+3
For more on the Patriots, check out Pats Pulpit. For more on the Ravens, check out Baltimore Beat Down. For more on the 49ers, check out Niners Nation. For more on the Giants, check out Big Blue View.
The New England Patriots held on desperately to a three-point lead as the Baltimore Ravens closed in on the end zone in the waning seconds of the AFC Championship game. Then after making a play to deny a sure touchdown two plays earlier, the Patriots celebrated wildly after Baltimore kicker Billy Cundiff pulled the game-tying field goal attempt wide left, sending the Patriots to Indianapolis with a 23-20 win and another AFC championship.
As expected, this hard-fought game was close throughout as both teams took turns with the lead. Baltimore appeared to have control of the game late in the third quarter but couldn't quite take advantage of the situation to put the game away. After taking a 17-16 lead, New England kick returner Danny Woodhead fumbled the ensuing kickoff. After the ball escaped the grasp of several Patriots, the Ravens recovered at the New England 28 yard line.
The Patriots defense stiffened and eventually forced the Ravens to settle for a 39-yard Cundiff field goal to go up 20-16. That would not be enough as Tom Brady took the ball on the next possession and moved the Patriots down the field before punching it in himself from the one-yard line.
After the teams swapped turnovers and possessions a couple of times, the Ravens were left at their own 21-yard line with just 1:44 remaining in the game. Quarterback Joe Flacco went to work connecting with Anquan Boldin four times to put the Ravens inside the red zone with two shots at a game-winning touchdown.
For a split second, it appeared the Ravens were headed to Indy when Flacco laid a pass in the arms of receiver Lee Evans in the end zone. But before Evans could get his second foot on the ground, New England defensive back Sterling Moore knocked the ball out of the loose grasp of Evans.
After Flacco couldn't find any options on third down, the game was left to Cundiff to extend into overtime, but his snap-hook kick ended Baltimore's season in an instant and set off a celebration on the New England sidelines.
So now Tom Brady is officially coming to the house that Peyton Manning built to try and add another Super Bowl ring to his collection.
The NFC Championship game will be a classic battle of great franchises, when the New York Giants travel across the country to take on the San Francisco 49ers for the right to take on the AFC Champion in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. These two teams met back in Week 10, a 27-20 49ers win in San Francisco. The first half was a battle of field goals, but exploded with four touchdowns in the final 18 minutes. Frank Gore injured his knee in the second quarter and didn't return, and the 49ers successfully executed an onside kick in the second quarter, which got them an extra 3 points. Something to think about for Sunday from both teams.
The 49ers made the NFC Title team by slaying the NFL's offensive beast, the Saints, by out-scoring them in a wild final four minutes last week, with four different lead changes, and Alex Smith finding Vernon Davis for a 14 yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining to win the game. They forced five Saints turnovers, which certainly helped slow down one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL. It's not often a home team in the Divisional Round is an underdog, but the 49ers earned the opportunity to host another game this weekend. They finished the regular season 13-3, and have now won four straight games.
The Giants have done their customary roller-coaster routine this season. They started the year 6-2, including a win in New England, then lost four straight, including that game in San Francisco, finished the year 3-1, and have looked dominant in beating the Falcons at home, and last week against the defending Super Bowl Champion and 15-1 Packers, making them the first team with 15 regular season wins to not win a playoff game. The Giants are clearly peaking at the right time, much like they did in 2007 when they won the Super Bowl. The Giants Defense confused Aaron Rodgers all afternoon last week, making the soon-to-be NFL MVP look pretty average, and the Giants Offense put up plenty of points against an overachieving and opportunistic defense. The Giants did to the Packers what the Packers did to everyone else this season.
These two teams have played a couple of memorable playoff games in recent memory. They played in the NFC Championship game back in January of 1991, where the Giants knocked Joe Montana out of the game with a bruised sternum and broken pinkie on his right hand with about 10 minutes remaining and the 49ers leading 13-9, and the Giants managed two Matt Bahr field goals in the final 10 minutes, won the game 15-13, and they went on to win Super Bowl XXV over the Bills 20-19. Most recently they played in January of 2003, a wild 39-38 49ers win where they scored 25 unanswered points after being down 38-14 midway through the 3rd quarter. The game ended on a botched snap on a field goal, making long-snapper Trey Junkin a household name, and famous for a non-called pass interference penalty on the pass down the field on the final play, missed by the officials in the craziness of the play.
