With four teams left, the Championship round gave us two thrillers. Both games went back-and-forth throughout and if not for Billy Cundiff’s rushed field goal attempt both should have gone to overtime. The Patriots and Giants will battle out for the Lombardi trophy and it sets up a tantalizing rematch of Superbowl 42. Let’s get to this week’s action!
New England Patriots 23 defeated Baltimore Ravens 20
The AFC playoffs followed the script and left us with seeds 1 and 2 to fighting for the AFC’s spot in the Super Bowl. It was billed as a clash of two opposites: the New England Patriots and their explosive offense against the Baltimore Ravens and their tough defense.
The Patriots, fired up by their home crowd, came out with a lot of energy on defense in the first quarter and forced a couple of three-and-outs quickly as Joe Flacco struggled with the pass rush. The Ravens defense limited the damage to a Patriots’ field goal and then gave their offense the ball in good field position after intercepting Tom Brady. The game broke open in the second quarter as both offenses scored touchdowns. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran hard for the Patriots and was rewarded with a touchdown as the Patriots headed into the break up by 3.
New England continued to make mistakes on offense in the third quarter and surrendered the lead on a Torrey Smith touchdown in the third quarter. The Patriots continued to trail going into the final quarter before Tom Brady scored an acrobatic touchdown on fourth and goal to give the Patriots the lead for good. The Ravens had a simple 32 yard field goal attempt in the final 15 seconds, but kicker Billy Cundiff hooked the kick wide as the Patriots were crowned AFC Champions.
New York Giants 20 defeated San Francisco 49ers 17 (OT)
In the NFC, both sides entered the game on the back of upset victories. The New York Giants upset the top seeded Green Bay Packers and the 49ers knocked off the explosive New Orleans Saints. New York hoped to set up a rematch of Superbowl 42 while the 49ers hoped to return to the Superbowl for the first time since the 1994 season.
In cold and wet conditions, the 49ers made the first strike when Alex Smith hooked up with Vernon Davis for a 70 yard touchdown. New York replied with a touchdown by Bear Pascoe and field goal by Lawrence Tynes in the final minute of the second quarter to lead by 3 going into halftime.
San Francisco were again the first side to trouble the scorers in the second half and it mirrored the first quarter when Davis hauled in his second touchdown of the match to move the 49ers ahead by 4. New York received a gift from Kyle Williams when he allowed a punt to brush his knee and be recovered by the Giants’ Devin Thomas which was converted into another touchdown.
David Akers tied the game at 17 with 5 minutes to go and the game went to overtime. Neither offense got much going in overtime, but Kyle Williams again muffed a punt which gave the Giants perfect field position for Lawrence Tynes to kick the winning field goal.
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