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Monday, January 20, 2014

NFL Conference Championship Sunday Snap Judgments

And then there were two.

We can expect a classic matchup on February 2 in the Meadowlands.  Seattle and Denver have been the two best teams in the league all season long, and they are set to clash in the final game of the 2013 NFL season.  Super Bowl 48 will be the first game between a pair of #1 seeds since the Saints/Colts game 4 years ago, which goes to show how surprisingly infrequently we get such a contest.  The last three Super Bowl champions all got hot either late in the season or at the start of the playoffs, putting on an unlikely performance towards winning the Lombardi trophy.  This time, there was no Cinderella team.  Two heavyweights will go head to head to win it all.  Fans like you and me may have to record the game to watch and rewatch every play along the way.

1. The Aqib Talib injury was pretty much the deciding factor in Denver.  If the Patriots had any chance at winning the game, it would largely depend on their secondary holding the Broncos' receiving corps at bay.  Talib is their best cover corner, and once he was taken out of the game by - ironically - Broncos receiver (and former Patriot) Wes Welker, the Patriots had little to stop the Broncos' passing attack.  The Patriots did manage to make the game interesting late, but missing Talib on the field was too much to overcome.

2. Peyton Manning.  'Nuff said.  Once again, Peyton Manning turned the field of play into a video game and dominated the Patriots.  The Broncos had just enough of a pass rush that held Tom Brady at bay, leaving Manning to do his thing and let his running backs keep the defense honest while concentrating on covering Eric Decker, Wes Welker, and Demaryius Thomas.  Despite the Patriots' efforts, Thomas had a huge day, and Knowshon Moreno consistently produced on the ground.  Still, the Broncos have - quite fittingly - their toughest test left ahead of them in the Seahawks, which leads me to.....

3. The 49ers' defense played their best game possible, but Colin Kaepernick did them in.  Some pathetically awful non-calls by the referees didn't help, but Kaepernick's two interceptions proved to be the deciding factor.  He still did everything he could to keep the 49ers in the game, but a team's quarterback being their leading rusher doesn't typically translate to a win.  It's difficult to give Kaepernick the Goat of the Week Award, considering he singlehandedly kept the 49ers in the game, but his lost fumble led to a Seahawks field goal, and one of his picks also allowed the Seahawks to take the lead for good in the game.

. I have no problem with Richard Sherman's postgame interview.  I've read plenty of articles online calling Sherman classless (and worse) for his trash-talk when Erin Andrews had asked him for his thoughts as soon as the game had ended.  I don't see the big deal.  His comments were 1.) in complete response to what 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree had said to him earlier in the day; 2.) no worse than Terrell Suggs' trash talk after last year's AFC title game when Suggs had said, "Have fun at the Pro Bowl, Patriots!"; and 3.) the kind of honest answer that any sports journalist actually wants from a player or coach.  The media will readily mock the likes of Bill Belichick for not being very forthcoming with information or emotion, so why get on Richard Sherman for being openly emotional?

5. I still think having the Super Bowl being exposed to potential winter weather elements is a mistake.  I'm a nobody who only writes his blog for fun, so my thoughts are only going to fall on deaf ears here, but I have said all along that putting the Super Bowl in a cold weather city is a terrible idea.  The issue would have been magnified had warm weather or dome teams like San Diego or New Orleans gotten this far, but that doesn't ignore the potential elephant in the room.  The game itself could well be affected if there is snow or freezing rain throughout the game, but that doesn't even take into account the possibility of traveling fans being impacted as well.  It also ignores the chances of touring the city being limited if there is snow and/or ice on the ground.  The bottom line is this experiment will either be a massive success or a total disaster; there isn't much chance for in-between.

See you in two weeks, kids.

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