How do these two teams match up statistically? Here is a chart of stats, used over at Stampede Blue, to help find some key areas to watch Sunday afternoon. Please keep in mind these numbers have been adjusted for opponents faced, which gives us a more apples-to-apples comparison of the teams, and the stats are ordered from top to bottom in importance:
| Statistic | Giants | 49ers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | |
| DSR | 71.6% | 10 | 70.1% | 21 | 66.2% | 23 | 63.3% | 3 |
| ANPY/A | 7.116 | 4 | 5.084 | 10 | 6.141 | 11 | 4.701 | 7 |
| Turnovers | 1.66 | 16 | 2.09 | 6 | 0.83 | 1 | 2.45 | 2 |
| Yds/Drive | 31.08 | 9 | 29.27 | 20 | 25.89 | 21 | 25.45 | 5 |
| ToP/Drive | 2:36.0 | 20 | 2:38.0 | 15 | 2:49.0 | 9 | 2:30.0 | 5 |
| Yds/Play | 5.661 | 9 | 5.258 | 22 | 4.847 | 21 | 4.831 | 6 |
| First Downs/Drive | 1.73 | 10 | 1.66 | 17 | 1.49 | 20 | 1.40 | 4 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 37.2% | 17 | 40.8% | 21 | 32.8% | 29 | 37.2% | 12 |
| Avg Start Pos | 30.2 | 21 | 30.2 | 12 | 35.9 | 1 | 27.1 | 1 |
| 3 and Outs | 4.05 | 19 | 4.07 | 14 | 4.11 | 22 | 4.76 | 6 |
| RZ Eff | 66.8% | 14 | 68.2% | 21 | 63.3% | 22 | 51.6% | 2 |
| Plays/Drive | 5.535 | 15 | 5.607 | 20 | 5.362 | 21 | 5.223 | 7 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.718 | 9 | 0.873 | 9 | 0.979 | 26 | 0.795 | 21 |
| RB Success | 42.8% | 22 | 46.7% | 19 | 41.8% | 26 | 37.3% | 1 |
| Yds/Carry | 3.27 | 32 | 4.30 | 22 | 3.93 | 20 | 3.61 | 3 |
| Net Punting Average | 38.66 | 14 | 39.00 | 25 | 44.48 | 2 | 37.57 | 8 |
| Overall | 11 | 18 | 14 | 2 | ||||
Some keys to the game:
The Giants played incredibly well the first time these two teams met, yet lost the game by a touchdown. Now they are playing their best football, but so are the 49ers. This game looks incredibly close, but there are too many key factors that lean towards the 49ers, and the fact they are playing at home, and Jim Harbaugh will have his guys ready to run through walls for him. There's also this little fact too:
Crazy stat of the day: A team who defeats the defending #SuperBowl champ and plays the following week on the road is 0-14 SU. #49ers #Giants
— Craig Seward (@craigseward) January 20, 2012
That spells bad, bad news for the Giants after they beat the Packers at Lambeau last week.
SB Nation Indiana Prediction: 49ers 23, Giants 20
Championship Sunday in the NFL kicks off with a match-up between the top two seeds in the AFC, when the Baltimore Ravens travel to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots. Despite the success of these franchises over the past decade, they've only met once in the playoffs, a 33-14 Ravens blowout win at New England two seasons ago. Unfortunately for the Ravens, that is the lone victory ever against the Patriots in seven meetings. The two teams did not play in 2011.
The Patriots led the AFC with a 13-3 record, and have won nine straight games. Last week they slaughtered the clearly overmatched Broncos 45-10, and the game was over midway through the second quarter. Tom Brady tied the NFL Playoff record for touchdown passes in a game with 6, including five in the first half. The Patriots Defense played one of its best games of the season last week as well, stifling Tim Tebow and the Broncos Offense. It's only one game, but if the Patriots play Defense like they did last week going forward, they'll have no trouble winning the Super Bowl.
The Ravens finished 12-4 on the season, and have won seven of their last eight games, including their last three. Last week they jumped all over the Texans, racing to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter, but cruised to the finish, winning just 20-13. They forced four Texan turnovers, including a final hail mary by Safety Ed Reed. The Ravens offense struggled to move the ball when they didn't get excellent field position, but they'll face a much more forgiving defense this week.
A couple key players missed some practice time this week, including Tom Brady, who did not practice on Wednesday because of an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. He practiced fully on Thursday, and there's no way he isn't going to play Sunday afternoon. Several other Patriots were limited on Thursday, including TE Aaron Hernandez with a Concussion and WR Wes Welker with a knee injury. I'd be very surprised if these guys don't go as well. For the Ravens, the only guy that showed up on the injury report was Ed Reed, who came up gimpy after his game-ending interception last week. Reed has said he's playing, so no need to worry about his status, at least to begin the game.
