what it takes to win the big game and though his legs are good for running and extending drives, I think this Seattle defense will stifle that. It'll be a close game but I really believe Pete Carroll and his Seahawks win this game. Predicted Score: The San Francisco 49ers 21, The Seattle Seahawks 31.

You Can See This Game Sunday, January 19th at 6:30pm on FOX

Yes! I do believe it will be two Western US teams coming east to play the big game. Seattle and Denver would be a fun match-up and a great game to watch. We'll see what happens. Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

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