John Berger
Senior Editor
The final four in the NFL has been set. After two round of the playoffs, the Ravens, Patriots, 49ers, and Falcons are the only teams that remain. The only surprising team that is left is the Ravens, they beat the #1 seeded Broncos in Denver last week when they came from behind in the last minute to tie the game and then won it in overtime with a field goal. I ended up going 2-2 last week with my picks. The Seahawks lost on a field goal in the last 10 seconds, and mentioned above, the Broncos were upset by the Ravens. That means that I’m 5-3 so far in the playoffs. At the beginning of the season I predicted a 49ers/Patriots Super Bowl, and I don’t see why I’d change that prediction now. Nevertheless, here is what I think about the games this weekend:
Sunday
49ers at Falcons-
The line for this game opened at San Francisco -3, and then moved up to about San Francisco -5, which means that the public likes the 49ers to win. I’m really in no position to disagree. Even though the Falcons had the better record during the regular season, they had their fair share of mishaps, and they’re far from a perfect team. The 49ers added another dimension to their offense when they made Colin Kaepernick the starting quarterback, and since he’s taken over, the 49ers have beaten the Patriots and the Packers, both rather handily. I think that San Francisco will be able to put some pressure on Matt Ryan, and they’ll eventually make him fold. I don’t love Frank Gore as a running back, but he’s good enough to keep defenses honest and Kaepernick looks like an absolute beast at quarterback. I don’t think that NFL defenses are quite ready to slow down a guy who runs it as well as he does.
Final Score: 49ers: 31- Falcons: 23
Baltimore at New England-
This game is a rematch of last year’s AFC conference championship game, when New England beat Baltimore after Ravens’ kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32 yard field goal that would’ve sent the game into overtime. I think that this game will also be very close. The Ravens are riding a bit of an emotional high due to the high intensity of Ray Lewis, and I think that they’re going to do absolutely everything they can to get him to another Super Bowl in his last season. But the Patriots just have an absolutely prolific offense, and in the end I think that that will be the difference. It’s important to note though that Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski is out for the rest of the playoffs with an arm injury. Yes, Aaron Hernandez is more than capable of filling in for Gronkowski and performing well, but the loss of Gronk means that the Patriots can’t pair the two tight ends on the field together at the same time, which is something that they love to do. Still, I’m predicting a Pats victory on Sunday in Foxborough.
Final Score: Patriots: 28- Ravens: 25
