This is the round that will decide who will go to the grandest stage in Sports, the Super Bowl. These are the Shark's Conference Championship Picks.
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AFC Conference Championship
1st Seed New England Patriots(13-3) vs 3rd Seed Jacksonville Jaguars(10-6)
Don Wright/AP
Oh, Blake Bortles. Just last offseason the Jaguars were trying to replace you. Now you are in the AFC Championship against the New England Patriots, right after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. What happened?
I'll tell you what happened. It isn't anything fancy. Bortles just got better. This isn't the Bortles from last year. This is the new, and much better Bortles. They are going to be people who still think he's the same. After the Jaguars handed the Seahawks a 30-24 loss, Earl Thomas said this to reporters, "You know, we lost to a subpar quarterback". Similarly after the Jaguars blew out the Texans 45-7, Jadeveon Clowney of the Texans said "He's Trash".
But through all this hate Blake Bortles has played amazing. He isn't a Tom Brady or Drew Brees type player. He doesn't have to be, but he is a good enough quarterback to lead the Jaguars.
The Jaguars came out of the Steelers game showing that they can step up on offense too. If the Jaguars play as well as they did last weekend they will have a big chance to beat the Reigning Champs New England Patriots.
The New England Patriots are coming out of the Divisional Round strong, after demolishing the Tennessee Titans. But the key thing for the Patriots this game is going to be getting the ball to Gronk.
The Jaguars may have arguably the best defense in the NFL, but no defense can be prepared enough for Gronk. But if All-Pro Jalen Ramsey can back up his comments about shutting down Gronk, then the Jaguars will have a big advantage.
This pick I'm about to make is a risky one, but here we go.
Pick: Jaguars
NFC Conference Championship
(Photo: Jason Getz, USA TODAY Sports)
1st Seed Philadelphia Eagles(13-3) vs 2nd Seed Minnesota Vikings(13-3)
Both of these teams come into this game after nail-biting, down to the wire victories.
And the Quarterback Matchup is going to be Foles vs Keenum. Try going to back to your past self at the start of the NFL season and explain how Foles and Keenum are facing off in the NFC Championship, and how one of the teams are going to be in the Super Bowl.
Not easy, is it?
It is pretty obvious who the better Quarterback is, but the Eagles defense are not going to let Case Keenum throw all over them, and the Vikings won't let Foles throw all over them either.
The Vikings leaded the NFL(Regular Season) in yards allowed per game, only allowing 275.9 yards per game per ESPN.com. They have arguably the best defense in the NFL
The Eagles leaded the NFL(Regular Season) in total touchdowns, scoring 53 per ESPN.com. They have a strong offense who have proved themselves repeatedly over the course of the Regular Season.
The Vikings have a more complete team on both sides with Xavier Rhodes, Everson Griffen, and Harrison Smith rounding out the Defense. And Case Keenum, Adam Thielen, and Stefon Diggs rounding out the offense.
The Vikings just have an overall more complete team than the Eagles.
Pick: Vikings