Conference Championship Write-ups and stuff

[Senor Capper]

Atlanta Falcons answer playoff doubt for now


We?re down to the Final Four in the NFL Playoffs, with two compelling championship game matchups set for next Sunday.

I?ve spent all year writing about these teams using my own words. This week, I thought it would make an interesting read to focus on the numerous quotes offered by various players and coaches.


ATLANTA FALCONS

Finally the monkey is off their backs with a first playoff victory in the Mike Smith/Matt Ryan era. And Atlanta has one advantage the Packers didn?t have facing a mobile QB in Colin Kaepernick on Sunday ? they?ve already faced Cam Newton (twice), Robert Griffin and Russell Wilson. However, former 49ers head coach and current Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan saw his defense get picked apart in three of those four games (allowing 28-plus points). The one they didn?t (against the Redskins) RG III left early due to a concussion.

Head coach Mike Smith was pretty darn pumped following Atlanta?s last minute win over Seattle, after Matt Ryan threw a pair of strikes to Harry Douglas and Tony Gonzalez to put the Falcons in field goal range for kicker Matt Bryant?s game winner from 49 yards. ?Our quarterback is a special player. They call him Matty Ice, but I feel like we?ve got two Matty Ices. There?s Matty Ice Ryan and Matty Ice Bryant.?

Ryan: ?Nobody flinched (following Seattle?s comeback). We just kept battling, kept doing what we do. That?s been the makeup of our team all season.?

Matt Bryant: ?When they scored their touchdown, I walked down (the sideline.) I told the offensive line, I told Matt (Ryan), I told all the receivers, ?We?ve done this before.??

Future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez following the first postseason victory of his 16-year career: ?I was on the ground crying, like a little baby.?

Cornerback Asante Samuel: ?(Too many) busted coverages. Was I worried? Uh, yeah. It was a little stressful.?



SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Of the four teams still standing, no squad looked better than Jim Harbaugh?s in their second half rout of the Packers on Saturday night.

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy: ?The execution for the 49ers on the read option was excellent. We did not do a very good job of keeping (Kaepernick) in the pocket.?

Packers cornerback Charles Woodson: ?I didn?t know how fast (Kaepernick) was. Coming in I really never paid attention to it. But he is fast?We expected them to try to get him out on the perimeter. But we didn?t expect to let him do what he did. Give him a lot of credit. He played a great game. He made a lot of great plays out there today. It was hard to swallow.?

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers: ?We just didn?t get it done in the second half. I knew we were going to have to score some points. We knew we were going to have to put up at least 38 points.?

Kaepernick: ?It feels good. We?re one step closer to where we want to be. I feel like I had a lot to prove. A lot of people doubted my ability to lead this team?Our offensive line did an amazing job.?

Jim Harbaugh, talking about how Kaepernick reacted to his early pick six that swung momentum in Green Bay?s favor: ?He does a great job of responding. He has done that any time there has been an interception he has thrown, a safety or a turnover, he?s responded with a scoring drive. That?s rare. I think that?s a rare quality. So far he?s shown that he?s got that ability to come back.?



NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

All the Patriots quotes come straight out of ?Coach Speak 101? ? New England is not a great team for publicizing what?s going on internally, and they certainly won?t say anything to give their opponent any sort of motivational edge. That being said, there was legitimate concern on the roster following the season ending injury for their top red zone threat, tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Tom Brady after his NFL record 17th postseason victory: ?I love playing, I love competing. I love being a part of this organization. I think the two best teams are in the final.?

Tight end Aaron Hernandez, talking about Gronkowski?s injury: ?It?s hard to replace a player like him. He?s a freak of nature.?

Bill Belichick: ?You don?t win a war by digging a foxhole and sitting in it. You?ve got to go and attack.?

Linebacker Brandon Spikes, talking about the Patriots sense of unity: ?With us, we know it takes all of us to win. We all have to play well, all 11 guys on each side of the ball, special teams, everything.?



BALTIMORE RAVENS
Baltimore?s quotes, as a group, sound like they?re coming from a team that is physically and emotionally spent following their epic double overtime win over the Broncos. And history certainly isn?t on Baltimore?s side next Sunday in a rematch of last year?s AFC Championship Game. This is the sixth time since 1970 that the same teams are playing in the conference title game in consecutive seasons. The teams that won the first meeting are 5-0 in the rematch.

