Baltimore at New England (-7)
Offense: Who would you rather follow into battle? The guy who looks and throws like Bert? Or George Washington? I mean seriously, I know Tom Brady hasn’t brought his Patriots to post-season glory recently, but he has won 3 Super Bowls. He puts up numbers that Joe Flacco couldn’t even put up at Delaware against defenses that Tim Tebow could shred with his arm. Brady makes throws that Flacco can’t make in video games. And this isn’t mentioning the fact that (unlike the last time the Ravens ousted the Pats from the playoffs) Brady has two of the best safety valves in Gronkowski and Hernandez and the best underneath receiver in Welker.
Defense: No one is debating who is better here. The clear answer is the Ravens. That being said, however, the debate that rages now: Is the Ravens defense more overrated as the third ranked defense or is the Patriots defense more underrated as the 31st ranked defense, is a good one. The Patriots are playing better and coming together now more so than any point in the year. We have seen them start to get some consistent pressure on the quarterback and look better in coverage. The Ravens are clearly the better defense, but with the exception of some key interceptions on terrible decisions by the rookie T.J. Yates, they did not look nearly as vaunted as they have been (and were when they last made an appearance in and won the Super Bowl).
So the Ravens will win because: T-Sizzle decides to show himself and actually hit Tom Brady and he knocks him out of the game. Seriously though, the Ravens HAVE to get to Tom Brady while finding a way to neutralize the underneath routes to Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Welker while also shutting down any semblance of a running game like the one that the Texans established against them last week.
So the Patriots will win because: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick continue to play with an apparent chip on their shoulders because they haven’t performed in the playoffs recently. Tom Brady, arguably, has more and better weapons this year than he ever has and it is time for him to once again lead his team through the rest of the NFL. Also the Patriots did arguably the smartest thing I have seen them do in a long time in terms of game planning. Look for the same formation of Hernandez in the backfield that yielded some good runs last week, but this time Hernandez will be used to chip Suggs off the edge and catch some short passes that could turn into some big gains, and if the Ravens cheat, they can always run the ball out of that formation still.
Pick: Patriots.
New York (N) (I put the “N” to really shove it in the faces of Jets fans that they aren’t playing this week) at San Francisco (-2.5)
Offense: Well up until last week, everyone in the football world thought that in San Francisco they spelled offense “G-O-R-E.” Now they have “The Catch 2.0” or whatever you want to call it, and they are ready to crown their new dynasty. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Eli Manning is playing better than ANY quarterback in the 4th quarter right now. His receivers trust him and he seems to have the leadership qualities that have made Peyton so successful (about time). Kevin Gilbride is the biggest problem for this offense, seriously when will he learn that Brandon Jacobs plays like he weighs 100 lbs.
Defense: The 49ers defense is the strength of this team. Their line, linebacking corps, and secondary are all strong. They will need to come into the game and hit the Giants in the mouth early and often, and keep that pace through out the game. The Giants’ d-line and secondary are scary for two very different reasons. Their d-line is absurdly good and deep. Their secondary could be the biggest underachieving unit in the NFL, they have 4 first-round picks and 2 second-round picks and yet they ranked 29th in passing defense.
So the Giants will win because: The defensive line gets to, and rattles Alex Smith. Eli Manning should have a good game. That being said, the 49ers defense is stout enough that the Giants defense will need to make some stops. They need to keep Frank Gore bottled up to the extent that forces Alex Smith to do some work on 3rd down. They are very capable of doing this, but they need to execute their game plan on both sides of the ball (and have a decent one on the offensive side of the ball).
So the 49ers will win because: Jim Harbaugh has had and will continue to have one of the greatest coaching seasons in recent Big 4 (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA) sports history. Seriously, this guy could will LeBron James to win a championship in the 4th quarter if he got the shot. If this team can avoid panic and stick to the game plan that allowed them to be successful all year, including against the Giants (although a much less hot Giants team), then they could find themselves in the Super Bowl.
Pick: Giants (and to win).
thebullpenblogger 