NFC Conference Championship Game: Schedule, picks, and predictions

Last week, I urged you to root against the Panthers, and I'll urge you to do so again this week. For those who strongly dislike Seattle, well, at least the opposing team is easier to cheer for this week.

The Panthers will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, and it's a battle of the two teams who legitimately dominated the NFC this year. The Panthers did so with some surprisingly effective offense, Cam Newton's sorcery, and one of the league's strongest defenses, while the Cardinals paired an opportunistic defense with one of the scariest aerial attacks in the NFL. Both deserve to be here, in other words, but only one can advance, and there's only one team involved that I actively dislike.

Go Cardinals.

Schedule

NFC Championship: Carolina Panthers vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, January 24, 7:40 p.m., FOX

Odds

The Panthers are favored by 3

Pick

Without question, my pick is the Cardinals. They're banged up, but so is Carolina, and they're just such a dynamic big play team that I think they can win this one, even if my hunch about the Seahawks pulling off the win was way off. Give me Arizona

Predictions

As always, use The Crowd's Line widget to share your score prediction, then tell us about it in the comments.