Storylines to watch during NFL's championship week

A quick look at the storylines heading into conference championship week as the Atlanta Falcons prepare to host the Green Bay Packers for the NFC title, while the Pittsburgh Steelers get ready to face the New England Patriots on the AFC side for the other spot in Super Bowl LI:

Quarterbacks galore

Tom Brady vs. Ben Roethlisberger. Aaron Rodgers vs. Matt Ryan. It’d be tough to ask for a better final four of quarterbacks than this. They have seven Super Bowl wins and four MVP awards between them — so far — and all have been on top of their game. That includes Ryan, the only one of the bunch without a ring, who’s having by far his best season at age 31.

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Up and comers

If there’s a party crasher among this group of storied franchises and recent champs, it’s Ryan and the Falcons, who have reached the Super Bowl once in their 51-year history, losing to the Denver Broncos after the 1998 season. Atlanta is just two years removed from a 6-10 finish and a coaching change, but now owns the league's highest-scoring offense — a fast, deep and dangerous group — plus a quickly improving defense.

Deflate this

A Super Bowl bid would be the latest step in the revenge tour of Brady, who served his four-game Deflategate suspension to start this season. And he’s not the only one with an ax to grind with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers all bristled at a league probe of PED allegations last summer that ended with them being cleared.

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We meet again

Both games are rematches of regular-season meetings, though things have changed since. The Patriots beat the Steelers 27-16 on Oct. 23 at Heinz Field, but Roethlisberger missed that game following knee surgery. One week later, the Falcons beat Green Bay 33-32 in Atlanta, but that was before Rodgers’ “run the table” call and a winning streak that has now reached eight.

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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero

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