AFC Championship

Three teams - and three of the NFL’s highest-profile quarterbacks - have represented the AFC in the past seven Super Bowls, a trend that can continue Sunday at Heinz Field with a victory by Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Don’t expect the New York Jets to be intimidated.

The sixth-seeded Jets have gotten through Peyton Manning and Tom Brady to punch a ticket to their second straight AFC championship game, leaving Roethlisberger’s Steelers as the last obstacle to their first Super Bowl appearance in 42 years.

Daily Diapers

With rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez(notes) and rookie head coach Rex Ryan, New York was a surprise participant in last season’s conference championship game, a 30-17 loss in Indianapolis.
The Jets were among the favorites to win the AFC heading into this season, but the same couldn’t be said as they entered the playoffs as the No. 6 seed - a path only the 2005 Steelers have taken to a Super Bowl victory.

That road started with a rematch against the Colts that Ryan called “personal” between himself and Manning. New York won 17-16, leading to a game with an even more significant revenge factor.
The Jets (13-5) didn’t let a 45-3 drubbing by Brady and the Patriots in Week 13 diminish their confidence. After Ryan and many Jets players spent the week needling New England in the media, they backed up their words last Sunday in a 28-21 upset of the NFL’s top team behind Sanchez’s three touchdown passes.
“We don’t care what people say or whether they like us,” All-Pro cornerback and Pittsburgh native Darrelle Revis said. “We just focus on what we need to do to win games.”
The Jets aren’t just winning - they’re threatening to shake up a conference that’s been dominated by three teams for much of the last decade. Manning’s Colts, Brady’s Patriots and Roethlisberger’s Steelers have represented the AFC in every Super Bowl since 2003.
After getting past Brady and Manning, it’s only fitting what’s standing between New York and its first appearance on the league’s grandest stage since Super Bowl III.
“Big Ben, he’s next on our list,” receiver Braylon Edwards said.
Roethlisberger has the Steelers (13-4) in their fourth AFC championship game in his seven years in the league after it looked like his team might be one-and-done at halftime last Saturday against Baltimore.
Two turnovers helped put Pittsburgh in a 21-7 hole, but Roethlisberger led it back. The two-time Super Bowl winner threw two third-quarter TDs to tie the score, then completed a 58-yard pass to rookie Antonio Brown on third-and-19 late in the fourth, setting up Rashard Mendenhall’s score to punctuate a 31-24 victory.

“(Ben) may not be Brady or all those other guys, but when I see him in the huddle I know we’ve got a chance to win,” receiver Hines Ward said. “He’s a proven winner.”
Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie seems to agree. A week after calling Brady an expletive, Cromartie had nothing but praise for Roethlisberger, who’s 9-2 in the postseason.
“I love Ben, man,” said Cromartie. “Ben’s a competitor.”
Ryan says facing the 6-foot-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger is hardly the same as preparing for Manning or Brady, the latter of whom the Jets sacked five times Sunday.
“(Manning and Brady) approach things a little different,” said Ryan, who lost the 2009 AFC title game in Pittsburgh as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator. “Roethlisberger will beat you up. … I’ve never seen a guy take the hits he can take and also make people miss the way he does and be as accurate on the run.”
The speedy Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and Mike Wallace give Roethlisberger plenty of chances to make plays down the field, but the Jets largely eliminated those options in Week 15 at Heinz Field. Roethlisberger averaged a season-low 6.0 yards per attempt in a 22-17 loss.
“They’re a really good defense,” Roethlisberger said. “They try and confuse. That’s the big thing they do. … You don’t know where people are lining up and how to identify them.
“The Jets’ defense beat the two best quarterbacks in the game at their place. I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”
With Cromartie and Revis likely shadowing Ward and Wallace, that could leave some room in the middle for tight end Heath Miller, who missed the regular-season meeting with a concussion.
Also sitting out that game was All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu, who’s now playing despite a strained Achilles’. Pittsburgh is 31-8 with Polamalu in the lineup since 2008 and 6-7 without him.
Jets wideout and former Steeler Santonio Holmes called Polamalu the “greatest player” he has ever seen play in person.

Bambino Diapers

With plenty of game-changing players in the secondary, running could be key even though Pittsburgh and New York finished first and third, respectively, in rush defense. The Jets ran for 106 yards behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Green in the regular-season meeting while Mendenhall had 99 of Pittsburgh’s 146.
Both totals were the most either defense has allowed.

While many doubted Sanchez’s ability to win a game through the air, he didn’t look like a quarterback who’s merely a caretaker Sunday. Sanchez is 4-1 on the road in the postseason, and his playoff passer rating is 92.2 - 22.0 higher than in the regular season.

One Jet who may be more motivated than most Sunday is Holmes, the Super Bowl XLIII MVP who Pittsburgh traded for a fifth-round pick in April following his repeated off-field troubles.
Holmes insists he’s not out for revenge.

