Saturday 21 January 2012

NFL Conference Championship Playoff Weekend Preview

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This game pits Tom Brady and the Patriots against Joe Flacco and the Ravens This game is very much a Offence v Defence game. The Patriots lead by the all time great Brady appear able to score at will have won their last 8 games. The Ravens on the other hand are a defensive beast and really mainly on this side of the game in order to win, in Flacco they have a good serviceable QB rather then a game changer.

The problem in this game for the Ravens is that as good as they are defensively, they will still give up points to the Brady lead offence and the question is can the Ravens offence score enough points on the Patriots much maligned defence. Although the Patriots gave up the 2nd most yards per game in the regular season, when it came to points allowed they were mid table. Taking everything into account look for the Patriots to point enough points on the board and the Patriots defence not allowing Flacco to match Brady and his offence numbers. Patriots to win.

New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

A lot of analysts in the media are suggesting that the Giants are the hot team going into this game, however that is simply not true. Both teams have won their last 4 games in a row, yes the Giants are on a hot streak simply because before this run they have been very up and down this season. The 49ers on the other hand have been hot all season only losing three games.

The Giants are led by Eli Manning who is having his best season consistent season since joining the NFL, he even broke the record for most 4th quarter touchdowns in a season. For much of the season Manning was carrying the Giants until the rest of the team woke up in the playoff run towards the end of the season. They reached the championship game by beating the Packers and as good as the Giants were the Packers played a large part in their own downfall with to many turnovers and weak defence.

The 49ers in the regular season relied greatly on defence, with Alex Smith and the offence not being great in the red zone put putting up enough beats for their superb defence. Last week for arguable the first team all season defence and offence worked in tandem against the Saints. The defence held the Saints to 32 points, which a lot of analysts did not think would happen. However maybe a greater surprise was the fact that the 49ers offence put up 36 points and Alex Smith won the game with a late drive, which many have doubted he was not able to do.

Look for another close game here, which is really a 50/50 type of game. The 49ers due to their elite defence and being at home are slight favourites and look for them to sneak the win.


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