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Bears Gab was one of a very select few to predict a double-digit win and playoff season for the Bears in 2010. So forecasting every game of this year’s playoffs should be a piece of cake considering…

• The Patriots look like the heavy favorite to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
• A division winning team with a losing record is in the playoffs for the first time ever.
• The league’s oldest rivals, Chicago and Green Bay, could potentially meet in an epic NFC Championship game.

How will the journey to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas shake down for each of the 12 participating cities? Bears Gab offers its best guess…

FIRST ROUND:

Packers at Eagles

Green Bay’s playing their best ball of the season and the Eagles – including Mike Vick – have looked beatable over the last month.

In an upset special: Pack 24, Eagles 17

Saints at Seahawks

Drew Brees and the defending champs will show the sub-.500 Seahawks what a playoff team really looks like.

Saints 27, Seahawks 10

Ravens at Chiefs

Look for KC, led by game-breaker Jamaal Charles, to have surprising success running the ball. While their last outing against the Raiders didn’t show it, the Chiefs defense is seriously underrated.

Upset special #2: Chiefs 17, Ravens 10

Jets at Colts

In a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game, we’re assuming Peyton Manning will outplay Mark Sanchez at home…and finally silence the NFL’s reigning big mouth, Rex Ryan, for good.

Colts 24, Jets 13

SECOND ROUND:

Saints at Bears

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ attacking 3-4 defense is scary at times – remember what they did to Favre last year? But the Bears D and special teams match up well against Nawlins’ units, especially outdoors in Chicago vs. a team that plays most of its games indoors.

Bears 23, Saints 19

Packers at Falcons

The Pack lost a heartbreaker to the Falcons about a month ago. Last Monday night, the Saints showed the world that the Falcons are beatable in the dome.

Upset special #3: Pack 28, Falcons 23

Chiefs at Patriots

Matt Cassel returns to face the team he quarterbacked a few years ago when Tom Brady got hurt…only to get pummeled by his former teammates.

Patriots 38, Chiefs 13

Colts at Steelers

This All-Pro QB duel between Manning and Big Ben will go down to the wire. The Steelers D will force Manning into more mistakes than Indy will force against Roethlisberger.

Steelers 26, Colts 20

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

Packers at Bears

Can you imagine the hype for this one? One rival will go to the Super Bowl. The other will go home. Bragging rights will be at stake for the rest of a lot of peoples’ lives. In a tight, defensive game where every play matters, expect the home team to make a few more plays.

Bears 19, Packers 14

Steelers at Patriots

The Patriots almost put up 40 points against the Steelers in Pittsburgh earlier this year. Playing at home, they’ll come close again.

Pats 35, Steelers 17

Super Bowl XLV – Bears vs. Patriots

Twenty five years after their Super Bowl XX beatdown, Patriots fans will look for revenge against the 2010 Monsters of the Midway. Chicago will also look to avenge the team that handed them their worst loss of the season (36-7).

The Bears will play better than they did in the Soldier Field snow, but the Pats are playing at another level right now…

New England – 30

Chicago – 17