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The quick, simple answer here would be that the Patriots will beat the Colts and the Cowboys will beat the Packers to give us a Patriots/Cowboys Super Bowl.

The details are as follows:

The New England Patriots have it all and then they have Tom Brady on top of it all. Nobody will beat the Patriots in the playoffs. They play physical, hard-nosed football and they keep teams off balance with their play calling on both sides of the ball. Somehow, they will score a lot and somehow they will get pressure on the opposing offense. Could be the best team ever to play in the NFL, but that is for another article.

The obvious contender for the Patriots in the AFC is the Indianapolis Colts. As good as they are, they aren't going to cause turn overs by Brady and that is what it will take to beat the Patriots, so they won't beat them.

If you are looking for a sleeper that might steal a win against the Patriots, look at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Most people overlook them a bit because they don't think David Garrard is the real deal at quarterback, but he can really play. On top of that, they are the most physical team outside the Patriots. The only way the Patriots are gonna get beat is if they get beat up on the field. The Jags might be the team to do that, but I wouldn't count on it.

As for the NFC, the Cowboys have pretty much everything going for them. Their defense is not great, but their offense will keep up with anyone and if their defense can cause a couple of turnovers, they are tough to beat.

Tony Romo has played very well all season and with guys like Terrel Owens at wide receiver and Jason Witten at tight end, it is hard for him to go wrong. They have the running game and the offensive line. They are the best team in the NFC. So will the win the NFC and go the big game?

It is definitely more of a question mark in the NFC because teams like Green Bay, Seattle, and even Minnesota could beat the Cowboys. I think we can rule out the N.Y. Giants and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Minnesota doesn't quite have the defense to pressure Romo, or the quarterback experience, but they certainly have the running game. As we all know, a good running game can sometimes win games by itself. A couple of lucky breaks in the form of fumbles and then handing the ball to Adrian Peterson or Chester Taylor all day and the Vikings could bring an upset to the NFC playoffs.

Seattle will be talked about a lot now that they have won their division again. They made the Super Bowl a couple years ago at the end of the 2005 season, so they have experience. They beat Dallas in last year's playoff game in which Romo botched the snap that would have won the game with a kick. Seattle also has Matt Hasselbeck who is playing great and is cool under playoff pressure. Still, the Seattle defense is not great and Dallas would go up and down the field on them at will. It would take another botched snap or lucky break for Seattle to beat Dallas, or Green Bay for that matter.

Sports are always unpredictable, but this NFL season looks pretty clear: we are heading for a rematch of the Colts and Patriots in the AFC championship and Cowboys against Packers in the NFC championship. Maybe something crazy will happen and throw all of us for a loop.

Learn more about this author, Jeremy Peters.
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