Well, there’s only one more game left. After Sunday’s pair of championship games, it all comes down to one final contest to determine which team is the best in the NFL. Both conference championship games had more than their share of storylines going into the weekend, and neither disappointed. So for the next-to-last time this season, let’s go in-depth and read way too much into what happened.
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
New England Patriots 16, Denver Broncos 26
Manning Returns to Super Bowl for First Time Since 2007
This game, the fifteenth meeting between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, did not fail to live up to the lofty billing. The game was up for grabs for almost the entire duration, but ultimately Manning’s Denver Broncos pulled ahead for good, sealing the Broncos’ first trip to the Super Bowl since 1998–and Manning’s first since 2007. Manning was on fire throughout, completing 32 of 43 pass attempts for 400 yards and two touchdowns. It was clear from the start that Tom Brady was outmatched, a rare occurrence; Brady was uncharacteristically inaccurate on deep throws, especially early on. Those missed opportunities may very well have ended up being the difference, especially since the Patriots could have turned most if not all of those completions into scores, potentially turning the tide of the game. Instead, the Brady Bunch is done for the year, and will have to watch The Big One at home. (In fact, apparently Brady himself doesn’t even want to do that. And people say he’s a role model. For shame.)
Belichick: Welker’s Block “One of the Worst Plays I’ve Seen”
Of course, the big story coming out of this weekend’s game is Pats coach Bill Belichick’s verbal shellacking of Broncos receiver Wes Welker’s low block on Aqib Talib, a play that sent the New England cornerback to the locker room for the rest of the game. Belichick called the block “a deliberate play by the receiver [Welker] to take out Aqib. No attempt to get open.” Belichick and Welker have had quite a well-documented history of getting at each other’s throats; one need only look at Belichick’s decision to keep Welker as a non-factor early last year to see an example. Even now that the receiver now plays on the other side of the country, the two still apparently have proven that there’s no love lost between them. In the end, though, Talib’s knee appears to have suffered no structural damage, so at least that’s one less thing to worry about this offseason.
My Pick: Broncos (✓)
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP
San Francisco 49ers 17, Seattle Seahawks 23
Seahawks Outlast Niners in Defensive Matchup
While the AFC Championship showcased two of the league’s top offenses, the NFC title game had two of the NFL’s premier defenses on display. The San Francisco 49ers, fresh off a pair of upsets in Green Bay and Carolina, looked to make it a trifecta by knocking off NFC West foe Seattle, and for a while it appeared as if they would succeed. But then they Seahawks came back, and before long they’d put themselves on top for good. The Seahawks now get a shot at the Lombardi Trophy for the first time since Super Bowl XL, when they lost to Pittsburgh in an incredibly controversial game that was plagued by questionable refereeing. Meanwhile, Kid Quick and the Niners fell short of a second consecutive Super Bowl trip. On the bright side, though, Colin Kaepernick is probably one of the best young quarterbacks in the game, and he could be ready to take that next step as soon as next season.
Richard Sherman Rips Michael Crabtree in Legendary Postgame Interview
Ah, Richard Sherman. What would America’s sports pundits do without your bombastic personality? Yes, as you’ve probably heard, Richard Sherman had some very choice words for the man Jim Harbaugh called “the greatest catcher of all time” following Sunday’s game. (For those not in the know, it’s all over YouTube.) With the rant, he may have surpassed Marshawn Lynch as the team’s most memetic personality–and more likely than not has probably landed himself on several fans’ persona non grata list. On the whole, the Internet appears to be pretty evenly split on the issue, with some screaming about the First Amendment and others deriding him as just another windbag. In the end, we may never know what the world at large really thinks, but one way or another, Sherman has every right to brag. After all, not everyone gets to go to the Super Bowl.
My Pick: Seahawks (✓)
And with that, I have an announcement. The next two weeks is going to be a bit different than my usual fare. On Friday and Saturday I’ll be posting a Year In Review column for each of the two Super Bowl teams detailing the journey they’ve endured to get to this point. Sunday, I’ll put up a recap of the Pro Bowl, also known as “that game nobody cares about anymore”. Over the course of next Monday through Friday, I’ll be posting a short daily piece about some of the week’s developments, culminating with my final Super Bowl prediction on Friday. After that, it’s time for the Big Game. Tune in on Friday for the first of the Year In Review columns. Until then, farewell!
