Just like the GOP Primary, it's down to four.. There's no doubt who we're rooting for, but it sure hasn't helped our picks. Not that we have a great history of playoff picks anyway. Just like last year, we're 3-5 and searching for magic pixie dust. After thinking, we're going to be honest with ourselves, and just pick em... Onto the games!
Baltimore at New England
It's a pretty interesting matchup. The Ravens are a great road team, with a tough D and running game that often wins playoff games. On the other hand, The Patriots have an offense that even the Ravens might not be able to stop. Tom Brady is a big game QB (duh!).
The key we guess is how well the Pats D holds up against the Ravens. They stopped Tim Tebow, but Joe Flacco is a much better QB , though not super. They'll need to stretch the defense, and Torrey Smith, who is often invisible, needs a breakout game. But, the ability to put up 30 points, even against New England, is a tall order. Why 30? Because you CAN'T stop the Patriots offense.
Ray Lewis is out of his aging skill set here. Unless the Ravens can figure out how to double team Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker at the same time, someone will be open - and Brady will find him.
Patriots 31-20.
New York at San Francisco
So, can my G-Men make it to their 5th Super Bowl, or do the 49ers return to former glory? We like history backing up today's guesses, and we have had plenty to justify the Giants improbable run... The Giants are hit or miss. they field plenty of good teams, but if they make it to the NFC Championship, they make it to the Super Bowl. Also, we go back to 1990, when the Giants took on a favored 49er team in San Francisco, and won 15-13 on 5 Matt Bahr field goals. Yeah, that one sticks out...
The 49er D-line scares the crap out of us, but the rest has it's spots to exploit. Face it, the Niners didn't stop the Saints, they just ended up with the ball last. Alex Smith has been playing up to his potential (or is it over his head), but here's what the Giants need to do: double team Vernon Davis - all game. The 49er receivers are not good, so taking Davis out, and neutralizing Frank Gore will make it tough for Smith to do much.
Eli Manning has been awesome this year, thanks to his best receiver duo ever in Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.. It will be erratic, because he won't have much time often, but he will get his chances. They'll run a little, pass a little, and do just enough. We've been picking against them on purpose, but we believe now. One last stat: the QB pictured on our picks has been 0-7, which we have done deliberately. Malocchio !!!
Giants 23-20.
And now, the Patriots can try to have their Super Bowl 42 revenge...
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1 comment:
Mike--like I said when we talked, the Giants v the Patriots--THE REMATCH. Historically, re-matches have favored the previous winner: Pittsbug beat Dallas twice in the 70's;San Fransico beat Cinncinnati twice; Dallas beat Buffalo twice. But there are always exceptions-Washington beat Miami in 83 to get revenge for 72 and Dallas finally beat Pittsburg when they met for the 3rd time.
So at the end of the day who is going to win?? Eli finally shows who the better Manning is--the Giants!!...teg
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