Championship Sunday Review

A year ago, the Ravens and 49ers lost very tough games on Championship Sunday. The Harbaugh brothers were so close to facing each other that you wondered if they would ever get a chance to meet each other in the Super Bowl. Well, a year later the Harbaughs got back to the same spot, and sure enough both were able to get their teams into Super Bowl XLVII. San Francisco started the day with a dramatic, comeback victory over the Falcons 28-24, and the Ravens ended the day with a statement 28-13 win over the Patriots to set up a 49ers-Ravens Super Bowl in New Orleans in two weeks. Let's take a look at the major keys and storylines from each game.......

NFC Championship
San Francisco-28 Atlanta-24
1) You have to give Matt Ryan credit because he was terrific in this game. His start to game was unreal. He hit Julio Jones on a 46 yard bomb to start the game off. He then found Jones again with a perfect pass in the corner of the endzone to make it 17-0 lead in the second quarter. Then, he hit Tony Gonzalez on a 10 yard pass to make it 24-14 before the half. Although they lost the game, Ryan stepped up big time and established himself as one of the guys going forward at the QB position in this league.

2) The Falcons will be kicking themselves all offseason after blowing a 17-0 lead at home in the NFC title game. You can't blow that kind of lead at home, and it will be interesting to see how this effects them next season. They are set up to be good for awhile, but we'll see how fast they get over this.

3) Give the Niners credit because I thought they were dead when they were down 17-0 and getting completely outplayed. From that point, the Niners just seemed to be the better team. Colin Kaepernick got hot, and the Niners were able to fight their way back into the game at 17-14. Although the Falcons made it 24-14 late in the half, you just had a feeling that the 49ers weren't going to go away quietly, and they scored right away to start the third quarter.

4) The game changed when Ryan threw an interception and fumbled a shotgun snap late in the third quarter, and both times the Falcons were driving in SF territory. Those plays didn't result in scores for San Francisco because David Akers missed a field goal, and Michael Crabtree fumbled at the Atlanta 1 yard line; however, it prevented the Falcons from scoring and extending their lead.

5) The Niners got a big play from Ted Ginn with a solid punt return to give them the ball at the Atlanta 38 yard line. That play set up Frank Gore's 9 yard touchdown run to finally give them the lead at 28-24.  

6) When Navarro Bowman knocked down the 4th down pass from Matt Ryan to Roddy White, it reminded me of the 1994 AFC Championship when the Chargers swatted away a fourth down attempt of the Steelers and Neil O'Donnell. It was a great ending to a really fun and exciting game, and it was fitting that the Niners got to the Super Bowl after last year's heartbreaking loss to the Giants in overtime.

7) Give credit to Jim Harbaugh. He took this team over two years ago, and has them in the Super Bowl already. He also had the guts to go with Colin Kaepernick at midseason and it has really paid off. The Niners are headed back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1994 season and their demolition of the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

AFC Championship
Baltimore-28 New England-13
1) I thought the Ravens would win this game, and I was shocked at how high this line was all week. The Ravens proved that they were the better team in this game, and once they started spreading the Pats out, the game was over.

2) People kill all these other coaches and quarterbacks all over the league, but Bill Belichick and Tom Brady always seem to get a pass. You have to wonder what the Pats were thinking near the end of the half. They were up 10-7 and driving deep in Ravens territory with one timeout left, and instead of taking the timeout, the Pats try to get to the line and run another play, but they took too much time, looked confused, and had to burn a timeout with 3 seconds left in the half. They had to settle for a field goal instead of taking a couple of shots in the endzone and maybe getting a 17-7 lead. The Pats totally get credit for being so prepared and well drilled, but they looked very bad in that spot and Belichick should take the hit there. Brady also didn't play that great, and on a day where they needed an A game out of him, he played more of a C game, and that wasn't enough.

3) Also, Wes Welker dropped another key 3rd down pass up 13-7 at the Baltimore 34 in the third quarter. That is two years in a row that a Welker drop possibly cost the Pats another Super Bowl.

4) Once the Ravens got the lead at 14-13 in the third quarter, I really felt that the Ravens were going to win. After they got the 21-13 lead, the game turned on the hit by Bernard Pollard on Stevan Ridley. He absolutely crushed him and forced a fumble. He knocked out Ridley and knocked out the Pats for the game. The Ravens scored on the ensuing drive to make it 28-13 and that was the game. You could go back and mark down some big plays that changed the game, but the Pollard hit on Ridley was the key play in my mind.

5) Joe Flacco won another road playoff game, outplayed Brady, and now heads to his first Super Bowl. He has won 8 playoff games in his career, and this season he outplayed Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, and Brady in successive weeks. This may be his time, and he has definitely earned it in these playoffs.

6) The Ravens should have been in the Super Bowl last year, but they lost a really tough game in Foxborough. They were able to fight all the way back to get to the same spot, and this time they took care of business and get to their second Super Bowl in franchise history.