2012-13 NFL Postseason Thread

[pellegrino]

Perfect in the NFC. Missed on Baltimore in the first round, and it's screwed me up since.

That said, hopefully it continues to disrupt my pick.

Like I said. Don't underestimate the RAYvens!

[UtahDan]

Like I said. Don't underestimate the RAYvens!

They just keep winning. I like them.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I'll be making my Super Bowl prediction some time next week. If you had to ask me right now, I'd say the Ravens. The Ravens have been one of the top 3-4 best drafting teams in the NFL ever since Ozzie Newsome came on. The problem has always been getting someone at QB.

Flacco is a variation of Eli Manning in the AFC. He comes up big in big games but in a different way. He's one of the very best long ball throwers in the league and he's not sitting there pulling plays out his ass (Eli Manning to David Tyree). Although Rahim Moore committed one of the all time bonehead plays, Flacco still put the ball in a spot where it could be caught during a desperate part of that game. How often is that ball thrown where the receiver has no possibility of catching it?

The Ravens are loaded on offense. Dickson and Pitta are both respectable TEs -- and Pitta appears to be turning into a pretty good TE. Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones and Anquan Boldin complement each other perfectly. Then they have Ray Rice and that second RB looks pretty good as well. Their offensive line has been shaky at times but appears to have solidified in the playoffs.

On defense, the front 7 looks pretty good while the secondary can hit (at least the safeties do) but don't cover especially well. The Ravens were enormously aided in Denver by unseasonably cold weather -- if that's a normal afternoon in Denver, the Ravens don't win that game because Manning would have picked apart that secondary like he did a month earlier. Bad conditions are more common in Foxborough, but I thought the Ravens were going to win that game regardless of the conditions. Although the Pats obviously have a pass-oriented offense, it's one that picks apart linebackers, not secondaries. The Ravens have athletes at linebacker, DE, and safety that will beat up on undersized or unathletic skill players. Well, guess what the Pats have in their offense -- midgets Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and Deion Branch and slight of frame Aaron Hernandez (although his profile says he's 245 lbs, he sure doesn't look like it). Gronkowski would maybe made a difference in this game. I saw the Niners push around the Pats for 40 minutes of that regular season game and I saw much more complete thrashing by the Ravens.

As for the Super Bowl, I see reasons why the Niners might win and reasons why the Ravens might win. I think Kaepernick is going to be able to pass on the Ravens at will. I think Jim Caldwell is also a questionable play caller for the Ravens. The 49ers safeties at times have had problems covering long pass plays (the Ravens' safeties aren't great at this either), that certainly came to pass yesterday. Dashon Goldson being selected as an all-pro is lol funny. Ever since the Pats' game, the 49ers don't seem to have the same pass rush. The obvious answer to that is Justin Smith still isn't 100%, but I think another partial answer is that the Niners don't substitute in players on the d-line/OLB anywhere near as much as other teams. I think Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald are just tired. Part of that is Parys Harrolson (their other pass rushing OLB) got hurt in the pre-season and they literally don't appear to have anyone that can substitute in for Aldon Smith/Ahmad Brooks. The other part is they never really had anyone to come in for McDonald or Justin Smith besides Jean-Francois who's a somewhat marginal player. The Super Bowl bye will be more beneficial to the 49ers than the Ravens simply because it gives another 2 weeks to Justin Smith to heal and gives Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks a breather.

[Donuthole]

I'll be making my Super Bowl prediction some time next week. If you had to ask me right now, I'd say the Ravens. The Ravens have been one of the top 3-4 best drafting teams in the NFL ever since Ozzie Newsome came on. The problem has always been getting someone at QB.

Flacco is a variation of Eli Manning in the AFC. He comes up big in big games but in a different way. He's one of the very best long ball throwers in the league and he's not sitting there pulling plays out his ass (Eli Manning to David Tyree). Although Rahim Moore committed one of the all time bonehead plays, Flacco still put the ball in a spot where it could be caught during a desperate part of that game. How often is that ball thrown where the receiver has no possibility of catching it?

The Ravens are loaded on offense. Dickson and Pitta are both respectable TEs -- and Pitta appears to be turning into a pretty good TE. Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones and Anquan Boldin complement each other perfectly. Then they have Ray Rice and that second RB looks pretty good as well. Their offensive line has been shaky at times but appears to have solidified in the playoffs.

On defense, the front 7 looks pretty good while the secondary can hit (at least the safeties do) but don't cover especially well. The Ravens were enormously aided in Denver by unseasonably cold weather -- if that's a normal afternoon in Denver, the Ravens don't win that game because Manning would have picked apart that secondary like he did a month earlier. Bad conditions are more common in Foxborough, but I thought the Ravens were going to win that game regardless of the conditions. Although the Pats obviously have a pass-oriented offense, it's one that picks apart linebackers, not secondaries. The Ravens have athletes at linebacker, DE, and safety that will beat up on undersized or unathletic skill players. Well, guess what the Pats have in their offense -- midgets Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker and Deion Branch and slight of frame Aaron Hernandez (although his profile says he's 245 lbs, he sure doesn't look like it). Gronkowski would maybe made a difference in this game. I saw the Niners push around the Pats for 40 minutes of that regular season game and I saw much more complete thrashing by the Ravens.

