In a week full of liars and made-up girlfriends, Sunday can't get here soon enough. The 2 biggest sports stories of early 2013 involve Lance Armstrong admitting to cheating, and Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend. I'm not going to get into details about these, you can find all the information you want through other outlets. I'm here to talk about actual games...not "he said, she said," but the 2 Championship games taking place this Sunday.
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| Courtesy: USA Today |
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In the NFC, the #1 seed Atlanta Falcons welcome #2 seed San Francisco 49ers to the Georgia Dome for a 3pm kickoff. The 49ers are on a roll. They ran past Green Bay last weekend thanks to their second year quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. Jim Harbaugh is one of the top 5 coaches in the league right now, and carries with him a ferocious defense. Harbaugh's move to replace Alex Smith with Kaepernick turned out to be the biggest personnel switch of the season, and it could pay "Super" dividends for the Bay Area.
The Atlanta Falcons have the monkey off their backs. After hearing for weeks that they can't win a playoff game, Matt Ryan and company got it done last week against Seattle. The Falcons are the top seed for a reason. Ryan, Roddy White, Julio Jones, and Tony Gonzalez deliver one of the most potent passing attacks in the NFL. Don't forget about Atlanta's defense, they were able to win a game this season in which Ryan threw 5 interceptions.
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| Courtesy: sbnation.com |
The Matchup: the 49ers are in their second straight NFC Championship game and are the favorites. San Fran is 2-2 in domes this season with wins at Arizona and New Orleans and losses to Minnesota and St. Louis. Everyone seems to be picking the 49ers to knock off the birds, but when was the last time that a #1 seed has "flown" this much under the radar? It's amazing what getting that first playoff win can do for your confidence (see Aaron Rodgers in 2010), and I think Matty Ice lives up to his name with another last second comeback.
Falcons 27, 49ers 24
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| Courtesy: SWR |
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In the AFC, Tom Brady is playing in his 7th AFC Championship game, tying him with Joe Montana for the most all-time. The #3 seed Patriots welcome the Ray Lews Farewell Tour and the #5 seed Ravens to Foxboro Sunday night at 6:30pm. Like them or not, the Patriots have set the bar for what a modern day franchise should be in sports. If someone goes down or leaves, another piece just steps up for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
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| Courtesy: ibtimes.com |
We are one blown coverage away from having another Manning-Brady matchup, but credit the Ravens for knocking off the #1 seed Broncos last week in double OT. The Ravens are a totally different team with Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, and Bernard Pollard back. Add in the Ray Lews retirement factor and this team is playing with nothing to lose. If you remember, they were just one Lee Evans drop away from representing the AFC in the Super Bowl last year.
The Matchup: the Patriots are favored at home (as they should be). Tom Brady is looking to become the first quarterback ever to play in 6 Super Bowls. However, the loss of Rob Gronkowski allows the Ravens D to keep Hernandez in the middle of the field and spy on Wes Welker. Brady is 5-2 all-time against the Ravens, but only 1-1 against them in the postseason...remember that drop from last year? I think the Ravens will slay the giant and get Ray Lews back into the Promised Land.
Ravens 31, Patriots 30
In a week filled with foolishness off the field, here's hoping you can find some time to enjoy the actual games on Sunday. There's only 3 games left so you better soak all of them up while you can.
Happy Football!
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