NFC Championship game picks: 49ers vs. Falcons

Despite being the No. 2 seed and going on the road to face the top-seeded Atlanta Falcons, the San Francisco 49ers are the overwhelming favorite in the NFC Championship game, according to NFL experts.

All eight ESPN experts who have submitted a pick are picking the 49ers. The same can be said of the three Yahoo! Sports analysts, who also picked San Francisco. Of the three, only one picked San Francisco in their previous game. Mike Silver and Jason Cole both picked Atlanta and Green Bay last week, but are now picking the 49ers to advance to the Super Bowl.

Athlon Sports correctly picked three of the four games last week, and they are also taking the 49ers to win. Even former Oakland Raider coach and broadcaster John Madden is picking San Francisco.

While the majority of NFL analysts are picking San Francisco, the 49ers aren't a unanimous choice. Two of the eight analysts at CBS Sports picked Atlanta to advance, with Pete Prisco and Will Brinson siding with the Falcons. They were the only two of CBS Sports' analysts to pick Atlanta last week.