Everybody throws Super Bowl parties, but we’ve thrown them for the conference championships. People are going to sit and watch them anyway, why not add some festiveness to the day. Alas, no parties this year, but it should still be an entertaining day.

SAN DIEGO at NEW ENGLAND
The thing I’m realizing about the Patriots this season is how flawlessly they have played. Yes, they have made some mistakes, but never to the extent that they were in jeopardy of falling apart. And since they execute so well, too much has to go wrong for them, and right for the other team, to manage an upset. To beat New England, San Diego will need to play that perfect and hope the Pats screw up one time too many. Won’t happen, and with the Chargers already banged up, it might be a struggle not to get blown out. The San Diego defense is good and helped upset the Colts last week. But as I’ve been saying all year, the Colts, or insert any other team, aren’t the Patriots.
Prediction: Patriots 35, Chargers 14

N.Y. GIANTS at GREEN BAY
The Giants are this year’s playoff Cinderella (more so than the Chargers) and will have more of a shot at Lambeau Field then people are giving them credit for. And their nine-game road winning streak is impressive, but this will be no ordinary road game, in the cold, in front of a hostile crowd that will be going crazy (if not just to stay warm), during Brett Favre’s career renaissance, against a Packer team not in disarray like the Cowboys were to an extent. Eli Manning has matured impressively these last weeks, but this might be to tough for even a veteran playoff quarterback to handle. Green Bay is a better team, and with its defense turning in perhaps its best performance of the season last week, there’s just too much in the Packers’ favor to pick against them.
Prediction: Packers 28, Giants 17