“I got a chance to beat those guys the first time around,” Holmes said. “I don’t care about the Steelers right now. … If we win the Super Bowl, that’s a slap back in (their) face for trading me. But right now it’s not a focus of mine.”
Pittsburgh, which is 5-5 in conference championship games at home, will certainly be monitoring the health of Jets return man Brad Smith. Smith returned the opening kickoff for a score in Week 15 but missed last week’s game with a groin injury.
Special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said Smith “absolutely” will return kicks Sunday night, barring a setback.

Location:San Antonio, TX, United States

NFC Championship

We are covering all Aspects of the NFL Conference Championships


The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have met 181 times in the NFL’s longest standing rivalry dating back to 1921.
Only once have they played with this much at stake.
Chicago hosts Green Bay in the NFC championship game Sunday in the teams’ first playoff meeting since Dec. 14, 1941.
The Bears’ 33-14 victory over the Packers at that time put them in the NFL title game, and a win Sunday will accomplish a similar feat. While there’s sure to be mention of the rivalry between franchises with a combined 48 Hall of Fame players, the history between Chicago and Green Bay takes a back seat to a Super Bowl berth being on the line.

Mommy Kate

“You just look at our history and it does have a respectful tone, but it can be nasty also,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “It’s going to be a physical game. We don’t like each other.
“Believe me, there is not a whole lot of love for us coming (from the Packers).”
The Bears (12-5) won the first meeting this season Sept. 27, taking advantage of the Packers’ team-record 18 penalties for a 20-17 victory at Soldier Field. Chicago had a chance to knock Green Bay out of the playoff picture in the final week of the season, but the Packers held on for a 10-3 home victory to earn the NFC’s sixth seed.
Aaron Rodgers(notes) now has Green Bay (12-6) one win from joining the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to play in the Super Bowl. After throwing for three touchdowns in a 21-16 victory at Philadelphia in the wild-card round, Rodgers went 31 of 36 for 366 yards and three TDs last Saturday in a 48-21 win at top-seeded Atlanta.
Rodgers, who called last week’s performance possibly the best of his career, has a 125.0 passer rating over his last nine games with 22 TDs and two interceptions.
“Aaron is playing as well as anybody has played that position and he’s doing an excellent job spreading the ball around and getting it down the field,” Packers center Scott Wells(notes) said.
Rodgers has won four of six career starts against the Bears, completing 68.6 percent of his throws with seven touchdowns and four picks. His 89.7 passer rating against them in the season finale is his worst of the past four weeks, but his TD pass with 12:42 to play was the difference.
Jay Cutler(notes) threw for 221 yards and a touchdown in the loss, but he was sacked six times and his second interception ended the Bears’ comeback attempt. Cutler responded in last week’s 35-24 win over Seattle, throwing for 274 yards and two touchdowns - including a 58-yarder to Greg Olsen(notes) on his first career pass attempt in the playoffs.
Cutler also ran for two TDs, joining the legendary Otto Graham as the only two quarterbacks to throw and run for two touchdowns in a postseason game. Coming off a 2009 season in which he threw 26 interceptions and had a career-worst 76.8 quarterback rating, Cutler cut his picks to 16 and led the Bears to their first playoff victory since 2006.
However, Cutler is only 1-4 against the Packers with nine interceptions and five touchdowns.
“We feel real good about where he is,” Smith said. “He’s come a long way. … I really like the decisions he’s making.”
One of Cutler’s biggest concerns will be avoiding mistakes, and Packers cornerback Tramon Williams(notes) has been forcing plenty of them. Often overshadowed by All-Pro corner Charles Woodson(notes), Williams intercepted Michael Vick(notes) in the end zone to seal Green Bay’s win over the Eagles, then had two more picks against the Falcons and ran back the second one for a touchdown at the end of the first half.
“When these playoffs and the Super Bowl are completed, everybody in the country is going to know who Tramon Williams is,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s the type of level that he’s playing at.”
Though Chicago’s defense often receives more notoriety with perennial Pro Bowlers like Brian Urlacher(notes), Lance Briggs(notes) and Julius Peppers(notes), the Packers maintain they’re just as good - if not better. Green Bay gave up 15.0 points per game during the regular season to rank second in the NFL, while Chicago ranked fourth with an average of 17.9.
“They’ve had some guys there for a while that have really been producing, playing well,” linebacker A.J. Hawk(notes) said of the Bears. “So if they’re getting more national attention, whatever, that’s fine. That’s OK with us. They can have it. We’ll be fine with the guys we have here.”
After allowing Atlanta’s Eric Weems(notes) to score on a 102-yard kickoff return last week, McCarthy hopes to slow Bears return specialist Devin Hester(notes), who ran back a punt for a touchdown in Chicago’s win over the Packers in September. McCarthy said Hester was the Bears’ best player before the teams met in the season finale.
“Natural ability,” Williams said about what makes Hester so dynamic. “From watching film, everything he does is great. He has the vision and the ability, everything. … Coach said he’s the best ever, so I feel the same way.”
Though the Packers have won each playoff game on the road, they have lost three of their last four trips to Chicago. Each of the past five meetings overall have been decided by seven points or less.
The Bears lead the all-time series 92-83-6.

