Who will be Superbowl bound?

Today are the two conference championship games in the NFL, to determine who will advance to the Superbowl, Feb. 5th, in Detroit.

In the AFC game, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in Denver to play the Broncos, while in the NFC game, the Carolina Panthers are here in Seattle to play against the Seahawks. In both games, the home team is favored, with both Denver and Seattle having gone 9 - 0 at home. But, both the Steelers and Panthers, being Wild Card teams, have won games on the road to advance to the championship games.

Both games are intriguing for various reasons. Will the Steelers defense be able to contain Jake "The Snake" Plummer? Will Jerome "The Bus" Bettis be able to carry his team past the Broncos defense in possibly his last game?

Will Julius Peppers and Shaun Alexander be able to play the entire game, and do so up to their regular season abilities? Both are coming off of injuries, with Peppers having a sore shoulder, and Alexander coming off of a concussion. Will Steve Smith turn in another performance against the Seahawks secondary, as he did against Chicago? Will Nick Goings be able to run against the 'Hawks? Will Matt Hasselback be able to find D-Jack in the end zone? Will Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, and Mack Strong be able to pave the way for Alexander to finally have a break out playoff game? All of these questions will be answered as the day unfolds, of course.

What do I think the outcomes will be? Although I like Pittsburgh as a team more than I like Denver, and would be very happy to see Pittsburgh advance to Detroit, I just don't think that will happen, as I predict Denver will win in a shootout.

As for the game here in Seattle, with the "Twelfth Man" in full throat, the multi-dimensional offense of the 'Hawks, and the swarming 'Hawks defense pitted against the one-dimensional offense of the Panthers (Goings, if you'll pardon the expression, ain't goin' anywhere against the 'Hawks run defense), I predict that Seattle will win in a close, defensive game.

With that said, here's another bit of interest, at least for my brother and I. If the two games turn out with my predicted winners, it will pit two former members of the AFC West against each other in the Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos against the Seattle Seahawks. There is still an intense rivalry between the two teams, which could make for an intense grudge match in Detroit, which if that does happen, I see Seattle winning.

Now that would be sweet!