Atlanta Falcons

NFL conference championship expert picks: Our predictions for both games

Published Jan. 22, 2017 10:02 p.m. ET

Zack Pierce

Chase, Smiley and WhatIf all went 3-1 for the top mark of divisional playoff weekend, meaning Brett still leads the race for second place with a one-game lead over WhatIf. Dieter and Lynch, our overall champion, each went 2-2.

On to conference championship weekend, where the Packers head to Atlanta to face the Falcons and Tom Brady's Patriots host Ben Roethlisberger's Steelers.

It's a pretty homogenous board this week. There was no love at all for the Packers in Atlanta. Only Chase picked the Steelers to swing the upset in Foxboro. As a result, Smiley has clinched at least a tie for second place — he'd have to be wrong on the Super Bowl and WhatIf right for those two to finish tied.

Enjoy the games (watch the NFC Championship on FOX, with coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET). Let's get to the picks. (Mobile users flip to landscape mode to view.)

Game	Chris Chase	Dieter Kurtenbach	Andrew Lynch	Brett Smiley	WIS
GB at ATL Tickets Watch
PIT at NE Tickets
This week	1-1	2-0	2-0	2-0	2-0
Season record	151-113	165-99	177-87	168-96	167-97

Records will be updated Sunday after games. Check back Thursday, Feb. 2 for our Super Bowl picks. (Note: Regular-season ties were not counted in the weekly or overall records.)

Participating this year:

— Chris Chase, Dieter Kurtenbach, Andrew Lynch and Brett Smiley, FOX Sports writers;

— Peter Schrager, FOX Sports NFL insider (Note: Peter will not be participating for the playoffs);

— And WhatIfSports, FOX Sports' simulation engine for computer-generated picks.

Compete against the experts each week in Pro Pick'em.