Only four teams are still standing. And for the seventh consecutive year, one of those final four teams in the NFL Playoffs is the New England Patriots. That’s right, seven straight AFC Championship appearances for the Pats. The other three teams remaining are led by quarterbacks who have the same number of combined playoff appearances as Tom Brady does Super Bowl rings. Blake Bortles, Case Keenum, and Nick Foles have all combined for a total of five career playoff games, which is the same number of championships Brady has won. Clearly, Brady is in a different class. And while this still is a quarterback league, there’s one thing that the final four teams all have in common. They each have a top-five defense. Minnesota finished the regular season No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed per game (15.8), Jacksonville finished second (16.8), Philadelphia finished fourth (18.4), and New England finished fifth (18.5). You might see that and try to tell me that “defense wins championships.” Well, it certainly helps. But let’s not forget that the Eagles wouldn’t be the NFC’s No. 1 seed if not for quarterback Carson Wentz, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 14. And it’s Brady and Wentz who are at the forefront of the MVP discussion. So, I’m sticking with my Super Bowl prediction. I took the Patriots to win it all before the season began, and I took the Patriots to win it all before the playoffs began. Looking around at the other quarterbacks remaining, I can’t possibly bet against the Pats, especially when they have a top-five defense to go along with the best quarterback in the league. Anyways, here are my picks for the AFC and NFC Championship games: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (-9) over Jacksonville Jaguars -I just told you how I feel about the Patriots’ chances here. They’re the No. 1 seed, which means they’ll be hosting the AFC Championship Sunday at 3:05 p.m. The No. 3 seed Jaguars enter the game having defeated the No. 6 seed Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round and the No. 2 seed Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round. Meanwhile, the Patriots wiped the floor with the No. 5 seed Tennessee Titans in their Divisional Round game last weekend. Both teams are feeling pretty good right about now. Jacksonville players are expressing that to the public a little bit more though. Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey has already guaranteed his team will win Super Bowl LII. It’s one of those “how dumb can you be” moments, without a doubt. But it’s also a sign of just how confident the Jaguars are after going into Pittsburgh and beating the Steelers 45-42. Meanwhile, back here in New England, the Patriots are saying all the right things, as usual. You’d think that, at some point, their opponent would realize that’s probably the correct way to go about it, rather than give Super Bowl guarantees before you even get there. Jacksonville has to go into Gillette Stadium and win first. And not only do I think they’ll lose to the Patriots, but now that I see how cocky they are about it, I expect the Patriots to win by at least 10. More than anything, I just don’t think Blake Bortles is going to come into New England and win. I expect the Patriots to stack the box, take Leonard Fournette out of the game early, and make Bortles try and beat them with his arm, which is something I don’t believe he’ll be capable of doing. I’ll take the Patriots to win and cover at home. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (+3) over Minnesota Vikings -The No. 2 seed Vikings are lucky to be in this game. If not for a horrible display of tackling in the New Orleans Saints’ secondary, Minnesota would be home watching Drew Brees try and take down the No. 1 seed Eagles in the NFC Championship Sunday at 6:40. Instead Stefon Diggs’ miraculous last-second touchdown in the Divisional Round catapulted the Vikings into the conference championship, where we’ll see Foles vs Keenum in Philadelphia. For the second straight game, the Eagles will be an underdog at home, which is unheard of for a No. 1 seed. But let’s face it, Foles is not Wentz, and the Vikings did finish with the best defense in the regular season. But the Eagles did just beat an Atlanta Falcons team that started to look like the same Falcons who advanced to last year’s Super Bowl. So, I can’t just write Philly off. In fact, I’m taking them to win this game at home, mainly because it’s at home. Minnesota wants to play in that Super Bowl in their own building so very badly, but Philadelphia will not be an easy place to play on Sunday. And again, the Vikings should have lost to the Saints. This is expected to be a defensive dog fight, to which, once again, I’ll revert to the home team with a fan base that won’t even let Keenum hear himself think. Give me the Eagles to win a close one. Listen to “The Danny Picard Show” at dannypicard.com and on the PodcastOne network. Also available on iTunes, Tunein, Google Play, and iHeartRadio.
