It has come down to a big weekend for the NFL with four teams left standing as Super Bowl aspirations begin to get bigger here in mid-January.
NFC Championship Game: 3 Things To Watch As Packers, Seahawks Clash
Sunday afternoon, the Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game at 3:05 p.m. ET while the Indianapolis Colts will visit the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at 6:40 p.m. ET with a trip to Super Bowl XLIX on the line.
Sports World News will take a look at one player from each team to keep an eye on as these games are set to get underway in one of the most exciting weeks of the NFL season.
AFC Championship Game: 3 Things To Watch In Colts, Patriots Battle
NFC Championship--Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks:
Green Bay comes into the title game for the first time since winning it and going on to capture the Super Bowl in 2010.
Seattle is this far in the playoffs for the second straight season and will look to become the first team in 17 years to win back-to-back NFC Championship Games after the club went on to hoist the Lombardi Trophy last year for the first time in franchise history.
The Packers went 12-4 in the regular season and won the NFC North for the fourth straight year. Green Bay defeated the Dallas Cowboys 26-21 in the divisional round last week.
The Seahawks finished 2014 with a 12-4 campaign and won the NFC West for the second straight season in defense of their Super Bowl title. Seattle overcame the Carolina Panthers 31-17 to get here and topped the Packers in Week 1 by a 36-16 score.
Packers Player to Watch--Quarterback Aaron Rodgers: It seems obvious that the signal caller is the key player in a game of this magnitude since it's the most important position in the sport, but Rodgers' slightly torn calf adds another layer to the game.
Despite dealing with the ailment last week against Dallas, the MVP candidate was able to go 24-for-35 (68.57 percent) for 316 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Seahawks will throw an even more potent defense at him this week and they come in with the knowledge that they sacked him three times in their last meeting in Week 1.
At full health, Rodgers was 23 of 33 in Week 1 against Seattle and threw a touchdown and an interception.
The signal caller went 341-for-520 (65.6 percent) for 4,381 yards in the regular season with 38 scores and five picks. He has 22 touchdowns and five interceptions through 11 career playoff games.
Rodgers likes to use his mobility, but it may be hindered against the Seahawks this weekend.
Seahawks Player to Watch--Cornerback Richard Sherman: The brash and out-spoken corner is the life blood behind the Seahawks' Legion of Boom. Don't believe us? Rodgers actively avoided targeting Sherman in the Week 1 meeting between these two teams, but he may have no choice now that his legs are limited heading into Sunday afternoon's marquee game. Sherman has one career postseason pick while he had four interceptions on the 2014 campaign and has been a shut-down corner throughout his career. The cornerback is a huge reason for Seattle's success and a catalyst for its run to the Super Bowl last season.
AFC Championship Game--Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots:
The Colts are in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since toppling the Jets en route to the Super Bowl in 2009 with Peyton Manning under center. The Patriots, meanwhile, are in this game for the fourth straight season, though their last two trips haven't been successful.
Indianapolis clinched the AFC South for the second consecutive year with an 11-5 record and defeated the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos to get to this point.
New England, meanwhile, went 12-4 to win its sixth straight AFC East division crown and toppled the Baltimore Ravens last week after sitting the first round out with a bye.
Colts Player to Watch: Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton: Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck is 0-3 in his career against Tom Brady and the Patriots and will need to utilize his best weapon all season in order to break the curse.
Luck threw four picks in a forgettable game in the only playoff clash between the signal caller and Brady, a 43-22 victory for New England in last year's divisional round.
Luck will need to find Hilton, who will likely be matched up with Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis, if they are going to be successful as Reggie Wayne remains less than 100 percent.
Hilton has been the Colts best wideout this season as the third-year receiver amassed a team-best 1,345 yards on 82 receptions and added seven scores in the regular season.
Hilton was targeted eight times last week against the Broncos and hauled in four catches for 72 yards, but failed to find the end zone.
Hilton has 214 postseason receptions through 46 games (26 starts) for 3,289 yards and has found the end zone 19 times.
Patriots Player to Watch: Tight end Rob Gronkowski: Gronkowski has been Brady's go-to weapon over the years and is a big reason for the success of the team as he is a major difference-maker when healthy.
The tight end had 82 receptions for 1,124 yards and 12 touchdowns in the 2014 season and then torched the Ravens for 108 yards on seven catches and caught a touchdown pass last week in the divisional round.
The Colts will have to keep an eye on Gronkowski on Sunday afternoon if they hope to rattle Brady, who has plenty of other weapons that Indianapolis needs to be aware of.
In his career, Gronkowski has 28 postseason receptions on 43 targets through six games and has four touchdowns.
The road to the Super Bowl gets narrower when the NFL presents the NFC and AFC Championship Games this Sunday.
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