To say that the online betting community is more than a little surprised at the match-ups we will see in the AFC and NFC Championship games would be a slight understatement. We have come this far without the Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints still being involved in the proceedings. The departure of the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers was the most shocking. The Packers gave its divisional game to the New York Giants in a game that should have been dominated by the Packers' offense.

Now we have an AFC Championship game that features the Baltimore Ravens traveling to play the New England Patriots, and an NFC Championship game that has the New York Giants going out west to face the San Francisco 49ers. What will happen on Championship Sunday? It is really hard to tell. But, considering how lopsided and inconsistent the other games have been in these playoffs, these games should be very fun to watch.

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY JANUARY 22, 2012, 3:00 PM EST

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots (-7)

It is just difficult to imagine why the Las Vegas football lines makers would put this game as the one with the widest margin in favor of the home team. The Patriots know that it is not going to run away from this Baltimore defense. All of the sports experts have been focusing on the battle between the Baltimore defense and the New England offense. That little chess game will be fun to watch as the best offense in football tries to beat the best defense in football. But the battle that will win this game will be between the Baltimore offense and the Patriots' defense.

The Baltimore Ravens have spent this entire playoffs either listening to criticisms of its quarterback, or delivering criticisms of its quarterback. Regardless of what Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco does, this game rests on the shoulders of Baltimore running back Ray Rice. The Baltimore defense will handle the Patriots' offense. But the Baltimore offensive line looked horrible against the Texans in the divisional round. If the Ravens can pull its offensive line together, then this game swings to the favor of the Baltimore Ravens. If Ray Rice cannot get going, then Tom Brady wins this game.

Pick: Baltimore Ravens

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP - SUNDAY JANUARY 22, 2012, 6:30 PM EST

New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers (-2 1/2)

The Vegas betting line on this game has been going back and forth between 2 and 2 1/2 all week long. This game is so difficult to call that not even the odds makers can make up their minds. The Giants are one of the most unpredictable teams in the playoffs ever since Tom Coughlin took over as head coach. The fans and media want to write the Giants off for this championship game because of the way in which the Green Bay Packers just seemed to roll over on the Giants in the divisional round. But you cannot discount this Giants team, especially when the defense is hitting on all cylinders. The Giants run on emotion, even though quarterback Eli Manning looks robotic at times. Emotion could be what brings the Giants down in this game.

The San Francisco 49ers are well-coached, discipline, confident and a predictable winner. The 49ers' defense looks to dominate the Giants at the line of scrimmage, and that could neutralize the running game that the Giants have been relying on to set up the deep ball all playoffs long. The San Francisco secondary looks more than capable of stopping Eli Manning and wide receiver Victor Cruz from going deep. The 49ers will not make the same mistakes that the Packers made, and the 49ers are simply a better team than the New York Giants.

Pick: San Francisco 49ers