NFL championship Sunday predictions

I pretty much nailed what would happen in the first 3 playoff games last weekend ... and then my pick of a 15-point Packers victory didn't exactly happen. How tragic.

Maybe I'll achieve perfection or close to it with just two games on the agenda this time around, though I think this weekend is particularly tough to peg.

Ravens at Patriots (2 p.m. Sunday, CBS)

The public expects the Patriots to roll. That's to be expected given that they're the Patriots, and that the Pats won by 35 last week while the Ravens struggled to beat a Texans team that started T.J. Yates at quarterback. I see the logic in that. I'm scared to death of Tom Brady (and Rob Gronkowski), and I don't trust Joe Flacco. Plus, the Ravens just aren't what they used to be defensively, so there is no reason to believe that they'll be able to hold Brady and company down and keep the game close if their offense isn't getting it done.

As for the perception that the Ravens are doomed to do nothing against what was a bad Patriots defense all year, which seems to be solely because the Patriots shut down the Broncos last week ... I'm not buying it at all. As shaky as Flacco is, Tim Tebow is no Flacco, Willis McGahee is no Ray Rice and the Broncos' receivers aren't Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin. The Ravens are better, on both sides of the ball, than the Broncos. And they're my preseason Super Bowl pick. I'm hesitatingly picking them, and I'll probably feel stupid about it when Brady completes touchdown pass No. 6 Sunday afternoon. Ravens 30, Patriots 28

Giants at 49ers (5:30 p.m. Sunday, FOX)

I was leaning towards the Giants, just because of the quarterback play (and yes, I'm aware that I just picked Joe Flacco to beat Tom Brady in the prior game). Eli Manning's been impressive all year, and with Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks on his side, the potential of a 350-yard, 4-touchdown game is always there, even against a good defense. Alex Smith played well in last week's win over the Saints and was fantastic in the final few minutes. The question is whether it was a coming-out party or an abberation. Impressed as I was, I'm leaning toward the latter.