The pretenders are gone. Three of the top four seeds remain, one game away from Super Bowl XLVI. No wild cards. No long-shot stories this year.
Baltimore visits New England in Sunday’s AFC Championship, while San Francisco hosts the New York Giants in the NFC final. Some expected Green Bay and New Orleans to reach the NFC title game, but defense still means something in the playoffs, and neither played any.
It may be a quarterbacks’ league, with Tom Brady throwing six touchdowns and Eli Manning and Alex Smith each tossing three over the weekend, but defense decided three games. Baltimore smothered Houston in its 20-13 victory on Sunday, while New York upset Green Bay via four turnovers. And while San Francisco barely beat New Orleans 36-32, the 49ers hit like sledgehammers.
This is white-knuckle football. The Harbaugh family must have been backyard warriors because coaches John (Baltimore) and Jim (San Francisco) are one game away from meeting in the Super Bowl.
It’s the time of legends — Tom Brady, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are all Pro Football Hall of Fame bound — and playmakers — Vernon Davis, Hakeem Nicks and Rob Gronkowski. Playoff excitement is what makes winter bearable.
New England is an early 6?-point favorite over Baltimore on Sunday because nobody stops Brady. He threw five touchdown passes in the first half vs. Denver. Two were laser beams and one a gorgeous bomb.
So much for a duel with Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Brady could have hung 70 on the Broncos if the mercy rule wasn’t invoked in the 45-10 victory on Saturday. At age 34 and running out of chances, Brady is sniffing his fourth title, which would tie Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw.
Baltimore’s third-ranked defense is menacing even if Reed is hurt; he was helped off the field late against Houston. Four takeaways were the difference against the Texans.
Still, New England seems like the smart play over visiting Baltimore.
San Francisco-New York is no easier to choose; the 49ers open as 2-point choices.
The 49ers were thought to be phonies even though they won the NFC West easily at 13-3. Too many close victories. Yet San Francisco’s defense delivered repeated bone-rattling hits until the fourth quarter, which saw 34 combined points.
It’s fun to see the 49ers return to the postseason after eight years away. The team that dueled Washington for the supremacy of the 1980s hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2002.
The Giants seemed like the weakest division winner, taking the NFC East at 9-7. But New York has played its best over the past month. While lacking the pizzazz of the defending Super Bowl champion Packers, the Giants are no postseason newcomers. Their defense and quarterback Eli Manning may send New York to its second Super Bowl in five years.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
