The NFL’s conference championship games next Sunday feature compelling characters and the Patriots’ continuing quest for the most perfect of all perfect seasons — 19-0 and their fourth Super Bowl win in seven years.
The winner of the Chargers-Patriots (3 p.m. ET) game moves on to face the winner of the New York Giants-Green Bay Packers game (6:30 p.m.) in Super Bowl XLII on Feb. 3 in Glendale, Ariz.

The hype for the NFC title game will rate about a 6 on a 1-to-10 scale, and the AFC title game will generate a 1 or a 2. Even though the Chargers have won eight in a row, no one will give them a chance against the Patriots. Probably because they don’t have one. But as upsets go, no-one can be sure.