Sunday, January 20, 2013
3:00pm – FOX
San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons
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| The 49ers return for a second straight year as they tie Dallas for the most NFC Championship Game appearances, with 14. This is Atlanta's third appearance and their first since January 2005. |
I did not have an easy time coming up with my predictions
for either of Sunday’s games, but this one was definitely the tougher of the
two.
San Francisco, of course, has had a fantastic season. Alex
Smith played great football early in the season, and when Colin Kaepernick took
over, he impressed right away. As bad as I feel for Smith, Kaepernick earned
the right to continue starting for the 49ers and he has continued to play great
in big games.
Not only has Kaepernick shown an ability to win big games,
he’s shown that he can do it regardless of the venue. The Georgia Dome,
however, may be the loudest venue in the NFL – no offense to the Superdome or
to CenturyLink Field.
I think being at home played a fairly significant role in
Kaepernick overcoming an early pick-6 and leading San Francisco to victory last
week. I’m not ready to bet on him having as big of a game against Atlanta.
The Falcons have been wanting for a postseason win for
several years now, and they finally got one by holding off the Seahawks last
week. I think Matt Ryan will benefit a great deal from that confidence boost.
The 49ers dealt with Green Bay’s massive receiving corps
quite nicely. They likely won’t get beat too badly by Roddy White or Julio
Jones, but I don’t know that they can compete with White and Jones on a
physical level.
The one thing that makes me real nervous about this pick is
the questionable status of John Abraham, who was severely limited against
Seattle with an ankle injury and might not be active at all tomorrow.
Still, I think the home field advantage, a confident Matt
Ryan and a defense that is much better than Green Bay’s will be enough to send
Atlanta to their franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.
Puff’s Pick:
San Francisco 49ers – 20
Atlanta Falcons – 31
Follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl and on my Puff on the NFL Facebook Page.
Nice. Blog. I'll bite. Seen ya on the NFL comment boards.I will have to agree home field, but also Atlanta's defense has to protect the running lanes to control Kaepernick. Let him beat ya passing down field instead running for crucial yardage. I believe the Falcons will be the best team prepared for this.
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