Championship Weekend 2015

Indianapolis Colts (13-5) @ New England Patriots (13-5)

QB Andrew Luck and the Colts are ahead of schedule. A few playoff wins and a stepping stone season for their franchise QB would have sufficed. But now that they've upset their former leader Peyton Manning in Denver and reached the AFC Championship against the hated Patriots, the expectations have changed. The Colts know reaching the Championship Round is no easy task and that they now have a shot to do something special.

Then again, maybe making the Championship is easy. Patriots QB Tom Brady and Bill Bellicheck certainly make it look easy. This is the Patriots' 4th appearance in a row and their 9th overall since 2001. That's insane.

As tempting as it is to lean on the upstart Colts after their beating of Denver, let's not lose sight of the mountain the Colts have to climb here. The Patriots demolished the Colts last year in the playoffs 43-20 with a powerful rushing attack, 234 total rushing yards. In week 11, only two months ago, they did it again. Another primetime blowout 42-20 on their way to 507 total yards, 247 rushing. These games have not been close.

KEYS FOR IND: Unlike most teams, the Colts would love a shoot-out with Tom Brady in the playoffs, Andrew Luck and the Colts secondary are up for that battle. The key of the game is crystal clear for both teams. The Colts must stop the run, or at least not hemorrhage 225+ yards on the ground this time. The Colts would love a game similar to the BAL/NE game last week in which New England rushed only 13 times trying to keep pace on the scoreboard.

KEYS FOR NE: Be it Blount, Vareen, Gray, Bolden, hell- nose tackle Vince Wilfork, whoever Bill Bellicheck wants to put out there, rack up the yards on the ground again. The Patriots have embarrassed the Colts with the ground game twice in one year. Now, those same soft-in-the-middle Colts are the only thing in the way of the 6th Tom Brady Super Bowl appearance. Pound the rock.

Green Bay Packers (13-4) @ Seattle Seahawks (13-4)

Just as the NFC began, the NFC will end with the Green Bay Packers traveling into Seattle to face the Seahawks. Four years ago, the high-flying offenses of the Packers and Saints ruled the NFC with their elite QBs and monster numbers. That has changed in the last three years. The Seahawks and 49ers with their stacked, fast, violent defenses and dynamic QBs have upped the ante for the rest of the NFC. The Packers have not yet called this raise, they are 0-3 against the 49ers and were blown out by the Seahawks in week 1. Now would be the time to call, because we know they are not going to fold.

RB Marshawn Lynch is still the heartbeat of the Seahawks, and QB Russell Wilson is the General. The Packers' defense has been terrible on the road this season, and without a controversial call overturned  against Dallas, we easily could have been talking about how the Packers' defense gave up yet another playoff game for Green Bay.

Green Bay's offense is as potent as it ever has been, even with Rodgers on a "hobbly, wobbly calf" (to quote Kam Chancellor). The Packers have their own dread-locked mutant RB in Eddie Lacy but he faces a much more immovable object than his counterpart Lynch. The Seahawks defense in on fire. The Legion Of Boom is famous for having the three of the best secondary players in the world, but DE Cliff Avril, DE Michael Bennett, LB Bobby Wagner and LB K.J Wright are also top-tier players who could take over the game at any time.

KEYS FOR GB: Aaron Rodgers is always good for a few big plays but the Seahawks secondary will be nothing like facing an overachieving Cowboys' unit in Lambeau Field. The big story lines nationally are about the trenches, about the Packers D matching the Seahawks' intensity but let's get real here; the Packers don't win this game without an MVP performance from Aaron Rodgers. In a stadium he has had little success in (1 TD in 2 games) he must face the Seattle defense at it's strongest point of the season. This is on Rodgers.

KEYS FOR SEA: Is Russell Wilson ready to take the next step? It's easy to get caught up in the headlines about the defense but Russell Wilson was amazing against Carolina. He now faces a weaker defense and a bigger stage, can Wilson cement his legacy tomorrow?