Conference Championship Sunday features the longest NFL rivalry and the terrible towel

The Final Four is here for NFL teams. Packers at Bears, Jets at Steelers.

As a diehard Colts fans, there’s no team I have a rooting interest for. It will be quality football. But more than anything, I’m disappointed. This isn’t appointment television. Some have dubbed this ‘the best NFL weekend of the year.’

Um, no. I’ll disagree.

How about the divisional round when you have double the games. How about the Super Bowl, where everyone and their mom watches the game whether they care or not…for the game or not, but definitely for the commercials.

I’ve never been a big fans of predictions. They are a corky little way of letting somebody in a big group come out on top and trump the rest. The majority of predictions are from nobody’s, who have done zero filming watching, research and do not understand the playing environment. (Should you really care, I take Packers 24-17 over the Bears and Jets over the Steelers 27-21). Nonetheless, both should be very good games.

Chicago and Green Bay is the NFL’s longest tenured rivalry, dating back to 1921, consisting of 181 matchups. The Bears host the Packers in the NFC championship game at 3 pm (FOX), in the teams’ first playoff meeting since Dec. 14, 1941.

The Jets-Steelers game pits loudmouth Rex Ryan against the terrible towel at 6:30 pm (CBS). The Steelers have had an incredible run in the last seven years, making today their fourth AFC Championship appearance in that time and possibly a third Super Bowl. Though I did pick against them, the Pittsburgh atmosphere, terrible towel and veteran experience of the Steeler players may be enough to propel them to another Super Bowl.

Both the Packers and Jets made it to their respective championship games as a six seed—that’s what makes the NFL so special. The unpredictable underdog staying in the fight.

The outdoor playing conditions are always an element this late in the season (unless indoors of course). For the NFC contest in Chicago, the temperatures will be around 16 degrees and cloudy. In Pittsburgh, temperatures will be in single digits by late tonight, looming around eight degrees.

While the conditions are interesting, they certainly aren’t critical. All four teams come from outdoor stadiums so they should be built to handle the below-freezing temperatures.

As for the refs today, the AFC has the #1 guy in my opinion in Ed Hochuli. Some complain that he takes a long time to explain each penalty and review. I personally think he is great and that is what separates Hochuli from the pack. He’s clear and consistent. The early NFC game will be controlled by Terry McAulay, whose crew has called 19 penalties (18 accepted) in the first meeting between the Packers and Bears.

CAN’T WAIT!