By Sameer Kini
Sports Editor

This week, both national and WA sports have important games to watch. Here are my picks to see for this week.

National – NFL Conference Championships. The NFL is down to its final four, and this weekend, these teams will square off for a chance to play for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February. In the AFC, the New York Jets will visit Pittsburgh to play the Steelers, while in the NFC, the Packers head to Soldier Field to play the Bears.

In the AFC game, the Jets, who are coming off two upset victories in which they beat both the Colts and Patriots consecutively, will visit a Steelers team who just won a hard-fought game against divisional rival Baltimore. Both teams play a very similar brand of football; a hard-nosed style with emphasis on smothering defense and a strong run game. Despite coming away from a very physical game, I expect the Steelers to win this because they are very similar to the Jets, but they do everything just a bit better. Their defense is stronger, with Polamalu and Harrison holding opposing offenses to very few points, and their offense is better in many ways. The Steelers run game is better with Mendenhall leading the way, and Ben Roethlisberger has won many big games before, giving Pittsburgh a huge advantage over the Jets and the inexperienced Mark Sanchez.

In the NFC, expect the Pack to come out and upset another top seed. The Packers have seemingly been the dark horse all year in the NFC, fighting through trials and tribulations that have led to this. The Bears have been a solid team and are coming off a big win, but it should be noted that the win came against the lowly Seahawks who finished the regular season 7-9. The Bears pride themselves on defense, but Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is virtually unstoppable right now, picking apart defenses at will. He will be able to put up enough points against a stingy Bears defense to pull this out, as the Bears offense will simply be shut down by the Pack’s fast, pass-rushing defense. Expect Bears QB Jay Cutler to spend a lot of time on the ground thanks to the Packers pass rush, as they cruise easily into the Super Bowl.

WA – WA Boys’ Hockey. The hockey team has two big games this week as they look to continue to rebound from their slow start. First up this week is Tewksbury on Wednesday night. Expect the boys to cruise in this game, as they look to continue to pick up victories, which have been hard to come by this year. Next up is the big game versus DCL rival Acton-Boxborough on Saturday afternoon at Skate 3. This should be a great game, and fans should go out to support the Grey Ghosts as they look to take down AB and turn around their season. Expect a close game, with the final being decided in the third period. Hopefully WA will be on the winning side of this affair, but I predict a draw in this one, leaving WA with a solid week as they continue to rebound.