Davante Adams

Conference championships: Another dose of Packers and Cowboys, Ravens and Patriots

Published Sep. 9, 2015 10:02 a.m. ET

Alex Marvez

As kickoff of the NFL season approaches, FOXSports.com will preview how the year will play out, from the regular-season standings to round-by-round postseason predictions. Earlier this week, we told you who was making the playoffs and why. Here are how the wild-card and divisional rounds played out. Today, the NFL Final Four, which will feature two rematches from great clashes during last season's divisional round. When you're done reading, feel free to let us know what you think about our picks.

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Dallas (2) at Green Bay (1): Dez Bryant's "catch that wasn't." The Ice Bowl. Dallas head coach Jason Garrett's quarterbacking heroics for the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day 1994. There will be lots of Green Bay-Dallas nostalgia (again) entering the second straight year of a playoff showdown between two of the league's iconic franchises. But there is something else that Green Bay will be hearing about ad nauseam once again as well -- the fourth-quarter collapse against Seattle in last season's NFC Championship game. The Packers gradually squandered a 16-point halftime lead through questionable play-calling and special-teams gaffes. The fallout from the debacle led to Green Bay's Mike McCarthy abdicating his offensive play-calling responsibilities to become more of an omnipresent head coach. The move pays dividends against the Cowboys. The Packers score a special-teams touchdown and stop a Dallas running game that sorely missed a bell-cow presence all season in the absence of the departed DeMarco Murray (Philadelphia).

Player of the game: Packers second-year wide receiver Davante Adams was elevated to the starting lineup in the preseason when Jordy Nelson landed on injured reserve with a knee injury. Like he did throughout the regular season, Adams picks up much of the slack with a monster game (seven catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns).

Final: Green Bay 33, Dallas 20

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Baltimore (2) at New England (1): When it comes to long-standing grudges for on- and off-field reasons, the New York Jets and Indianapolis rank ahead of Baltimore on New England's list of most-hated rivals. But the Ravens are rising fast. That's because of the belief -- denied by the Ravens -- that Baltimore tipped off the Colts to the possibility New England was using underinflated footballs before the AFC Championship game. Whether true or not, there is no doubt the Ravens were furious when caught off-guard by New England's offbeat use of eligible and ineligible receivers that helped the Patriots mount a 14-point second-half comeback in last season's second-round playoff game. The Patriots' clever chicanery added another chapter to what has become an expanding book of postseason clashes between the clubs. Baltimore and New England met in the playoffs four times during the six previous seasons, including a split in AFC title game matchups. The Patriots win this rubber match as Baltimore's offense sputters down the stretch.