Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Final Four

Who says there's parity in the NFL?  Three out of the four participants in last years conference championships return this season for the rights to go to the Super Bowl.  The 49ers and Patriots will each host their respective conference championship games for the second consecutive year.  The Baltimore Ravens will visit Gillette Stadium in back to back seasons now reaching their 3rd AFC title game in the past 5 seasons.  The other team in the final four are the top seeded Atlanta Falcons who posted the NFL's best record in 2012.  Parity.....yea right!


Regardless whether or not you care about an even playing field and seeing different teams and faces in the Super Bowl, we are in for some great football next weekend.  But this weekend was one for the ages.  Two games came down to the final seconds and the other two saw dominant teams have dominant performances.

Colin Kaepernick set an NFL record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 181 while leading the 49ers to 45 points in their win over the Green Bay Packers.  We were treated to a double overtime thriller in Denver where we saw the living legend Ray Lewis continue his farewell tour.  The Falcons and Seahawks went back and forth with just seconds left in the final period where Matt Ryan finally broke the ice and won his first playoff game.  Oh by the way so did Tony Gonzalez, perhaps the greatest Tight End of all time.  What more can you ask for heading into to Championship Sunday!

So will we see Ray the Raven Lewis ride off into the sunset with the Super Bowl Trophy?  Will Tom Brady tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only QB's with 4 rings?  Can the Atlanta Falcons get the first title in franchise history or will the 49ers get their record tying 6th championship?  Perhaps will have a "Harbowl" between brothers John and Jim.  All great questions with the answers only weeks away.We'll have a much better idea next Sunday when the Niners travel across the country to battle the high flying Falcons and the Ravens head into Foxborough for their rematch with the Patriots.  Man, don't you just love football!

3 comments:

  1. I love football. I just blogged about the same topic as well. My pick the win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year, the Ravens are still alive!

    Great weekend!

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  2. My SB pick was a bust (Cowboys vs Steelers). When the playoffs started I picked the Falcons vs Patriots so that's alive but I truly feel like the 49ers will beat Atlanta on Sunday. They look unstoppable right now. I'm hoping for a Harbowl!

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    Replies
    1. I hoped for last year, and I am leaning towards that this year, but I will need to study some more footage of the 49ers and Falcons, and then think about my prediction for the next 3 to 4 days.

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