The 2011 NFL Playoffs have been full of nail-biting finishes, controversies, and upsets.
We saw the brilliant work of first year quarterback, Tim Tebow, and his ability to carry a team to its first playoff victory in almost a decade, a first year coach in Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers beat the Saints at their own “shootout” style of game, and even flashbacks of the 2007 Giants Superbowl season as they went into Lambeau Field and outplayed Aaron Rodgers and the number one seed Green Bay Packers. A classic playoff scenario to say the least.
After a weekend of divisional round action, four teams conquered all and advanced to the Conference Championship round.
In the AFC division, the Baltimore Ravens will travel to frigid Foxboro, MA to challenge the high-powered New England Patriots offense. The Ravens, led by all-pro linebacker Ray Lewis and star safety Ed Reed, will have the confidence going into this game due to the fact that they beat New England in their stadium last year 33-14 in the divisional round of the playoffs.
In their last meeting, we saw running back Ray Rice go for 159 yards and two touchdowns which included an 83-yard touchdown scamper on the first offensive play from scrimmage.
It’s safe to say that the faulty defense of the Patriots will more than likely see a heavy dose of the run game on Sunday. While we know that the Ravens defense and Ray Rice will show up to play, the main question is, can Joe Flacco, after struggling to complete 50 percent of his passes and taking a brutal five sacks against Houston, lead his team to their first Superbowl since 2000?
Flacco has been considered by many to be an elite quarterback in the NFL, but through this season, he has been less than elite. His road record is a below average 4-4 with wins against teams that finished under .500 for the season. He’s been turning the ball over too frequently and leaving his all-star defense with their backs against the wall. And when 3-time Superbowl winner Tom Brady is staring at you across the field, that is a formula for disaster.
Brady has a plethora of recieving weapons at his disposal and will let no defense, elite or not, interfere with his quest for the Lombardi Trophy. Needless to say, the odds are against the Ravens, but come Sunday, they will be prepared and ready to play.
Switching divisions, in the NFC Conference Championship the New York Giants will travel west to sunny San Francisco to take on the suddenly revived 49ers.
The Giants are led by a rock-solid defensive line and a clutch quarterback in Eli Manning. The Giants defense racked up a total of 48 sacks in the 2011 season which is top five in the league.
Eli Manning had a more than decent year as well, he made a name for himself as the “comeback kid” leading five fourth quarter comebacks of twelve points or more. When asked if he was an elite quarterback, Eli had no doubt in his ability.
Although the Giants have all the confidence in the world, they still have to face the number one overall defense in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers defense, led by linebacker Patrick Willis, gave up an astounding three rushing touchdowns all season! That is tops among all defenses in the NFL. They love to force turnovers by bringing a heavy, relentless blitz throughout the entire game. They will need to rely on their stellar defense because they have an inexperienced quarterback in Alex Smith who will most likely suffer defeat if the game boils down to a “shootout” between Smith and Manning.
In simpler words, there is a good chance that the Giants will need to rely on the arm of Eli Manning and not the feet of Ahmad Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs. But haven’t we seen this before? The Giants catching fire and gaining momentum late in the season and into the latter part of the playoffs?
Well, in 2007, they did just that by winning their last five games of the regular season (as they did in 2011) and winning their first two playoff games with flying colors. They rode this momentum all the way to the Superbowl where they beat Bill Belichick and the Patriots with late-game heroics by Eli Manning.
It is very possible that this scenario could play out once again. We will just have to wait and see.
