Saturday, January 21, 2012

NFL Final Four - AFC/NFC Championship - Road To Super Bowl XLVI

After the first seven games of the NFL playoffs, the seeding for the teams remained in order. Every home team won their games, even the San Francisco 49ers who was a rare home underdog. But in the eighth game, there was a bit of a shocker. The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers were upset by the  New York Giants. The number one seed in the NFC and the best team in the NFL was suddenly "one and done".  That loss obviously guarantees that we will have a new Super Bowl champ. Lets take a look at AFC and NFC Championship games which will determine the two teams who will fight to claim the Lombardi Trophy.


Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots:
This should be a good game. You have the Ravens with a prolific defense and inconsistent offense matched up with the Patriots with a prolific offense and a suspect defense. I think a big factor here will be whether the Ravens will be able to exploit the weakness of the Patriots defense. As much as I respect Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed and company on defense, I think the Patriots will score against them. The Patriots will try to light the scoreboard up just like last week but for different reasons. Last week it was to foil a Denver Broncos offense which would have an issue trying to overcome a large deficit. This week, it will be to take the game out of its defense's hands. Even with that thought, I still expect to see Bill Belichick come up with a scheme to rattle Joe Flacco. A couple of seasons ago the Ravens went up to Foxboro and spanked the Pats in the playoffs. I think New England will get their revenge this year and make it back to the Super Bowl.


New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers:
The Giants have truly made me look bad in these playoffs. I have been their harshest critic. Even though the Packers last week played a tremendously sloppy game with turnovers, dropped passes & missed throws, I still give credit to the Giants for going into Green Bay and taking that game. When the 49ers beat the Saints last week, I automatically thought of this NFC Championship game. My first thoughts was the the winner of the Packers vs. Giants would beat the 49ers. The Giants almost pulled off a victory in San Francisco earlier in the year and I like their confidence as a team. As the days of this week started passing by, my thoughts started to change. I like what the 49ers do on defense. If they are smart and have learned anything about the Giants, they will pressure Eli Manning to the hilt. On offense, though I don't trust Alex Smith as much as Aaron Rodgers, I think the 49ers philosophy may be the right approach against the Giants defense. The Giants defensive strength is their pass rush. The 49ers can mitigate any damage by the Giants pass rush by running the ball, which they do well. Smith is going to have to abuse that Giants secondary though. Play action will be key for Smith but he's going to have to connect with his guys. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Giants won this game but I still think they have that stinker in their back pocket. I want to see if the Giants can make me look bad once again. The 49ers miraculously makes it to the Super Bowl in Jim Harbaugh's first season as head coach.

4 comments:

  1. San Francisco's keys to the game:
    Defense: Their pass rush will be critical; if they can't get to Manning, it'll be a long day.
    Offense: Alex Smith: Can he step up again, if it came down to it..

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    1. Totally agree with your assessment. San Fran must get to Eli - MUST. And as much as I expect the 49ers to lean on the running game. Alex Smith must make that secondary pay. Too many teams (Dallas) allow that secondary to hide. Expose them!

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  2. Joe Flacco will need to step up for Baltimore. For all the hype, he's been a subpar QB in my opinion; just an improvement on Kyle Boller.

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    1. I think that Flacco and Matt Ryan suffered from the hype machine. Both guys had great starts and both have suffered through growing pains. The media at times need to slow down on the hype machine especially when it comes to QB's

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