NFL: Championship Weekend Picks

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I stand beside my remark from last week, "these are some of the toughest games to predict all season!" I only went 2/4 on the Divisional picks, as the Falcons beat the Seahawks in the dying seconds and the Ravens upset the #1 seeded Broncos. It was unbelievable that Seattle couldn't stop "Matty Ice" and the Falcons after a Marshawn Lynch TD with only 31 seconds left on the clock. Furthermore, I was shocked at how the Ravens kept pace with the Broncos score for score. Needless to say, the unpredictability of the NFL is staying true to form throughout these playoffs. Don't get me wrong, Atlanta and Baltimore are great teams, I just did not envision them making it to their respective Conference title games. I have slumped on some picks in the last couple weeks but this week will be a different story. Here are That's Sports' Championship Weekend Picks...


San Francisco 49ers* over Atlanta Falcons (Sunday, 3:00pmEST on FOX)
New England Patriots over Baltimore Ravens (Sunday, 6:30pmEST on CBS)
* indicates road team

I said way back in Week 1 that the Superbowl matchup would be the San Francisco 49ers versus the New England Patriots. I stand behind that prediction now.

New England will be without Rob Gronkowski, which is a big loss. One alarming stat regarding #87 is that when Gronk is on the field this season, Tom Brady has a 23:3 touchdown to interception ratio, and when he's off the field, the ratio drops to 11:6. Having said this, the Pats still have plenty of weapons for Brady and can still effectively move the ball down the field. New England will take care of the Ravens at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Championship for the second consecutive season. If Brady and the Pats get it done on Sunday, Brady will head to New Orleans for his sixth Superbowl appearance (an NFL record).

San Francisco will continue to rely on Colin Kaepernick's legs (181 rushing yards last week) and his strong arm. Those 181 rushing yards against Green Bay were a QB playoff record. The 49ers have many weapons (much like the Patriots) with the likes of Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, and Frank Gore. The Atlanta Falcons have their share of weapons for Matt Ryan in Roddy White, Julio Jones, and veteran TE, Tony Gonzalez. That being said, the 49ers defense is ranked 3rd in the league compared to the Falcons' 23rd ranked defense, which will give San Fran the edge they need to win on Sunday and punch their ticket to the Superbowl.


Enjoy the games, folks!

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