The Conference Championship games are set, after the games last Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers will visit the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game, while the Baltimore Ravens will go play the New England Patriots for the second AFC Championship game in a row. The winners of those games will of course meet in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII on February 3rd.
The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 30-28. The Falcons only trailed in this game for 23 seconds, but those 23 seconds were inside the last minute of the game. Atlanta lead 20-0 at the half, and 27-7 after 3 quarters. The Seahawks started their comeback in the 4th quarter, scoring 21 straight points in the quarter. They took the lead at 28-27, with 38 seconds remaining. This apparently was too much time for the Falcons, because they drove 41 yards in 23 seconds, and kicked a field goal to take a 30-28 lead. It looked really bad for the Seahawks until the strange kickoff. The Falcons tried a squib kick, but it ended up looking like an onside kick, The Seahawks got the ball almost at midfield, but still had to resort to a Hail Mary to end the game, which failed.
The Falcons will host the San Francisco 49ers this weekend, after the 49ers beat up on the Green Bay Packers 45-31 on Sunday. 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick ran all over the Packers. He set an all-time rushing record for a quarterback, with 181 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also threw for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was as if the Packers didn’t watch any game tape, and had no idea that Kaepernick ever ran the ball. The game was tied in the 3rd quarter at 24, but the 49ers scored 21 straight points to put the game out of reach. The Packers scored a late touchdown, but the damage was done, and the 49ers are heading for Atlanta.
The New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans 41-28, with a strong second half of offense, scoring 24 points. Tom Brady, the quarterback of the Patriots, won his 17th postseason game as quarterback, breaking the tie he had with Joe Montana, for the most postseason victories by a quarterback of all time. His postseason record of 17-6 is also the best winning percentage of any quarterback ever. This weekend will be Brady and coach Bill Belichick’s 7th AFC Championship game, and they will be playing a team they know very well, the Baltimore Ravens.
In the biggest surprise of the weekend, the Ravens beat the Denver Broncos 38-35 in 2 overtimes. It looked like the Broncos had the game won, until the Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw a bomb to Jacoby Jones down the right sideline, just beyond the reach of Bronco defenders, and Jones went into the end zone for the tying touchdown, to force overtime. The first overtime ended with no score. But the Ravens had good field position after intercepting Peyton Manning for the second time in the game. The Ravens just moved the ball 16 yards, but it was enough to set-up kicker Justin Tucker for a 47 field goal, which he made to win the game.
The NFC and AFC Championship games are both on Sunday, with the Patriots a big favorite over the Ravens, and the 49ers a road favorite over the Falcons. Winners go to the Super Bowl. Both games should be very interesting.
Just enter your email address in the box on the top right side and hit subscribe, to be emailed future commentaries – http://frankcthomas.com
