Eric Meyer
It’s Championship Sunday and I can proudly say that I called
it! My preseason prediction was that San Francisco, the 5 seed, would travel to
Seattle, the 1 seed, and that New England as a 2 seed would travel to
top-seeded Denver.
In the preseason, I predicted that the Patriots and 49ers
would pull the upsets and meet in the Super Bowl. Now? Well, you can read and
find out whether I’m sticking to those August predictions.
New England Patriots
at Denver Broncos
Brady and Manning. Manning and Brady. You could go back and
forth all day like a Bugs and Daffy cartoon. The NFL’s greatest quarterbacks of
this generation will square off for the fifteenth time, with Brady’s team
winning ten out of the previous fourteen matchups. But I’m not going to talk
about who’s better, because ultimately it’ll come down to who has the better
team, not the better quarterback.
The key to this game for me is New England’s rushing attack.
Denver was able to shut down San Diego’s running backs last week, but Ryan
Mathews was hurt and the Patriots have LeGarrette Blount, Stevan Ridley and
Shane Vereen all healthy and ready to go. Denver has their own reliable rushing
attack, but their offense very clearly runs through Manning, and if New England
can get stops on him they’ll be in the driver’s seat.
It sounds strange to say, but Denver must make Brady beat
them. Brady’s passing attack this year has been slowed by countless injuries
and maybe a few murders. While I wouldn’t count out Tom Brady in any game with
any group of players, I also know that Denver cannot let him become a
complimentary piece to the offense.
Brady is the best I’ve ever seen in the “game manager” role.
He won’t make mistakes and he’ll make all the plays necessary on third downs to
keep the chains moving. If the running game is working, that will be more than
enough. If not, he’ll have to match Manning point for point. That would be okay
if Brady had some high-quality receivers, but he doesn’t and Manning does,
which means that getting into a passing show would be a dubious proposition at
best.
Expect another classic, but I think New England will get the
running game going and advance to their 6th Super Bowl this century.
Eric’s Pick: Patriots
beat Broncos, 34-27.
San Francisco 49ers at
Seattle Seahawks
It’s the rubber match! In what is turning out to be the best
rivalry in the NFL right now, the 49ers and Seahawks will meet again after
splitting their two regular season matchups. Seattle blew out San Francisco in
Week 2, but San Francisco got its revenge at home by edging Seattle in Week 14.
Can San Francisco get over the hump and exorcise their CenturyLink Field
demons?
No, they cannot. I can understand why people give the 49ers
a shot in this game. They play great defense and Colin Kaepernick is showing to
be a pretty good playoff performer. What I don’t understand is why the spread
is only 3.5 points in favor of the Seahawks and why so many people think San
Francisco will win this game.
Seattle has absolutely dominated San Francisco at home the
previous two games they have played, and if you don’t think that the 12th
Man will be as raucous as ever in the most important home game in franchise
history, you’re crazy.
Seattle has the formula against San Francisco. Regardless of
their struggles in the passing game, Seattle can still put up points by forcing
turnovers, relying on Beast Mode, and letting Russell Wilson make plays with
his legs. The defense is a dominant unit and they will shut down all of the
49ers’ receiving weapons, including Vernon Davis. This is the best defense in
the league without a shadow of a doubt, and they’ll show it on Sunday. I think
this game ends in a romp.
Eric’s Pick: Seahawks
beat 49ers, 34-10.
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