You will hear a lot about the brothers Harbaugh over the next two weeks, as they become the first two brothers to coach opposing teams in the Super Bowl. What a story, though!
Yet, it is not the only thing that makes this coming Super Bowl intriguing. Both of these teams have been quite well accomplished in recent years, and they both have similar styles. They both have somewhat of a feel of a "team of destiny".
Someone will have to win, of course, and that means someone will have to lose. But I will make my prediction later. Truth be told, this is going to be a tricky one to predict. Before I do that, in some future post (could be as early as tomorrow, although I doubt it will actually be tomorrow), let's review how these two teams got here a little bit more:
NFC Championship Game - San Francisco 49ers at Atlanta Falcons
Vs.
Also for the second week in a row, they relinquished that big lead. last week, it was a 20-0 lead over the Seahawks. This week, it was a 17-0 lead over the 49ers. Last week, Seattle battled their way back to take the lead with less than a minute left, seemingly to an apparent victory, before Atlanta came up with a miracle to win it right at the end.
This week, San Francisco battled their way back, and took the lead in the 3rd quarter. The Atlanta Falcons ran out of miracles, and out of time, as their tremendous and promising season ended, one game short of their goal: the Super Bowl.
Of course, they can't blame anyone but themselves. This team made some mistakes, both this week and last week. Mostly, they just couldn't put away an opponent when they had them on the ropes, and they had both the Seahawks and the 49ers on the ropes at points these past two weeks.
The 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, once again proved very effective. The Atlanta defense focused so much on him, placing extra defenders to keep the threat of his dangerous mobile game in check, that they left receivers open all day long. They paid the price for it, too.
Focusing so exclusively on Kapernick left much of the 49ers numerous dangerous offense weapons able to exploit Atlanta's outmatched defense, including running back Frank Gore, who was able to run in a touchdown in the fourth quarter that gave San Francisco the lead for good.
They never looked back.
The Falcons had been the least penalized team in the league this season, and the perception was that much of their success was because they minimized their mistakes. But the offense for the Falcons, after a red hot start where they seemed to be moving the ball up and down the field against the 49ers defense, suddenly grew stagnant. They were shut out in the second half, powerless to answer San Francisco as the 49ers managed to gain control of the game, and secure the NFC Championship.
Matt Ryan completed 30 of 42 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Kaepernick statistically had a less impressive day, completing 16 of 21 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown, although that is misleading. The Falcons seemed to be so scared of what he was capable of, and they stressed containing him to the point that they left themselves vulnerable for other members of the dangerous 49ers offense to capitalize, such as Frank Gore, who ran for 90 yards on 21 carries, and scoring two touchdowns.
For the 49ers, it was a reversal of last season's disappointing NFC Championship Game, when they hosted the New York Giants, and lost a tight contest in overtime. This time, on the road against an Atlanta team that usually is very dominant when playing at home, San Francisco proved to be the better team, overcoming adversity, and a 17 point lead, to clinch their first Super Bowl berth in eighteen seasons. They already got beyond where they did last season, so progress was certainly made. They are the NFC Champions for the first time in eighteen years, with a chance to win a championship in two weeks.
As for the Atlanta Falcons, despite finally managing to win a playoff game, the questions will continue to grow for this franchise. The Saints, a team that has more or less owned the Falcons in the recent past, had a very uncharacteristically poor season, but can Atlanta count on that again? The Panthers and Bucs seem to show signs of improving as well. The Falcons had a golden opportunity to get to the Super Bowl, but were unable to finish the deal, and so they have another long offseason to tinker with their lineup and reload for another run. But it will not likely get any easier than they had it this season.
AFC Championship Game - Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
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A rematch of last year's AFC Championship Game, which the Patriots won, only to lose to the Giants in last year's Super Bowl. These two teams have not met three times in the last four postseasons overall, with all three meetings taking place in Foxboro.
New England has long had that aura of virtual invincibility, particularly at home in Foxboro. Had it not been for a couple of miracle plays and fourth quarter comebacks by the New York Giants in the Super Bowls between the two teams, the Patriots perhaps would be considered the greatest team in league history. Instead, they lost those two Super Bowls, and were looking to give themselves another shot at it this year. They had what seemed to be a major advantage going in - the luxury of home field.
That seemed to be significant through the first half, which the Patriots won, clearly outplaying the Ravens, and taking a 13-7 lead into the locker rooms for the half. The Patriots played better than the Ravens in the first half, but one thing should be noted: New England had a wonderful chance very late to notch a touchdown. They had around eighteen seconds or so to work with when Tom Brady slid down to the turf, and then raced back up to try and get another play instead of burning their one and only timeout remaining in the half, presumably to spike the ball and kill the clock. But things went horribly wrong, and the Patriots had to call a timeout after all. Only, their were four seconds left, rather than eighteen. Time for one more play only, and they had little choice but to go for a field goal. Had they called the timeout right after Brady slid down, they might have had two or three solid shots at the end zone, before having to settle for a field goal. The momentum that they could have gotten was muted.
