Breaking Down the Conference Championships

There were a couple of topics I thought about tackling this week.

First was Jodie Foster’s personal but somewhat head scratching speech for her Cecil B DeMille lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes. One thing I will say is that if you value privacy, being a famous and recognizable actress is not going to help your situation.

Lance Armstrong admits to doping. Is this really a surprise to anyone? Do we really need a two night interview with Oprah to see him admit his guilt? You can guess what I will not be watching.

Manti Te’o lied about his “girlfriend” dying of leukemia. Did he make the whole thing up? Was it a hoax? Is he hiding the fact that he’s gay? Whatever the truth is, the whole thing is pretty strange and confusing. We shall see in the end how it affects his draft status.

Let’s move on to more serious matters. I can’t help but feel there are some great story lines to this weekend’s playoff games that can’t be ignored. Tom Brady will be making his seventh appearance in a conference championship, tying Joe Montana for the most all time. If he wins on Sunday, he will surpass John Elway for the most starts in the Super Bowl with six. Ray Lewis could be playing the final game of his career, going down as arguably one of the greatest defensive players (and probably the most juiced) ever in the NFL. Matt Ryan finally shook off his playoff demons with a strong game last week against Seattle. Can he keep it going against a quicker San Francisco defense? First time playoff starter Colin Kaepernick bested Aaron Rogers in an impressive fashion to lead San Francisco to its second straight conference championship. Can he repeat his performance on the road in a loud dome? All in all they will add to the drama that will hopefully lead to some good football on Sunday.

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

San Francisco 49ers (-4) over ATLANTA FALCONS

Was everyone else surprised as hell at Kaepernick’s performance last Saturday? Me too, but you have to admit was fun to watch. Kaepernick will have another opportunity to have a field day on the ground, since Atlanta’s run defense ranks worse that Green Bay’s. But Atlanta must be looking at the line thinking, “We’re underdogs at home? Seriously?” This should be huge source of motivation, but in the end I don’t think it’s going to be enough. San Fran should be able to control the tempo of this game between Kaepernick and Frank Gore, and their defense should stifle Atlanta’s running game. Atlanta will resort to throwing the ball all day, which is nothing new for Matt Ryan and his strong receiving core. This would normally play into Atlanta’s hands, but San Fran is a better version of Seattle, who came back from twenty points to almost win last Sunday. Plus I’ll take Jim Harbaugh over Mike Smith any day of the week.

Baltimore Ravens (+8) over NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

I’m still a little stunned that Baltimore won in Denver. This is obviously not the same team that finished the regular season 1-4. The injury bug that swept through the Raven’s defense seems to have let up, and the team is playing up to its potential at the right time. These teams have a history too, and the Ravens always play the Patriots tough. The last three times they have faced each other, including last year’s AFC Championship game, have been decided by a total of seven points. Shouldn’t we expect the same type of game on Sunday? It always seems to happen when these two teams play. The Pats should be able to put points on the board, but their defense has to contain Ray Rice and avoid Joe Flacco’s lame duck passes that find their way behind the secondary. In the end it’s a close game, but the Pats win to move on to Brady’s sixth Super Bowl against his hometown team while sending Ray Lewis off to his retirement party. Pats fans should just be prepared to be on the edge of their seats for this one.