With another day of games in the books, we know who will be competing in the Super Bowl on the first Sunday in February in sunny Miami – the Indianapolis Colts (16-2) and the New Orleans Saints (15-3).

My pick? Well, you’ll have to wait on that. Without further ado, here are my NFL Conference Championships Awards:

Best Individual Performance
Pierre Garcon, wide receiver – Indianapolis Colts
With Colts star wide receiver Reggie Wayne on lockdown by the Jets defense, Garcon played the role of hero and came up with 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown.

Worst Individual Performance
Brett Favre, quarterback – Minnesota Vikings
Favre is a veteran’s veteran, yet he made the most bone-headed play of the year. You can’t throw a pick when you have the chance to win a game with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. With less than a minute left in regulation, the Vikings needed a few more yards to get into field goal range. So if a clean pass wasn’t there, Favre had two options -- run for the yards (his gimpy ankle wasn’t that bad) or just throw the ball away and make a decision on fourth-and-long to go for it or attempt the field goal. An interception is not an option. By the way, this was his second interception of the game.

Best Team Performance
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts were clicking on both sides of the ball. Offensively they gained 461 total yards and scored 30 points. Defensively Indianapolis shut down the NFL’s No. 1 rushing team, holding the New York Jets to 86 yards on the ground and no rushing touchdowns. Also, after allowing 17 points in the first two quarters, the Colts pitched a shutout in the second half of the game.

Worst Team Performance
Minnesota Vikings
This analysis can begin and end with one word – turnovers. Five, to be exact. Ironically, the Vikings still had a chance to win the game with less than a minute to go in regulation, but it was their last turnover that ended up being their undoing.

Conference Championships MVP
Garrett Hartley, place kicker – New Orleans Saints
Hartley made all four of his point-after kicks, but that’s not what he’ll be remembered for. That’s reserved for the game-winning, 40-yard field goal in overtime that sent the Saints to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. Favre couldn’t make a game-winning play, but Hartley did…enough said.

Damon Ford is a former journalist who is now a public relations professional working in the public and private sectors in Charlotte. He is 2-8 in predicting NFL playoff games.

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