The winner between the Texans and Patriots will go on to face the Denver Broncos, who took down the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in overtime. However, they will be without quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a fractured ankle during the big win in Mile High (full game highlights here).
Over in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks await the winner between the Rams and Bears after throttling the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 (full game highlights here).
The victory marked quarterback Sam Darnold's first of his playoff career as it did for head coach Mike Macdonald in his playoff debut as a head coach.
Seattle has now gone eight straight quarters without allowing a single touchdown (final regular season game + playoff game, both against the 49ers).
The Texans will bring the No. 1 defence of the current decade to Foxborough as the Pats are coming off a home win against the Los Angeles Chargers, a team the Pats held to just three points and sacked quarterback Justin Herbert six times.
Houston is coming off a big 30-6 win after holding the Steelers to just six points, also sacking quarterback Aaron Rodgers four times, where rookie running back Woody Marks posted 112 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
As for the Rams, they'll be heading to a hostile and cold Chicago environment where the Bears put up a whopping 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback 31-27 victory over their historic rivals in the Green Bay Packers.
Los Angeles is coming off a close win over the Carolina Panthers, where they won in the final moments after MVP-favourite Matthew Stafford threw a go-ahead touchdown to tight end Colby Parkinson with less than 40 seconds left in the game to win 34-31.
Now that the teams are ready to go, let's see who our experts picked for today!
Experts picks
Texans @ Patriots
Paul (regular season champion): Texans 20-16 Patriots
It's the Texans’ year to make the Super Bowl. Their defence impresses me time and time again, and I think it's going to feast again in Foxborough.
Don't get me wrong: the Patriots and Drake Maye are good. I love the Texans' defence more, though, and I think that even without Nico Collins, C.J. Stroud will be good enough to complement the defence and get a massive win, which will give them the best path to Santa Clara they could wish for.
Give me Jalen Pitre’s Texans!
Eric (2nd place): Texans 17-13 Patriots
The Houston Texans have the best defence of the 2020s so far and that's not going to stop just because they're heading up to Foxborough.
New England's defence will undoubtedly cause problems for Stroud and company, but Maye had not faced a top-10 scoring defence all season until the Chargers. He put up 334 total yards, but with one touchdown, two turnovers, and was also sacked five times.
A big reason that the Chargers faultered is that they turned it over on downs on the Pats' side of the field twice. So New England cannot, by any means, give the Texans an inch on them, which I think they'll fail to do.
Houston's defence is a different beast entirely. Teams know what they're going to do and still can't stop them. It's going to be a Stoud-Jarrett Stidham AFC Championship showdown after the Texans win this one.
Miguel (3rd place): Patriots 23-19 Texans
As I said in the previous round, I believe the Patriots are the best team in these playoffs and will have no trouble beating the Texans, for whom every minute in this postseason is already a gift.
Houston has the best defence, but New England is more balanced on both sides of the ball. I expect the Pats to put the pressure on Stroud to advance to the AFC Championship.
Henri (4th place): Patriots 28-14 Texans
The Texans had a much too easy task against the Steelers. Aaron Rodgers gave the impression that he retired after this match and is already moving like an aging veteran.
The Patriots and Maye will be a whole new challenge and should demand more from Houston. In the end, it won't be enough for the Texans here, so the Pats will advance to the AFC Championship.
Rams @ Bears
Paul: Rams 23-19 Bears
The Rams are battle-hardened after a testy game in Charlotte. The cold weather in Chicago having a massive effect on the Rams, who are not a dome team for the record, is a take I don't care much for.
If there's any duo I trust to make things happen in these playoffs, it’s Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua. I love this Bears team and Ben Johnson, but with the Rams at full strength, I'm backing the MVP and Sean McVay.
Give me Kevin Dotson’s Rams!
Eric: Rams 27-22 Bears
The Chicago Bears have this thing I'd like to call "The Weirdness" this season. For the first three quarters, they act like they forget how to play football. Then when the fourth quarter rolls around, they start to play like a team possessed by elite players at all positions and cannot be stopped whatsoever.
However, I'm taking the MVP-favourite in Stafford and head coach Sean McVay to put a stop to it all in front of the Bears faithful. The experience of knowing how to close games in these situations properly isn't lost on the pair of Super Bowl champions.
There's something rational about saying these guys have been here before, Williams and the Bears haven't.
Miguel: Bears 22-15 Rams
The victory against the Packers, with a sensational comeback, must have boosted the Bears.
It will be an even match, but Chicago is slightly better than Los Angeles at this point in the playoffs. They're riding the high of one of the greatest playoff comeback victories we've ever seen, while the Rams just barely scraped by an 8-9 Panthers team that took the Rams down to their final possession.
In the end, I'm going with the Bears and their home-field advantage.
Henri: Bears 17-10 Rams
My gut feeling is that the Bears could cause a huge upset.
Chicago has an impressive defence, an extremely well-disposed QB in Williams, and the passion that the Rams are currently lacking in their game. Compared to others around the league seeing these two offences putting up points, I see a defensive battle with Chicago coming out on top.
It'll be the first time the Seahawks and Bears ever faced each other in the NFC Championship game.