Who Goes To The Super Bowl?

Instead of debating the meaning of the South Carolina and Nevada primaries, most people will gather today to see who gets to go to the really big show — the Super Bowl. Will the Patriots beat the Chargers to stay undefeated and play for the right to claim themselves the greatest football team of all time? Will the Giants send another Manning to a Super Bowl by defeating perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time in Green Bay?
I’ll offer a few predictions:
* NFC – The game will be played late, when the temps will dip below zero, but when snow will not be likely. That will negate a little of Green Bay’s home-turf advantage, but not all of it. Ryan Grant will run well enough to keep pressure off of Brett Favre, and Eli Manning will not get enough protection to have the kind of superb game he would need to beat the Pack. I see Favre going to his last Super Bowl. Pack over the Giants, 27-20. (I’m worried about the Giants’ terrific road strength, though. This will be a great game.)
* AFC – Even at full strength, the Chargers would have a hard time beating the Patriots in San Diego, let alone in Foxboro. Philip Rivers and LaDanian Tomlinson are both dinged up, and Antonio Gates more so. They beat the Colts with their second squad offense, but the Colts are not the Patriots. Expect this one to get ugly. Patriots over the scrappy but undermanned Chargers, 38-17.
What are your picks?