In the early afternoon, the Patriots faced off against the Baltimore Ravens in Foxborough, Massachusetts for the AFC Championship.  It was a close game, with a final score of 23-20 in favor of the Pats.  Baltimore quaterback, Joe Flacco, threw for 306 yards and had a better game than New England's Tom Brady, who passed for 239 yards but was intercepted twice, both had 22 completions out of 36 attempts.  

Brady and New England coach, Bill Belichick, credit the defense as the key factor to the win. "Well, I sucked pretty bad, but our defense saved us," Brady said.   

But for the Ravens, it was Billy Cundiff's missed 32-yard field goal in the last seconds of the fourth quarter that gave the Patriots the win.  An embarrassed Cundiff stated, "It's a kick I've kicked probably a thousand times in my career.  I went out there and didn't convert."
Later on Sunday, the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers played for the NFC Championship.  The Giants defeated the Ravens in overtime, 20-17.  Giants' kicker, Lawrence Tynes, had a better day, scoring the final points of the match and giving his team the win.  Thanks to Kyle Williams fumbling  the ball after a punt, Eli Manning got the Giants within field goal range.  Manning said, "That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard that we got."  

Ironically, the last time these two teams met in a Super Bowl game was in 2008, which the Giants won with a three-point difference, ending the Patriots' perfect season.  The Patriots and the Giants will now meet in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium.  The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. on NBC.