Alright, time for some more playoff football! In my opinion, Championship Sunday is the single best day of football. Yes, Super Bowl Sunday is like a national holiday, but Championship Sunday is all about football. None of the pregame festivities, none of the overrated commercials, and no boring halftime show. Up first, the NFC Championship. The San Francisco 49ers are making their second straight conference championship appearance visiting the number one seed Atlanta Falcons. After that, Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens are making a trip to play Tom Brady and New England Patriots for the second year in a row. So who's going to the Super Bowl?
NFC Championship: San Francisco 49ers vs Atlanta Falcons
San Francisco is coming off a very impressive performance last Saturday night, at home, when they beat Green Bay Packers 45-31. Colin Kaepernick overcame an early "pick-six" and fueled the 45 point outburst with one of the greatest quarterback performances of all-time. Kaepernick threw for 263 yards and rushed for a quarterback-record 181 yards while accounting for 4 total touchdowns. Can he do it again? While the 49ers put up 45 points, their defense surrendered 31 points. Aaron Rodgers was able to throw pretty effectively on the Niners secondary with 257 yards and 2 TDs.
Atlanta retained their home-field advantage by holding off a valiant comeback from the Seattle Seahawks and advancing by a score of 30-28. For the first three quarters Atlanta seemed to be in cruise control. Matt Ryan was having his best playoff performance to date by throwing 3 TDs. Then, Russell Wilson simply took over. Doing his best Colin Kaepernick imitation, Wilson scrambled, threw, and ran the Seahawks to a 28-27 lead with 31 seconds remaining. Wilson finished with 3 total TDs while throwing for 385 yards and adding another 60 on the ground. With 31 seconds left, Matty Ice was able to lead the Falcons to a 49 yard game-winning field goal by Matt Bryant.
Colin Kaepernick will be making just his 9th career start on Sunday. This will also be his first playoff start on the road, in a dome. Falcons' fans figure to be extremely loud hoping to help push their team to their 2nd Super Bowl appearance. It should be interesting to see how, if at all, this will affect him. I expect Atlanta to key on Kaepernick's run game and force him to beat them with his arm. Kaepernick has the arm to do that, but in my opinion he sometimes lacks the "touch" to make every throw. As a result, he has failed to complete 58% of his passes for four consecutive weeks. Other than an almost costly 4th quarter interception, Matt Ryan was able to shake off his three poor playoff performances with an overall solid game last Sunday. Ryan will need to continue to do that on Sunday. I do not expect Michael Turner or Jacquizz Rodgers to do much against the Niners run defense. If Atlanta's offensive line can hold of the pass rush from Justin and Aldon Smith, then Matt Ryan could be in for another big day. I expect this one to be very close, but in the end the 49ers will have a more balanced attack on offense, and more playmakers on defense.
Prediction: San Francisco 27 Atlanta 24
AFC Championship: Baltimore vs New England
This marks the third time in a year that these two teams will be playing on Sunday. They split the first two, but the Patriots won the one that counted in last season's AFC Championship. Baltimore pulled off a huge upset over the number one seed Denver Broncos in double overtime last Saturday by a score of 38-35. It was a classic game with a shocking ending. Baltimore converted a miracle 70 yard bomb to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. After a crucial Peyton Manning INT, Justin Tucker hit a 47 yard field goal to win it. Joe Flacco had a great game with 331 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. The Ravens defense was able to hold Peyton Manning in check, keeping him under 300 yards and forcing two interceptions. If it wasn't for Trindon Holliday's two return TDs, the Ravens would have won much easier.
New England was able to defeat the Houston Texans pretty handily for the 2nd time this season, 41-28. Tom Brady was practically flawless, throwing for 344 yards and 3 TDs. Shane Vereen also broke out with 124 total yards and 3 TDs. During the victory, the Patriots lost star Tight End Rob Gronkowski and versatile tailback Danny Woodhead to injury. Gronk is done for the season, but Woodhead could still play. Either way, New England has depth at both positions and should still be able to move the ball. When the Patriots spread defenses out, like last Sunday, they are extremely tough to beat because they can pass or run at will. I expect more of that on Sunday vs Baltimore.
The Ravens should come out highly motivated once again in what could be Ray Lewis' final game. But, I believe it won't matter. I feel that Tom Brady is determined to "finally" win his fourth Super Bowl. Like their previous match ups this will be tighter than most people think, but in the end the Patriots are better. The Ravens' defense is getting a little long in the tooth, and Brady will expose them. The Patriots running game is better than expected, and balance will be a key. Joe Flacco has proven to be a very solid postseason performer in the past. In last year's AFC Championship, Flacco outplayed Brady. If the Ravens want to pull off the upset, Flacco will have to do It again. I don't think he will.
Prediction: New England 31 Baltimore 23
-Eric Tichelbaut
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