Back to where it all started, the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks will meet once again. They last met on Thursday Night Football for the NFL season opener, now they square off with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Things have certainly changed for both teams, but the stars on each side remain the same.
Let's take a look at the five biggest factors that will determine who wins this game.
Aaron Rodgers must find alternate targets
We know about Richard Sherman and his ability to shut down the left side of the field. Some teams choose to attack him with quicker wide receivers, some put their number one receiver on him while others like Mike McCarthy avoid him all together.
Even if we see that happen on Sunday, with McCarthy lining Davante Adams up against Sherman, while Jordy Nelson faces Byron Maxwell with Earl Thomas shading over to that side. Even if Green Bay motions Randall Cobb out of the backfield, they must be wary of Kam Chancellor and linebacker Bobby Wagner.
Someone is bound to get open but Rodgers best option might be to find the rookie tight end with the same last name. Richard Rodgers has quickly developed and earned a key role on this offense, he has also drawn the praise of Aaron Rodgers for having "I dare say the best hands on the team". If the offensive line struggles and can't give their quarterback a lot of time, Rodgers will have to look to his tight end quickly. If the Rodgers-to-Rodgers connection is successful, Green Bay should have some opportunities to move into scoring range.
Mike McCarthy puts the ball on Eddie Lacy's shoulders
For most of his starting career, the games and pressure have rested on Rodgers' shoulders. While Rodgers shoulder isn't hurt, his ability to move around the pocket is almost taken away by his calf injury. That's not as much of a problem if the pocket is clean and he has time to throw, but Seattle knows how to pressure the quarterback.
This is why McCarthy needs to make a change, flip the game plan to make Lacy the focus of this offense. Seattle has an incredible defense, but you can have some success against the interior of their defensive line after they lost Brandon Mebane. McCarthy has implemented more of a pistol formation, with Lacy and John Kuhn in the backfield. It allows Lacy to generate some steam behind his runs and find a hole as he follows Kuhn to the second level. You can't expect Lacy to have 100-plus rushing yards, but if he can pick up chunks of yards, it will put Rodgers in third-and-short situations.
Green Bay must avoid third and long situations, it puts more pressure on the offensive line to buy Rodgers time and having one down to pick up nine-plus yards all night is nearly impossible. Lacy needs at least 25 carries and if T.J. Lang, Corey Linsley, Josh Sitton and Kuhn can create lanes, Green Bay can win this game.
Seattle must stick to their game
Playing at home, the Seahawks already have the advantage. CenturyLink Field offers the best home-field advantage in football, it will be loud from the start and even crazier if the Seahawks break out to an early lead. In order for that to happen and send the fans home knowing the chance for a repeat lives, Seattle must stay with their style of football.
It's the playoffs, teams can get away with more penalties than they would in the regular season. The Seahawks have a very physical secondary and they need to embrace the contact, jamming and getting a little hold of the Packers wide receivers. It's how Detroit and Buffalo beat the Packers and how you can really hurt this passing game. Even if they are called for a holding or two, they must be as physical as possible.
While the Seahawks no longer have Percy Harvin, they can still attack the Packers' aggressiveness on defense. After being burned time after time by the read option and Colin Kaepernick, Green Bay will be keying in on Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch. Seattle can counteract this by using the play action and taking some deep shots.
Attacking Green Bay's overagressiveness also means feeding Marshawn Lynch. The Packers have struggled all year with their angles going after the ball carrier and wrapping up, that's music to the ears of Lynch. When Lynch gets to the second level, he can make fools out of Clay Matthews and keep on rumbling for huge runs.
Physicality, power and killing an opponent's weakest points. This is Seattle's bread and butter, they can't veer off course from it on Sunday. Wilson's a very good young quarterback who can have some great moments, but the running game and defense is what needs to win this game for Seattle.
Be the first team to score
I'm sure there are plenty of statistics about the team that scores first wins a certain percentage of the time and a multitude of factors go into it. One of the biggest keys in this NFC Championship fight will be about which team can score first. Of course it provides a shot of momentum right out of the gate, but it more importantly makes a team play catch up. If Green Bay has a lead, they can keep feeding Lacy the ball and just try and slowly move the chains. It applies to Seattle as well, once they get a lead, the motor amps up and things can get ugly quickly.
Turnover Battle
Green Bay has avoided the big turnover for most of the season, it's why Rodgers will win Most Valuable Player and the team has made it this far. But you won't find a defense better than the Seahawks and while they only finished 21st in the league last year in turnovers forced, that doesn't account for the three and outs this defense causes. Still, this game will come down to the free possessions given away by offenses and limiting mistakes. It might only be a 2-1 finish in the battle or could possibly be even, but not losing the turnover battle will play a crucial factor in this game.