The Seattle Seahawks had their way with the Carolina Panthers last week, but the temperature will be turned up this weekend when the defending Super Bowl champs host the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers, in the NFC Championship.
Kickoff is set for 12:05 p.m. PST at CenturyLink Field. The winner moves on to the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona (Feb. 1, 2015)
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said the team is taking their playoffs game-by-game, trying not to look ahead to the desert or February.
"Its just going 1-0, trying to find a way to ignore all the noise," he told reporters. "Just be in the moment. Just enjoy it for what it is.
"The field's still 100 yards, still 53-and-a-third. It's still the great game that you wake up every morning to play, so it's no different."
Wilson says he doesn't read any articles or watch TV – no ESPN he said, specifically – during the playoffs, although he does admit he's always been dreaming of the big moments.
"Where you're in those moments, you either live for them or you fall off," he said. "For me, I look forward to those moments, I have visualized myself ever since I was a kid, to be in these moments. I have visualized it being 4th-and-7, third downs, red zones... there's so many times I've been in those situations in my mind.
"I've had a lot of success and I've had some failures.. I just keep trusting that I'm going to have success, and keep believing that it's going to happen in the right way for me."
Wilson's ability to be clutch is well-noted by now, only his third year in the NFL.
He was a rookie of the year finalist in 2012, when he and the Seahawks surprised the league en route to an 11-5 record – falling short in a second-round loss to Matt Ryan and the first-place Atlanta Falcons.
Last year, Wilson guided the Seahawks to Seattle's first Super Bowl, playing the ever-steady pivot marshalling the team through New Orleans, San Francisco, and finally Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos.
Read: Seahawks and Packers: Two Different Teams by John Boyle, Everett Herald (Jan. 14, 2015)
Seattle won their only meeting with Green Bay this season, a dominant 36-16 win way back in Week 1.
Aaron Rodgers managed just 189 yards passing that day, but rebounded in the 15 weeks after to vault himself into the NFL MVP conversation for 2014 – maybe all the way to the top.
Rodgers is currently playing through an injured left calf, but the 2011 Super Bowl MVP still teed up 316 yards and three touchdowns last week, in a 26-21 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
"The last game, he still puts that zip on the ball, has a quick wrist release. He doesn't have to drive through his throws to get them where he wants to," said Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who orchestrated the biggest play – and most infamous moment – in last year's NFC Championship win over San Francisco.
"I think it takes a little bit of his mobility," Sherman said, of Rodgers's injury. "A few plays that aren't there. He's not able to just take them and get the 10 yards and first down like he usually does, when he's healthy.
"I expect them to execute their game plan, whatever it may be... "You've gotta resist the urge to gamble, to try to force things to happen, to force them over there."
Rodgers has respect for his opponent, too – Sherman specifically.
"You have to be aware of him," Rodgers said Tuesday, on his ESPN radio show in Milwaukee. "Not scared of him, but you have a ton of respect for him.
"Look at the numbers, they don't lie. Not a lot of guys catch passes on his side, and for the amount of times he's targeted, his interception totals are very impressive. You just have to play your game, but if he's locking his guy down, he's probably not going to get a lot of passes thrown his way."
Sort of funny, but maybe not surprising. Sherman's comments echoed that same theme – with the I'll just do me message.
"Now, I just do my job and let things happen that are gonna happen," Sherman told reporters Wednesday.
Wilson acknowledged Packers linebacker Clay Matthews as his on-field counterpoint from cheese country.
"You have to always be aware of Clay... one of the best players in the National Football League.
"It's going to be a great matchup going up against him."
VIDEO: Can the Packers upset the Seahawks? (ESPN First Take)