It is not a sure thing that they would have gotten the touchdown, or even if they had, how much of a difference that might have made, given the complete dominance of the Ravens in the second half. But think about this: the Patriots were losing 28-13 when they had multiple possessions, with opportunities to score. Now, had they managed to convert that first half possession to a touchdown, even if the Ravens had dominated the second half in the exact same manner as they did, the score would have been 28-17. Still a two possession game, but the outlook looks very different. The Pats could have gotten within a touchdown and two-point conversion from tying the game, and that would have changed the complexion of the game completely. But because of their extremely poor clock management (very out of character for this team, frankly), that was not the case. Instead of possibly going up by a much more comfortable ten point margin at the half, the Patriots settled for a field goal and a six point lead. The Ravens could (and indeed would) take the lead with a touchdown and a conversion. So, it's safe to say that the Patriots missed an opportunity would be an understatement.
At one point, it was mentioned that New England's record when leading at home during halftime under Belichick was a staggering 72-1, and with Brady in the game, the team enjoyed a perfect 67-0 mark in home games in which they led at halftime. That's so good, it's almost hard to believe.
Yet such a perfect streak has to end at some point, right? The Baltimore Ravens, playing for the highest stakes imaginable (that being a trip to the Super Bowl), made sure that they were the team that ended it.
Baltimore completely dominated New England in the second half, actually managing to shut out the Pats in the second half. New England, it should be remembered, had the highest scoring offense by far this season, outscoring the next highest scoring team in the league by over one hundred points!
But the defense of the Ravens did not look so overwhelmed as other defenses have all season against this New England squad. In fact, they made the Patriots look quite pedestrian.
Tom Brady put up a lot of passes and yards, completing 29 of 54 for 320 yards, with one touchdown and two picks. But he did not look like his normal self in this game. Perhaps the absence of tight end Rob Gronkowski due to injury was never quite so apparent as it was yesterday, when few seemed to step up on this normally prolific Patriots offense..
Simply put, this game came down to a tale of two halves. In the first, the home team resembled the franchise that we have long known: perennial Super Bowl contenders, able to score and hold the other teams down. A team that seemed to move the ball fairly well, even against a tough defense. They hardly had their way with the Ravens in the first half, but they were outplaying them at that point.
In the second half, the Ravens put out whatever fire the Patriots had left. Their defense completely took over the game, extinguishing one chance after another for the Patriots. In the meantime, Baltimore's offense was placed in the hands of Joe Flacco, who responded beautifully. He was poised and responded well to the pressure, completing 21 of 36 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Baltimore's running game was not great, but complimented Flacco at the right times, and the combination of the Ravens suddenly getting it right both on offense and defense led to 21 unanswered points, and a surprisingly easy win against a usually tough opponent. Another tough contest between these two teams, who may have the best active rivalry in the league right now.
In this chapter of the rivalry, Baltimore left little doubt about who the better team was. In the past two seasons, the Ravens have slowly emerged and gotten better, managing to master (more or less) the division rivals that gave them the most headaches in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, they had to get past the hurdle that the Patriots presented, despite a regular season win against them in Baltimore early on in the regular season. But with a convincing win on the road against the elite Pats, the Ravens truly exorcised past demons and showed that they truly belong in this Super Bowl!
As for the Patriots, a long offseason filled with questions and doubts begins. The last time that they actually won the Super Bowl was following the 2004 season, so it is fast approaching a decade. Belichick was outcoached, and Brady was not the most impressive quarterback on the field last night. Much like after last season's Super Bowl, the Patriots came very close to reaching the pinnacle, only to have it taken away from them yet again. As dominant as this team has been during the regular season in recent years (16-0 in 2007, 14-2 in 2010, 13-3 in 2011, and 12-4 this past season, earning playoff byes each of those seasons), they still have not managed to translate that to the success that they used to know of winning the whole thing and being crowned league champions. Now, they have a long offseason to make adjustments and give it another go next year, although their star quarterback is not getting any younger, and there surely are concerns about just how strong this team is when they come across other elite teams that get hot, like the Ravens did in these playoffs. Simply put, the Patriots have not been good enough to be able to match up to such a team, and that is the puzzle the Belichick now has to try and solve for next season.
New England has long had that aura of virtual invincibility, particularly at home in Foxboro. Had it not been for a couple of miracle plays and fourth quarter comebacks by the New York Giants in the Super Bowls between the two teams, the Patriots perhaps would be considered the greatest team in league history. Instead, they lost those two Super Bowls, and were looking to give themselves another shot at it this year. They had what seemed to be a major advantage going in - the luxury of home field.
