Last weekend our merry band of reviewers managed to improve on the one game over .500 they managed in the Wildcard matchups, mainly thanks to Neil's perfect weekend. While all of them managed to call the AFC Championship Game participants, neither Ben nor Khaled got one of the NFC representatives.
They return this week to look at the penultimate weekend of competitive games in this season and predict the teams to move onto the Super Bowl using what they've seen all season and what little gray matter they possess.
Who do you think will be playing in Indianapolis?
Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots
Ben Stockwell: The Ravens had a rare luxury in the divisional round of the playoffs. They played a subpar and conservative game, blew out the cobwebs and still came out with a victory courtesy of some unbelievable errors from the Houston Texans. To their credit the Ravens played mistake free football which they'll need to continue that if they are to walk into Gillette Stadium and come out winners, against a Patriots team that was in no mood to let the Broncos hang around last week. They will need that and more, as a conservative gameplan won’t cut it, you can’t keep Gronkowski and Hernandez out of the game for 60 minutes. The Ravens have played the Patriots close in recent seasons and won emphatically in the only playoff encounter between the two teams two years ago, is there a repeat in the tanks this year to potentially send off some of the veterans on the team with a trip to the Superbowl? I’m not so sure, the Ravens need to do more than just not make mistakes and hang around they need to make plays and for that Joe Flacco needs to have a little more conviction in his decision making or Torrey Smith needs to pop up with a big game or timely big play to prevent the burden of the offense falling on the shoulders of Anquan Boldin and Ray Rice. The other awful defenses in the playoffs have all fallen by the wayside and the Patriots are the last unit left standing, but the worst thing the Ravens can do is turn this into a shootout as they won’t be able to match Brady and his receivers. The Ravens need to control the clock and limit the Patriots’ possessions for the best chance of victory but without a big play from Smith or an early game changer from Ray Rice I simply can’t see them doing enough to win on offense. Pick: Patriots
Neil Hornsby: Before last week I thought this would be the championship match-up, but that I’d be picking the Ravens and not the Patriots. That’s how underwhelmed I was by the scrappy home victory against the T.J. Yates led Texans. While Bill Belichick and his team first manufactured and then implemented a superb game plan (well, until they got a bit silly at the end as usual), John Harbaugh’s team looked lost at times, too conservative at others and but for a poor display by the rookie signal caller were probably out. There’s no doubt in my mind that if that’s Matt Schaub at QB the Texans win, advance and stand a far better chance of knocking off New England than Baltimore.
That’s not to say I think the Ravens needn’t show up, far from it, they just need to improve massively on the o-line (which I think they will), get more pressure from their front four (Possible but less likely) and hope it doesn’t turn into a quarterback duel. I wasn’t quite as down on Flacco’s performance as many but it didn’t engender any hope at all of being able to go toe to toe with the three time Super Bowl winner if he’s in any kind of form. Prediction: Ravens 20 – Patriots 31
Sam Monson: Baltimore was far from impressive against the Texans and in truth, had T.J. Yates not taken it upon himself to throw the game away, Houston could well have walked away with the win, but the Ravens have been able to get the better of Brady recently like few other teams. On the last two occasions they have played they forced poor performances from Brady. If anything the Ravens D is better this year than it has been. The addition of Pernell McPhee in the middle has really aided their pass-rush and allowed them to better time blitzes, to attack, rather than out of necessity. Brady and the Patriots' offense is also a different proposition this season than it has been, with the TE attack of Gronkowski and Hernandez the perfect complement to Wes Welker. That gives the Ravens a lot to worry about stopping. In the end I think this game might come down to how much joy the Ravens can have on offense against a soft Patriots secondary. Pick: Ravens by 3
Khaled Elsayed: Every time I think about this game I think to myself, if the Patriots find their rhythm on offense just how are the Ravens going to go toe to toe with them? The Ravens defense will need to play lights out, but in the end I think it comes down to whether Joe Flacco can make some big plays, at big moments. My answer will be no, but not because he’s not capable. Pick: Patriots
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New York Giants @ San Francisco 49ers
