PACKERS (12-6) at FALCONS (12-5), 3:05 p.m.

Outlook: Sunday’s NFC title game matinee has an extremely high betting over/under. Why? No mystery. The Packers have won eight straight and topped 30 points in their past six. The Falcons led the NFL in scoring and have averaged 38 in their current five-game winning streak. Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan are really good and really hot. They were 1-2 this season with 40 and 38 touchdown passes, and have 35 TDs vs. one interception in their teams’ combined 13 straight wins. And neither defense is anything special, with Green Bay ranked 31st against the pass and Atlanta ranked 26th. All of that means the punters can pretty much take Sunday off. So who raises the George Halas Trophy and sails to the Super Bowl? I like Rodgers’ Packers in an upset, a bit anxiously I’d admit, and more on hunch than logic. Rodgers is more postseason proven and most of the pressure is on Ryan to win at home. This, too: Rodgers has a higher career passer rating against Atlanta (118.0) than against any team he’s faced at least five times.

Television: FOX

Prediction: Packers, 37-31.

STEELERS (13-5) at PATRIOTS (15-2), 6:40 p.m.

Outlook: Taking the Lamar Hunt Trophy from Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in Foxborough may be the most daunting challenge in sports. As Ben Roethlisberger put it, rather dramatically: “You’re going to the dragon’s lair and trying to slay the dragon.” The Dragons, I mean Patriots, are 5-1 at home playing for the AFC crown, and as much as I respect Mike Tomlin and Big Ben, I do not see them fashioning an upset. The Patriots beat the Steelers 27-16 in Week 7. Granted, Roethlisberger sat that one out with a knee injury and New England still had Rob Gronkowski. Still, the result hardly was a fluke. Brady is 9-2 all-time versus Pittsburgh. Count on Belichick to construct a game plan that will limit Le’Veon Bell a lot better than the Dolphins and Chiefs did this postseason, allowing Bell to rush for 337 yards. Brady and Big Ben last faced off for the AFC title in 2004. Twelve seasons later, the result will be the same. The dragon wins again.

Television: CBS

Prediction: Patriots 24-17.

– By Greg Cote, Miami Herald (Last week 3-1, season 159-95-2)