Conference Championships Weekend Wrap-up

What a weird weekend. Both games were closely contested, and in the end there were plenty of goats to go around for the Niners and Ravens.

On the AFC side…

Baltimore Ravens @ New England Ravens
Winner: Patriots 23 – 20

69.6% of you had this game pegged in favor of the Pats. I thought the Patriots were going to win this one by at least 10 points, and they would have if Tom Brady had played one of his typical games. As it was, Joe Flacco completely outplayed Brady and gave his team an outstanding shot to steal the game late. Had the Ravens not squandered the opportunities they were given, especially the Lee Evans drop-strip-catch in the end zone, Ray Lewis & Co. would finally be headed back to play in the big one.

The Lee Evans miscue in the end zone was bad enough, but then out trotted Billy Cundiff. Thanks to yet another long drive orchestrated by Flacco against a Patriots defense that came to play, the kicker was set up with a 32 yard field goal that would have tied the game. He shanked it.

For me, the difference in this game was the Pats defense. Vince Wilfork seemed to be in on every big play, Sterling Moore saved New England’s season with his two plays at the end of regulation, and the defense as a whole shut down Ray Rice. As good as Flacco was, it wasn’t good enough with his number one weapon rendered a sidenote in this game.

MVP(s) – Patriots Defense (with shiny gold stars going to Vince Wilfork & Sterling Moore)

Goats – Lee Evans, Billy Cundiff, Joe Flacco’s mustache

On the NFC side of things…

New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers
Winner: Giants 20 – 17

55.2% of you correctly picked the Giants to win this one. Well, I was correct on two points in regards to this game: 1) It was affected by the weather, and 2) It was a close one. Where I was wrong was in my prediction that Eli and his receivers would have a rough day because of the aforementioned weather. Once again, Eli was dealing. He took hit after hit from a hungry Niners defense only to get up and make throw after throw. Why are they still leading segments on ESPN with the all-important question of whether or not the Little Brother is elite? Of course he is. Move on, ESPN… Move on.

Now, as good as Eli was, this game was still the Niners’ to win. Super Goat Kyle Williams made sure that didn’t happen. With 11:06 left to go in regulation, Williams appeared to get out of the way of a punt. However, the Giants challenged that the ball bounced off of Williams’ knee. The replays proved that this was the case, and Eli tossed the go-ahead TD pass to Manningham three minutes later.

In overtime, Williams received a punt, took off up field… And had the ball stripped from his clutches by Jacquain Williams. Devin Thomas recovered the fumble, and minutes later the Giants punched their Super Bowl ticket with a 31 yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes.

MVP – Eli Manning… 316 yards & 2 TDs

Goat – Kyle Williams

Rough day at the office for Mr. Williams

- JM

Related articles

• Patriots and Giants Prevail: Lessons From A Classic NFL Championship Sunday (newsfeed.time.com)
• Have Your People Call My People …. Let’s Make A Deal …………. (tophatal.wordpress.com)
• Patriots Beat Ravens 23-20 In AFC Championship (dfw.cbslocal.com)
• Bob Haynie: The Ravens Exit…Wide Left (baltimore.cbslocal.com)

Advertisement

Tagged: AFC, Alex Smith, American Football Conference, Baltimore Ravens, Billy Cundiff, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Kyle Williams, Lee Evans, National Football Conference, New England Patriots, New York Giants, NFC, NFL, San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowl, Tom Brady, Vince Wilfork

Posted in: Sports