Ben Stockwell: What happened to that absolute lock of an NFC Title game re-match between the Saints and Packers? Well we got a re-match of one of the best games of the season all the same and this one could produce another classic. Alex Smith showed last week that he can make plays in the clutch when it counts and he will likely be called upon to do the same again this Sunday against a Giants team that is carrying the most balanced team and the most momentum of the remaining playoff teams. The atmosphere in Candlestick Park is sure to be rocking, 49er fans have waited a long time for this, and that should give the outstanding 49ers' defense an extra boost in this game. The Giants’ offensive line is still making life difficult for Eli Manning and he is still overcoming that, but this is a ferocious pass rush that he is facing. The likes of Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald will be revved up to get after the Giants gunslinger. Manning is outstanding under pressure so the 49ers pass rushers must finish plays if they are to have success in this game, against the Giants porous offensive line they should get plenty of shots at Manning. The biggest question mark in this game to me is can the 49ers step up with big plays on offense in crunch time again if the game comes down to the wire? They did it twice last week and Vernon Davis once again has an extremely favorable matchup against a group of linebackers and safeties who struggle to cover the middle of the field and this Giant defensive line is being very much overrated, it is playing well, but it is not even close to the unit that carried the Giants to their last Superbowl victory. The magic continues for the 49ers this week and we’ll get to see the best defense in football on the biggest stage in Indianapolis. Pick: 49ers
Neil Hornsby: I know the Giants have got a great shot at winning this, so why am I picking the 49ers? Well when a team with as poor a defense as the Packers beats up on your O-Line what happens when you go up against the best in the league? The Giants coaches are great at adjustments and helping out their guys against superior opponents (e.g. against John Abraham in the Wild Card) but how can you provide support with so many mismatches? There isn’t a single battle in the trenches I can see the Giants winning, so just how good will Eli have to be this time? And that’s the point, he and his three receivers were so good against the Packers they overcame the lines issues almost easily; he'll need to be even better this week.
On the other side of the ball I see the 49ers doing OK against the Giants; New York’s pass rush is good but overrated and (with the exception of Osi Umenyiora) never really showed up against Green Bay. Justin Tuck absolutely has to take advantage of Anthony Davis (I still can’t believe someone gave him an All-Pro vote), but he’s had only one good pass rushing display all year; against the Jets Wayne Hunter and even Davis isn’t at that level of ineptitude. The more I think about it the more I see San Francisco in the Super Bowl but then I remember New York have the perfect QB for all this “madness” and think maybe, just maybe. Prediction: Giants 24 – 49ers 26
Sam Monson: This game is a really interesting encounter. As much as I think he has become a pretty good game manager, I just can't bring myself to have any confidence in Alex Smith getting things done when he really has to. The Giants on the other side have a QB in Eli Manning who is just the opposite, and is getting it done in spite of little help from his O-line. That is likely to continue to be the case this week as the prospect of Aldon and Justin Smith against the left side of that Giants O-line is a terrifying one, and Manning will need to be able to get it done on his own. The Giants can bring the kind of pressure that can force Alex Smith to get things done with defenders in his face, and unlike the Saints, they don't need to bring players with reckless abandon to get that pressure. I think this will be a very close encounter, but when in doubt, go with the better quarterback. Pick: Giants by 7
Khaled Elsayed: I spoke to Neil about this game and we agreed that the 49ers will dominate the Giants offensive line, but we appear to differ on the impact of that – the way Eli Manning has played in the second half of the season suggests to me he can handle it. His ability to make plays when pressured has impressed me no end, and with the physical threat of Hakeem Nicks and the ability of Victor Cruz to get open, I think he has the weapons to make the 49ers play from behind. I thought something similar for the Saints matchup so I think the only thing I’ll really predict from this game is that it will be fascinating to watch. Pick: Giants
Last weekend our merry band of reviewers managed to improve on the one game over .500 they managed in the Wildcard matchups, mainly thanks to Neil's perfect weekend. While all of them managed to call the AFC Championship Game participants, neither Ben nor Khaled got one of the NFC representatives.
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