That seemed to be significant through the first half, which the Patriots won, clearly outplaying the Ravens, and taking a 13-7 lead into the locker rooms for the half. The Patriots played better than the Ravens in the first half, but one thing should be noted: New England had a wonderful chance very late to notch a touchdown. They had around eighteen seconds or so to work with when Tom Brady slid down to the turf, and then raced back up to try and get another play instead of burning their one and only timeout remaining in the half, presumably to spike the ball and kill the clock. But things went horribly wrong, and the Patriots had to call a timeout after all. Only, their were four seconds left, rather than eighteen. Time for one more play only, and they had little choice but to go for a field goal. Had they called the timeout right after Brady slid down, they might have had two or three solid shots at the end zone, before having to settle for a field goal. The momentum that they could have gotten was muted.
It is not a sure thing that they would have gotten the touchdown, or even if they had, how much of a difference that might have made, given the complete dominance of the Ravens in the second half. But think about this: the Patriots were losing 28-13 when they had multiple possessions, with opportunities to score. Now, had they managed to convert that first half possession to a touchdown, even if the Ravens had dominated the second half in the exact same manner as they did, the score would have been 28-17. Still a two possession game, but the outlook looks very different. The Pats could have gotten within a touchdown and two-point conversion from tying the game, and that would have changed the complexion of the game completely. But because of their extremely poor clock management (very out of character for this team, frankly), that was not the case. Instead of possibly going up by a much more comfortable ten point margin at the half, the Patriots settled for a field goal and a six point lead. The Ravens could (and indeed would) take the lead with a touchdown and a conversion. So, it's safe to say that the Patriots missed an opportunity would be an understatement.
At one point, it was mentioned that New England's record when leading at home during halftime under Belichick was a staggering 72-1, and with Brady in the game, the team enjoyed a perfect 67-0 mark in home games in which they led at halftime. That's so good, it's almost hard to believe.
Yet such a perfect streak has to end at some point, right? The Baltimore Ravens, playing for the highest stakes imaginable (that being a trip to the Super Bowl), made sure that they were the team that ended it.
Baltimore completely dominated New England in the second half, actually managing to shut out the Pats in the second half. New England, it should be remembered, had the highest scoring offense by far this season, outscoring the next highest scoring team in the league by over one hundred points!
But the defense of the Ravens did not look so overwhelmed as other defenses have all season against this New England squad. In fact, they made the Patriots look quite pedestrian.
Tom Brady put up a lot of passes and yards, completing 29 of 54 for 320 yards, with one touchdown and two picks. But he did not look like his normal self in this game. Perhaps the absence of tight end Rob Gronkowski due to injury was never quite so apparent as it was yesterday, when few seemed to step up on this normally prolific Patriots offense..
Simply put, this game came down to a tale of two halves. In the first, the home team resembled the franchise that we have long known: perennial Super Bowl contenders, able to score and hold the other teams down. A team that seemed to move the ball fairly well, even against a tough defense. They hardly had their way with the Ravens in the first half, but they were outplaying them at that point.
In the second half, the Ravens put out whatever fire the Patriots had left. Their defense completely took over the game, extinguishing one chance after another for the Patriots. In the meantime, Baltimore's offense was placed in the hands of Joe Flacco, who responded beautifully. He was poised and responded well to the pressure, completing 21 of 36 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Baltimore's running game was not great, but complimented Flacco at the right times, and the combination of the Ravens suddenly getting it right both on offense and defense led to 21 unanswered points, and a surprisingly easy win against a usually tough opponent. Another tough contest between these two teams, who may have the best active rivalry in the league right now.
In this chapter of the rivalry, Baltimore left little doubt about who the better team was. In the past two seasons, the Ravens have slowly emerged and gotten better, managing to master (more or less) the division rivals that gave them the most headaches in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, they had to get past the hurdle that the Patriots presented, despite a regular season win against them in Baltimore early on in the regular season. But with a convincing win on the road against the elite Pats, the Ravens truly exorcised past demons and showed that they truly belong in this Super Bowl!
As for the Patriots, a long offseason filled with questions and doubts begins. The last time that they actually won the Super Bowl was following the 2004 season, so it is fast approaching a decade. Belichick was outcoached, and Brady was not the most impressive quarterback on the field last night. Much like after last season's Super Bowl, the Patriots came very close to reaching the pinnacle, only to have it taken away from them yet again. As dominant as this team has been during the regular season in recent years (16-0 in 2007, 14-2 in 2010, 13-3 in 2011, and 12-4 this past season, earning playoff byes each of those seasons), they still have not managed to translate that to the success that they used to know of winning the whole thing and being crowned league champions. Now, they have a long offseason to make adjustments and give it another go next year, although their star quarterback is not getting any younger, and there surely are concerns about just how strong this team is when they come across other elite teams that get hot, like the Ravens did in these playoffs. Simply put, the Patriots have not been good enough to be able to match up to such a team, and that is the puzzle the Belichick now has to try and solve for next season.
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