Where: Georgia Dome
Time: 12:05 PM PST
Spread: Falcons (-5.5)
How The Teams Got Here
It took the Green Bay Packers to win their final six regular season games to earn a playoff spot and the NFC North title. In reality, it's also been the performance of Aaron Rodgers that's led this team to the brink of the Super Bowl. Last week saw Rodgers put up 355 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the win over the Dallas Cowboys. That came on the heels of Rodgers himself tallying four touchdowns in an NFC Wild Card win over the New York Giants.
For Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons, they were allowed to bypass the Wild Card round after earning a first-round playoff bye. They then blew out the Seattle Seahawks by the score of 36-20 last week to earn the right to host Sunday's NFC Championship game.
The Quarterbacks
This should be a bloodbath for the defenses. Atlanta yielded the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks during the regular year with Green Bay coming in as a bottom-seven performer in this category. More than that, both Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers are playing some elite football.
Rodgers has thrown 24 touchdowns compared to one interception and is averaging north of 300 passing yards over the past nine games. Meanwhile, Ryan has tallied 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions to go with over 1,500 passing yards during the Falcons' five-game winning streak. Needless to say, both quarterbacks should dominate from a fantasy perspective here.
Projections
Aaron Rodgers: 350 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions
Matt Ryan: 300 passing yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions
The Running Backs
It really is the Ty Montgomery show for the Packers' backfield right now. He's averaging over 80 total yards over the past eight games. This comes in a season that saw Montgomery more from wide receiver to running back. Think about that for a second.
Also important to note, Montgomery caught 79 percent of the 56 balls thrown in his direction during the regular season. Set to take on a Falcons defense that yielded the seventh-most fantasy points and third-most receiving yards to running backs during the regular season, look for a big game from Montgomery here.
The same could be said for Atlanta's duo of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, who combined for over 200 total yards against a stout Seahawks defense last week. We can pretty much take out pick of the litter here while potentially even deciding to stack the two in DFS contests. That's only magnified by the fact that Green Bay yielded over 1,900 total yards to running backs during the regular season.
Projections
Ty Montgomery: 60 rushing yards, four receptions, 30 yards and one touchdown
Devonta Freeman: 50 rushing yards, three receptions, 25 yards and one touchdown
Tevin Coleman: 40 rushing yards, two receptions, 25 yards
The Receivers
There's a whole heck of a lot of uncertainty here. Jordy Nelson missed last week's game after suffering a rib injury during the Wild Card round. He's listed as questionable after taking part in practice on a limited basis late in the week. Nelson's status won't be determined until inactives are announced Sunday afternoon.
The same can be said for Davante Adams who suffered a sprained ankle last week. Adams has not practice at all since suffering the injury and is listed as questionable. Even if he's a go, there's no reason to believe Adams will be at 100 percent here.
This is a big backstory heading into the NFC Championship game, especially with Nelson finishing the regular season as the top fantasy receiver and Adams coming in eighth overall. That's only magnified by the fact that Atlanta ranked in the bottom 10 of the NFL against fantasy receivers during the regular year.
Set to take on a Packers defense that yielded the most fantasy points to receivers, one would expect Julio Jones to have a huge game here. After all, Jones tallied 1,409 yards in 14 regular season games. That's until we realize that Jones himself is listed as questionable after injuring a toe last week. Jones is expected to go. But much like Nelson and Adams, he's unlikely going to be at 100 percent.
Projections
Randall Cobb: 7 receptions, 115 yards and two touchdowns
Davante Adams: 5 receptions, 80 yards and one touchdown
Julio Jones: 10 receptions, 155 yards and two touchdowns
The Tight Ends
It's all about Jared Cook here. He put up over 100 yards against the Dallas Cowboys last week and will likely continue playing a large role with the Packers' issues at wide receiver. It also doesn't hurt that Atlanta yielded the eighth-most fantasy points to tight ends during the regular year.
As it relates to the Falcons, there's not much to look at here. Austin Hooper and Levine Toilolo caught a combined 36 passes during the regular season and combined for just three receptions last week.
Projections
Jared Cook: five receptions, 62 yards
Prediction: Packers 37, Falcons 34