How do these two teams match up statistically? Here is a chart of stats, used over at Stampede Blue, to help find some key areas to watch Sunday afternoon. Please keep in mind these numbers have been adjusted for opponents faced, which gives us a more apples-to-apples comparison of the teams, and the stats are ordered from top to bottom in importance:
| Statistic | Ravens | Patriots | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | Offense | Rank | Defense | Rank | |
| DSR | 70.2% | 12 | 63.9% | 4 | 79.6% | 1 | 74.7% | 32 |
| ANPY/A | 5.668 | 15 | 4.547 | 5 | 7.963 | 2 | 6.069 | 27 |
| Turnovers | 1.79 | 19 | 1.82 | 14 | 1.35 | 4 | 2.04 | 7 |
| Yds/Drive | 29.65 | 14 | 25.47 | 6 | 38.77 | 2 | 37.14 | 32 |
| ToP/Drive | 2:44.0 | 12 | 2:39.0 | 16 | 2:44.0 | 13 | 2:56.0 | 29 |
| Yds/Play | 5.198 | 15 | 4.496 | 1 | 6.097 | 3 | 5.943 | 30 |
| First Downs/Drive | 1.73 | 11 | 1.51 | 10 | 2.31 | 2 | 2.10 | 32 |
| 3rd/4th Down | 41.9% | 8 | 35.6% | 10 | 47.5% | 4 | 45.2% | 31 |
| Avg Start Pos | 31.5 | 10 | 32.2 | 25 | 31.2 | 14 | 27.4 | 2 |
| 3 and Outs | 3.34 | 9 | 4.53 | 9 | 2.45 | 3 | 3.05 | 27 |
| RZ Eff | 69.4% | 11 | 48.8% | 1 | 76.4% | 2 | 69.6% | 22 |
| Plays/Drive | 5.744 | 8 | 5.507 | 13 | 6.337 | 3 | 6.187 | 31 |
| Penalty Yds / Play | 0.726 | 10 | 1.002 | 2 | 0.678 | 6 | 0.872 | 10 |
| RB Success | 46.9% | 11 | 43.5% | 13 | 53.1% | 2 | 50.3% | 29 |
| Yds/Carry | 4.39 | 9 | 3.56 | 1 | 3.86 | 23 | 4.41 | 24 |
| Net Punting Average | 38.78 | 13 | 38.10 | 12 | 39.76 | 4 | 36.77 | 5 |
| Overall | 13 | 4 | 3 | 30 | ||||
Some keys to the game:
One of the great things about Playoff season is you get match-ups like this where it is great offense against great defense, but most of the time it is the other side of the ball that determines these games. It happened last week in the Saints-49ers game, as well as last year's Super Bowl, where the Packers Defense came up big against the Steelers Offense despite the other sides of the ball getting all the press. When you take this into consideration, I think the Ravens have the advantage, as on the whole, their offense has been better than the Patriots Defense this season.
However, the Ravens Defense hasn't quite been the same away from M&T Bank Stadium this season, looking pretty average in fact. I think this game will come down to whoever has the ball last, and I'll give the edge to the Patriots, as they're at home. As has always been the case, Brady will drive the Patriots down the field, and his field goal kicker will put them in the Super Bowl.
SB Nation Indiana Prediction: Patriots 27, Ravens 26
Super Bowl XLVI: Patriots And Giants Will Have A Local Flavor
The Indianapolis Colts will not be playing in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, but that does not mean there is no local connection to the game. Both the Giants and Patriots feature a number of players that played wither their high school or college football in Indiana.
At the top of the list are Indianapolis natives James Brewer and Mathias Kiwanuka. Brewer played his high school football at Indianapolis Arlington and is a rookie with the Giants after playing in college for the Indiana Hoosiers. Kiwanuka also played his high school football in Indianapolis at Cathedral. Defensive end Justin Tuck played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in college before moving to the Giants.
The New England Patriots have a trio of players that played collegiately for the Purdue Boilermakers. Matt Light already has three Super Bowl rings protecting Tom Brady's blind side, but he honed his craft protecting Drew Brees in West Lafayette. Rob Ninkovich and Niko Koutouvides also played for Purdue.
Sergio Brown played for Notre Dame in college, while Deion Branch played nearby for the Louisville Cardinals to round out new England's nearby contingent.
For more on the New England Patriots, check out Pats Pulpit. For more on the New York Giants, check out Big Blue View. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NFL hub at SBNation.com/NFL.
Jan 22 11:41p by Travis Miller