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Brady. Rodgers. Roethlisberger. Ryan.
It’s a quarterback league, and four of the NFL’s best are left standing heading into the NFL’s final weekend before Super Sunday. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell insists that it’s not the best QB final four ever, asserting that a Marino-Kelly-Aikman-Young semifinal in 1992 brought more Hall of Fame chops to the table.
Either way, both Conference Championships are second meetings between the teams this season. The Packers visited Atlanta over Halloween weekend, only to lose 32-33 despite four touchdowns from Rodgers. The Steelers hosted the Patriots earlier in the season, but Ben Roethlisberger was injured and absent for the 27-16 Pats victory.
Three of these teams have been season-long favorites to be a finalist. The Falcons were the biggest preseason longshot, but have been a dominant offensive team over the final weeks of the sason. They’ve scored at least 30 points in five straight games, and they’ve totaled more than 40 points in five games this season.
Here’s how the bracket looks after the Falcons win over Green Bay:
Upcoming Playoff Schedule
Conference Championship
Sunday January 22
NFC Championship – 3:05 p.m. Green Bay-Atlanta
AFC Championship – 6:40 p.m. Pittsburgh-New England
Super Bowl 51
February 5th in Houston (Time TBD)