Ray Lewis: ?I?ve never been a part of a game so crazy in my life?I think we are special just by what we?ve been through all year, injury-wise. For the first half last week, that was the first time me, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed and Haloti Ngata actually played together because of the injuries we?ve dealt with.?

Head coach John Harbaugh: ?Thanks for bearing witness to one of the greatest football games you?re ever going to see. That game did football proud.?

Rookie kicker Justin Tucker, the anti-Billy Cundiff, following his game winning 47-yard field goal: ??I always feel good when I go out on the field. Not many people get to do this. This is a heck of a lot of fun.?

Quarterback Joe Flacco: ?We fought hard to get back to this point. We are definitely proud of being here, and we feel like it is going to take a lot for someone to come and kick us off that field come the AFC championship game.?

TS

 

[Senor Capper]

NFL teams on equal footing for conference games




This is it, the final weekend of games before the Super Bowl.

The last month we?ve been hearing about playoff seedings, bye weeks and home field advantage. Are all those things really important? Historically it has been during the second round of the playoffs. Teams with the bye have home field advantage and two weeks to prepare, both of which are usually important edges this time of year.

However, during the conference championship games history shows us the remaining teams are often on fairly equal footing, both straight up and against the spread. You might think the team with the home field has a big edge, but that?s not usually the case this deep into the season.

A year ago both underdogs covered in squeakers, with the underdog Giants beating the 49ers in OT (20-17) and the 7-point underdog Ravens nearly winning at New England, blowing a late field goal in a 23-20 defeat.

The last four years six of eight home teams (Colts, Saints, Cardinals, Pats, Steelers twice) won but went 4-4 ATS. Notice that since 1992, the home team has won just 22 of 40 NFL title games straight up, and the visiting team is 22-18 ATS.

Plenty of road underdogs not only got the money, but won the game and advanced to the Super Bowl, including the champion Giants a year ago. Five years ago both road teams covered. The Patriots topped San Diego, 21-12, but failed to cover, while the +7 underdog road Giants won at Green Bay, 23-20. Six years ago Pittsburgh was a road dog at Denver, but clobbered the Broncos 34-17.

In 1995, San Diego was a 9?-point dog at Pittsburgh, but pulled the upset 17-13. In 1999 Atlanta was an 11-point dog at 16-1 Minnesota, yet won 30-27 in overtime, while Tennessee flattened big home favorite Jacksonville, 33-14, in 2000.

Nine years ago the Patriots were a double-digit dog at Pittsburgh but won 24-17, and seven seasons ago the upstart Panthers rained on the Eagles? parade in a 14-3 NFC Championship game upset in a somewhat frustrated city of brotherly love.

Coming into this weekend, the dogs are 16-8 ATS the last 12 years in the NFL title games. The NFC has seen the dog go 10-3 ATS the last 13 years, including the last three seasons with the Giants, the Packers covering at New Orleans and the Cardinals as a home dog to the Eagles. Philadelphia?s trouncing of the Falcons in 2005, 27-10, ended a six-year run by underdogs covering in the NFC championship tilt.

Certainly you can?t discount home field advantage, something the Patriots used in consecutive years to beat up the indoor Colts, 24-14 and 20-3 in the Foxboro cold, with the Colts turning the trick at home in 2007. However, there is generally greater balance between teams simply because at this point in the season, the remaining four teams are very strong and often evenly matched.

In mid-January, you rarely find a team that has glaring weaknesses or ranking at the bottom of the NFL in some offensive or defensive category.

It?s difficult for teams with major weaknesses to make the playoffs in the first place, and if they do make it, opposing coaches will attack those weak spots to their own advantage. The cream rises, which is what competition is all about.

Favorites are 25-13 SU in NFL championship games but 19-19 ATS the last 19 years. The total is 22-16 OVER during that time (2-0 under last January). Oddly, there have been more blowouts by the underdog than the favorite.

Before you jump on the live dogs, remember that the favorites had a nice run of their own from 1993-97 going 8-2 ATS in the NFL title games. The current trend: the favorites are on a 6-4 ATS run.

JF