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The 49ers-Seahawks rivalry, Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning – can it get any better?
Put off finally washing the car on Sunday. The messy garage can wait. Tell that pet groomer your dog will just have to smell one more week. Cancel those birthday party plans that revolve around spending an entire afternoon with 5-year-olds.
The AFC and NFC championship games will be played on Sunday. And it might be the best set of championship games in recent memory.
Seattle will host San Francisco to determine the NFC’s representative in this year’s Super Bowl, while New England will travel and face Denver in the AFC championship game. There are plenty of subplots in each game, including the 15th meeting between future Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, to turn Sunday into a must-see TV kind of day.
New England and Denver will kickoff the day at 3 p.m. Eastern time on CBS. Denver has been one of the NFL’s most dominant teams this season, and Manning is the main reason for his team’s success. Manning set NFL records with 5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns. However, New England defeated Denver, 34-31, during the regular season.
After trailing 24-0 at halftime, New England scored on its first five possessions in the second half. Brady threw three touchdowns in the second half to lead his team to an improbable win.
Even though Brady is a huge reason his team is in the championship game, New England showed its versatility against the Indianapolis Colts when it scored six rushing touchdowns during a 43-22 divisional playoff victory on Saturday. The Broncos took care of the Chargers to ensure an AFC title game matchup against the Patriots.
Meanwhile, 49ers coach John Harbaugh and Seattle coach Pete Carroll have been rivals since both were college coaches at Stanford and USC, respectively, and that rivalry has continued to the NFL and seeped into both locker rooms.
The rivalry between the hard-hitting NFC West rivals has been growing the past couple seasons as each built their franchise into one of the NFL's best. It's hard to argue that they're the two best teams in the NFC, and they will square off with a Super Bowl berth on the line. Seattle and San Francisco split the two regular-season meetings.
The rivalry between Seattle and San Francisco has become so intense, the Seahawks are trying to prevent 49ers fans from purchasing tickets to Sunday’s game. It does not matter. Stay at home and watch from there.
This could be the best championship Sunday in years.
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is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at NFLAnwar@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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