Conference Championship Preview
HERE WE GO. The matchups that we all wanted. After a surprisingly pedestrian second round, I feel that we are left with the four best teams in the league. Sunday will be a historic day of games, with the two best contests that we could ever ask for. The first game is between the Patriots and Broncos for the AFC Championship, which means one thing: Brady vs Manning. Every time these two quarterbacks take the field, something special happens, and now we have a battle for a Super Bowl berth. Afterward, on the other side, we have the NFC will-be war between the 49ers and the Seahawks up in Seattle. To say that there will be blood is an understatement; I’m expecting at least two major injuries, including at least one concussion. These are the two most physical teams in the league, playing for the third time this season, and they absolutely hate each other. This year, the crowd in Seattle has set a world record for noise, and reportedly last week caused an EARTHQUAKE on Marshawn Lynch’s final touchdown run. The Niners have been blown out the last two times they went up to the Pacific Northwest, and Kaepernick, as good as he has looked in two playoff games, was utterly overmatched against the Legion of Boom secondary. There’s nothing left to say; each of these teams are so even with their opponents, that literally anything could happen. So instead of making long drawn-out paragraphs about each game, I’m just going to give my picks with my statistical predictions. I’m ready for two absolutely epic games.
NE (+5.5) vs DEN - Before you freak out and think I’m a traitor, I’m not picking the Patriots to win. I would never do that. But even I am not so blind to disrespect Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to think that they won’t stay within five points of Denver. The Pats are playing incredible football right now with the run and pass and I’m terrified that they are going to win this game outright. But I’m not going against my boy Peyton against the team I hate. Here are my stat predictions:
Brady: 21-33, 289 yds, 2 TD, INT
Manning: 24-37, 332 yds, 3 TD, INT
Blount: 13 rush, 41 yds
Ridley: 5 rush, 24 yds, TD, fumble
Vareen: 3 rush, 13 yds, 5 rec, 37 yds, TD
Moreno: 16 rush, 74 yds, TD
Edelman: 8 rec, 84 yds, TD
D Thomas: 5 rec, 72 yds
Decker: 4 rec, 81 yds, TD
Welker: 6 rec, 53 yds, TD
J Thomas: 4 rec, 62 yds, TD
Final Score: New England 27, Denver 31
SF vs SEA (-3.5) - While I don’t think that this game will be a blowout, I think the Seahawks continue their trend of kicking the 49ers’ asses physically at home and punching them in the mouth. The fans will cause another earthquake and break their own noise world record with the Super Bowl on the line. Kaepernick and the Niners will be forced to keeping burning useless timeouts from not being able to hear anything. The matchup to watch are the receivers for San Fran against the secondary of Seattle, and if thought the jawing between the 49ers and Carolina was bad last week, you ain’t seen nothing yet! This game will be electric all the way around, but when it comes down to it, I think that Russell Wilson will play his best game in two months, and make the big plays by moving around with his legs when it matters most.
Kaepernick: 14-26, 176 yds, TD, 2 INT, 34 rush yds
Wilson: 16-24, 202 yds, TD, fumble, 41 rush yds
Gore: 19 rush, 76 yds, TD
Lynch: 23 rush, 121 yds, 2 TD
Crabtree: 5 rec, 51 yds
Davis: 3 rec, 40 yds, TD
Tate: 7 rec, 90 yds, TD
Final Score: San Francisco 17, Seattle 24
Lock of the Week: NE (+5.5)
Performance of the Week: Marshawn Lynch, SEA
Surprise of the Week: Super Bowl will be Denver vs Seattle. Let’s go.
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