The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have met 181 times in the NFL’s longest standing rivalry dating back to 1921.
Only once have they played with this much at stake.
Chicago hosts Green Bay in the NFC championship game Sunday in the teams’ first playoff meeting since Dec. 14, 1941.
The Bears’ 33-14 victory over the Packers at that time put them in the NFL title game, and a win Sunday will accomplish a similar feat. While there’s sure to be mention of the rivalry between franchises with a combined 48 Hall of Fame players, the history between Chicago and Green Bay takes a back seat to a Super Bowl berth being on the line.

Diaper Space

“You just look at our history and it does have a respectful tone, but it can be nasty also,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “It’s going to be a physical game. We don’t like each other.
“Believe me, there is not a whole lot of love for us coming (from the Packers).”
The Bears (12-5) won the first meeting this season Sept. 27, taking advantage of the Packers’ team-record 18 penalties for a 20-17 victory at Soldier Field. Chicago had a chance to knock Green Bay out of the playoff picture in the final week of the season, but the Packers held on for a 10-3 home victory to earn the NFC’s sixth seed.
Aaron Rodgers(notes) now has Green Bay (12-6) one win from joining the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers as the only No. 6 seeds to play in the Super Bowl. After throwing for three touchdowns in a 21-16 victory at Philadelphia in the wild-card round, Rodgers went 31 of 36 for 366 yards and three TDs last Saturday in a 48-21 win at top-seeded Atlanta.
Rodgers, who called last week’s performance possibly the best of his career, has a 125.0 passer rating over his last nine games with 22 TDs and two interceptions.
“Aaron is playing as well as anybody has played that position and he’s doing an excellent job spreading the ball around and getting it down the field,” Packers center Scott Wells(notes) said.
Rodgers has won four of six career starts against the Bears, completing 68.6 percent of his throws with seven touchdowns and four picks. His 89.7 passer rating against them in the season finale is his worst of the past four weeks, but his TD pass with 12:42 to play was the difference.
Jay Cutler(notes) threw for 221 yards and a touchdown in the loss, but he was sacked six times and his second interception ended the Bears’ comeback attempt. Cutler responded in last week’s 35-24 win over Seattle, throwing for 274 yards and two touchdowns - including a 58-yarder to Greg Olsen(notes) on his first career pass attempt in the playoffs.
Cutler also ran for two TDs, joining the legendary Otto Graham as the only two quarterbacks to throw and run for two touchdowns in a postseason game. Coming off a 2009 season in which he threw 26 interceptions and had a career-worst 76.8 quarterback rating, Cutler cut his picks to 16 and led the Bears to their first playoff victory since 2006.
However, Cutler is only 1-4 against the Packers with nine interceptions and five touchdowns.
“We feel real good about where he is,” Smith said. “He’s come a long way. … I really like the decisions he’s making.”
One of Cutler’s biggest concerns will be avoiding mistakes, and Packers cornerback Tramon Williams(notes) has been forcing plenty of them. Often overshadowed by All-Pro corner Charles Woodson(notes), Williams intercepted Michael Vick(notes) in the end zone to seal Green Bay’s win over the Eagles, then had two more picks against the Falcons and ran back the second one for a touchdown at the end of the first half.
“When these playoffs and the Super Bowl are completed, everybody in the country is going to know who Tramon Williams is,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That’s the type of level that he’s playing at.”
Though Chicago’s defense often receives more notoriety with perennial Pro Bowlers like Brian Urlacher(notes), Lance Briggs(notes) and Julius Peppers(notes), the Packers maintain they’re just as good - if not better. Green Bay gave up 15.0 points per game during the regular season to rank second in the NFL, while Chicago ranked fourth with an average of 17.9.
“They’ve had some guys there for a while that have really been producing, playing well,” linebacker A.J. Hawk(notes) said of the Bears. “So if they’re getting more national attention, whatever, that’s fine. That’s OK with us. They can have it. We’ll be fine with the guys we have here.”
After allowing Atlanta’s Eric Weems(notes) to score on a 102-yard kickoff return last week, McCarthy hopes to slow Bears return specialist Devin Hester(notes), who ran back a punt for a touchdown in Chicago’s win over the Packers in September. McCarthy said Hester was the Bears’ best player before the teams met in the season finale.
“Natural ability,” Williams said about what makes Hester so dynamic. “From watching film, everything he does is great. He has the vision and the ability, everything. … Coach said he’s the best ever, so I feel the same way.”
Though the Packers have won each playoff game on the road, they have lost three of their last four trips to Chicago. Each of the past five meetings overall have been decided by seven points or less.

The Bears lead the all-time series 92-83-6.