First and goal for NFL's final four

The National Football League playoffs are now into their latter stages, with the conference championships played over this coming weekend deciding who will contest Super Bowl XLVI on 5 February.

Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots will contest the AFC conference championship, whilst the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers will fight it out for the NFC conference championship.

Wildcard weekend got the postseason underway two weekends ago, with all the seeded teams progressing to the divisionals. The pick of those matches was Denver Broncos’ overtime 23-29 victory over the weary Pittsburgh Steelers; Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was the hero, throwing the winning pass with the first play of overtime.

Elsewhere Houston Texans won their first ever game in the playoffs 10-31 versus Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants cruised past Atlanta Falcons 2-24 and New Orleans Saints triumphed 28-45 over Detroit Lions – the latter match-up showcasing two of the mightiest offences of the regular season.

In last weekend’s divisionals, the top seeds joined those victors from the opening round. New England Patriots swept aside the Broncos 10-45. Quarterback Tebow just wasn’t capable of reproducing the previous round’s magic, whereas his opposite number – the consistently top-notch Tom Brady – tied the record for the greatest number of touchdown passes in a playoff game. Somewhat in Tebow’s defence, the Patriots did expose a porous Broncos offensive line to sack the quarterback no fewer than five times.

Houston succumbed to Baltimore Ravens 13-20 in their match-up, the victory effectively won as Ravens went in at the end of the first quarter 3-17 up. The Texans did in fact test the infamously laconic Ravens defence in reducing the eventual winning margin, but a failure to score any points in the second half sealed their fate.

The New York Giants caused the upset of the playoffs so far, as they visited Lambeau Field and recorded an emphatic 37-20 win over reigning champions Green Bay Packers. The Packers may have had that storming regular season record of 15-1, but where they cantered into the postseason the Giants have careered onward like a freight train, generating crucial momentum.

The outstanding divisional match-up, though, was the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints. Although seeded, the Niners were very much the underdogs against the free-scoring Saints, but in one of the most furious final quarters in playoff history the Niners snatched a 32-36 victory only nine seconds before full-time.

In the AFC conference championship, it would be easy to see the Patriots – with their potent offence and unplayable quarterback Brady – as dead-certs to progress, but that would be to underestimate the Ravens. Their quarterback Joe Flacco is certainly no Brady, but he will not need to be if their defence maintains the form of this and past seasons. What’s more, Ravens beat the Patriots on their last postseason visit to Foxborough in 2010.

The NFC conference championship sees the Giants visiting the 49ers at Candlestick Park. There is a temptation to plum for the Giants, led by inspirational quarterback Eli Manning into this hottest of hot streaks. However, the Niners defence will provide a sterner test – especially given the resilience roused in their epic divisional win over the Patriots.

Four quality teams remain in contention, with nothing to be taken for granted at this stage. A classic surely awaits in New England as unstoppable force meets immovable object, but expect a more absorbing, attritional affair in San Francisco.