NFC Championship Afterword: Falcons vs 49ers

Frank Gore was very effective once San Francisco's read-option got going
and Atlanta could not stop him. Photo credit to The Arizona Daily Star.

It always seems to be the same story with these Falcons: get out to an early lead, turn ultra conservative, and trust Matt Ryan and/or Matt Bryant to pull off the win after you give up the lead.

Yesterday followed that script to a T. The biggest difference was that Matt Ryan was slammed during their final drive and hurt something in his left chest or shoulder. It wasn’t his throwing arm, but it seemed to be bothering him pretty severely. He couldn’t open up to put much behind his throws, which may have led him to panic on a 4^th down play inside the red zone. I think it also was the reason for the bizarre play call not to throw up a Hail Mary into the end zone and instead throw over the middle to Julio Jones and pray he could do something as time expired.

The better team won. The Falcons deserved to win for about 40 minutes of that game, but conservative offense and prevent defense betrayed them. Colin Kaepernick took full advantage as the Falcons lack of aggressiveness on defense completely nullified any effects of a very loud home crowd.

Once Kaepernick was able to make some plays throwing the ball down the field, it opened things up for the read-option and the Falcons were doomed. Frank Gore ran for 90 yards and a couple of scores, mostly out of the read-option. LaMichael James added another 34 yards on the ground with a score of his own out of the same set.

Neither Jacquizz Rodgers nor Michael Turner reached James’s rushing yards mark in the game.

As I expected, Julio Jones and Roddy White were just too much for the 49ers’ secondary to handle. They are very physical, and Jones in particular made some pretty impressive catches. They also have more speed than a lot of defenses are aware of. When you throw Tony Gonzalez into that mix, this is probably the best receiving corps in football, followed closely by teams like Baltimore and New Orleans.

For Atlanta, their season ends in disappointment, but they finally won a playoff game with Matt Ryan under center. If Atlanta can remain competitive in the NFC South, there will be plenty more over the next several years. One of the biggest hurdles facing them will be replacing Tony Gonzalez if he does in fact retire. Yesterday he said their loss to San Francisco was “probably” his last game. “I’ve been very blessed. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great ride, an unbelievable ride. I have no regrets,” he said.

San Francisco, meanwhile, advances to their franchise’s sixth Super Bowl. They are 5-0, putting them one short of Pittsburgh’s record for most Super Bowl victories. They will play as the home team in New Orleans on February 3.

Check back with my blog daily over the next two weeks, especially next week when the focus will be fully on Super Bowl XLVII. For updates on when new blog posts are published, ‘like’ my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl.

Divisional Round Afterword: 49ers vs Packers

Colin Kaepernick threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his
NFL postseason debut, leading San Francisco to a 45-31 victory over
Green Bay. Photo credit to CBS News.

Colin Kaepernick had nearly identical passing numbers as Aaron Rodgers despite attempting and completing fewer passes. The difference was Kaepernick’s record-setting day on the ground. While Aaron Rodgers carried the ball three times for 28 yards, Kaepernick ran 16 times for an NFL record 181 yards. He broke Michael Vick’s record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a postseason game during the third quarter. By the final gun, he had broken Vick’s overall single-game record.

So Colin had a terrific game, but that wasn’t it for San Francisco’s offense. Frank Gore added 119 yards on the ground and a pair of receptions for 48 yards. In all, the 49ers gained 579 offensive yards, 323 of them on the ground.

The 49ers also possessed the ball for 16 more minutes than the Packers, so Green Bay’s defense was exhausted in the second half, explaining how a 24-21 halftime lead for San Francisco turned into a 45-24 lead until Green Bay scored a garbage-time touchdown with 67 seconds left.

Kaepernick showed terrific poise in the game. Two minutes in, he tried to hit Vernon Davis to the left but Sam Shields picked it off and took it 52 yards to the house. After that, Kaepernick led San Francisco on back-to-back nine-play drives, the first of which resulted in a touchdown.

For Green Bay, it was a painful reminder of their Week 1 loss to this very team. Alex Smith started that early-season matchup, but it apparently didn’t matter which quarterback started for the 49ers.

San Francisco will play in the NFC Championship for the second consecutive season. Last year they lost at home to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. They will play in Atlanta this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. for a second chance to advance to the Super Bowl for the sixth time in franchise history.

Divisional Round Preview: 49ers vs Packers

Game 2:

Saturday, January 12, 2013

8:00pm – FOX

Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers

Since Kaepernick took over as starting QB in San Francisco, Randy Moss (84)
and Michael Crabtree have enjoyed advanced roles in the 49ers' offense.
Photo credit to Bleacher Report.

When I started digging deep into this matchup to come up with a prediction, I had to fight the urge to go back and look at Week 1. These are two completely different teams than they were at that time. The 49ers have a new starting quarterback and the Packers are suffering through their annual late-season injury onslaught.

I also had to avoid using last year’s playoff matchup between San Francisco and New Orleans as a basis for predicting a shootout. It has the feel of a similar matchup, but San Francisco with Colin Kaepernick is very different than with Alex Smith, and Green Bay is different than New Orleans for obvious reasons.

I’m predicting a mostly one-sided affair. The Packers will put up some points, but Colin Kaepernick has played his best games this season on the biggest stages – against Chicago on a Monday night, in New Orleans in a Sunday early evening matchup, and of course in New England on a Sunday night.

Between Kaepernick and Frank Gore – the only running back not named Adrian Peterson who topped 100 rushing yards against the Packers this season – Green Bay’s defense will likely get torched.

I’m not ready to assume Green Bay’s newfound ground attack will be available Saturday night, especially given San Francisco’s run defense. In fact, San Francisco’s defense, overall, will be very difficult for even Aaron Rodgers to pick apart.

Aldon Smith will finally have his setup man, Justin Smith, back on the line. Justin allows Aldon to get free rushing the passer and his absence has resulted in decreased production on the line from Aldon.

In my preview for the San Francisco/New Orleans game last year, I said it had the makings of an ‘Instant Classic.’ I’m not getting that vibe in this matchup.

Puff’s Pick:

Green Bay Packers – 14

San Francisco 49ers – 37

MVP: Frank Gore