As for the Super Bowl, I see reasons why the Niners might win and reasons why the Ravens might win. I think Kaepernick is going to be able to pass on the Ravens at will. I think Jim Caldwell is also a questionable play caller for the Ravens. The 49ers safeties at times have had problems covering long pass plays (the Ravens' safeties aren't great at this either), that certainly came to pass yesterday. Dashon Goldson being selected as an all-pro is lol funny. Ever since the Pats' game, the 49ers don't seem to have the same pass rush. The obvious answer to that is Justin Smith still isn't 100%, but I think another partial answer is that the Niners don't substitute in players on the d-line/OLB anywhere near as much as other teams. I think Aldon Smith, Justin Smith and Ray McDonald are just tired. Part of that is Parys Harrolson (their other pass rushing OLB) got hurt in the pre-season and they literally don't appear to have anyone that can substitute in for Aldon Smith/Ahmad Brooks. The other part is they never really had anyone to come in for McDonald or Justin Smith besides Jean-Francois who's a somewhat marginal player. The Super Bowl bye will be more beneficial to the 49ers than the Ravens simply because it gives another 2 weeks to Justin Smith to heal and gives Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks a breather.

Doesn't it also give Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs another two weeks to heal, as well?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Doesn't it also give Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs another two weeks to heal, as well?

Ray Lewis has a similar injury but he's not nearly as important as Justin Smith. And some people would say at this point in his career that the more Ray Lewis plays, the better it is for the opposing team although the past two playoff games haven't really validated that theory.

As for Terrell Suggs, he came back from his injury all the way back in October. I'm not sure more healing is as much of an issue three months after his return as opposed to Justin Smith who suffered the injury a month ago.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I'm glad that I didn't watch the Falcons game yesterday and avoided the game completely until it was over.

It is unfortunate that we cannot fire Mike Smith. One near epic choke job in the playoffs followed by an epic choke job. No way you should lose a game if you have a 17 point lead at home.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Sigh, I can't disagree with any of this.

The Falcons should be furious about this one. It was their best chance yet to get to the franchise's first Super Bowl since the 1998 season.

Instead, they squandered a 13-3 season and the benefit of a No. 1 seed for the second time in three seasons.

For all the good the Falcons did this season (and they did at least get a playoff win against Seattle last week), they’re right back where they were at the start of the season. And the start of the season before that.

Go ahead and fire away with the same old questions and criticisms.

Smith is too nice to win the big ones. Ryan can win in the regular season, but not when it matters most.

It’s all valid. In fact, now the Falcons have firmly earned the right to be questioned and criticized from now until the day they win a Super Bowl -- if they ever do.

Put the blame on the coaches, and put the blame on Ryan. The Falcons scored 24 points in the first half and precisely zero in the second half. Ryan fumbled away a snap out of the shotgun formation and threw an interception. A team that prides itself on not making mistakes made plenty of them. There were the two personal fouls and repeated breakdowns on defense.

But let's forget the individual breakdowns for now. It’s time to start wondering if there’s a more systemic issue with the Falcons. Is there some inherent flaw with this personnel, with this coaching staff and with the way the Falcons do things?

They had everything: a ton of talent, an incredibly loud home crowd and a big early lead.

Yet the Falcons have squandered yet another postseason opportunity. After all the talk about how -- this time -- this team was really, truly different, it turns out the Falcons are nothing but the same old Falcons.

[CardiacCoug]

Sigh, I can't disagree with any of this.

As a FJM diehard I'm sure you're not questioning Matt Ryan's "clutchness" though, right?

I liked this Grantland piece about what Brady's career would look like in reverse:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-championships

We have 15 games over seven seasons saying that Tom Brady's a playoff flop, and that information means absolutely nothing in determining how Tom Brady would play in the future. Looking at the games under the proper chronological order says just as much: We had nine games suggesting that Tom Brady was unstoppable in the playoffs, and afterward, we've had 15 games implying that he's actually just like any other good quarterback in the postseason. That he's "been there before" means nothing, just like it did in 2001, when Brady made it to the Super Bowl and won it without having been there before. He's still capable of screwing up and making mistakes, as Sunday showed. He's also still capable of being great and winning a Super Bowl. The truth isn't quite as satisfying as a one-word label like "clutch" or "unclutch," but football's a lot more complicated than one-word labels. It deserves better, and just as the likes of Manning and Ryan are demeaned with overly simplistic stories about their playoff performance, so is Brady.

[The_Douger]

Ryan played a flawless first half.

His second half was poor, but he still had them in a position to win.

[pellegrino]

I just want to say that good Mormons should pull for the Ravens in this one.

[oxcoug]

I just want to say that good Mormons should pull for the Ravens in this one.

Good Mormons should stand w/ the NFL home of Bill Ring, Tom Holmoe, Todd Shell and Steve Young.

[BigPiney]

Good Mormons should stand w/ the NFL home of Bill Ring, Tom Holmoe, Todd Shell and Steve Young.

[pellegrino]

Good Mormons should stand w/ the NFL home of Bill Ring, Tom Holmoe, Todd Shell and Steve Young.

dunno, I think ETB disagrees with you.

http://www.lds.org/liahona/1981/06/f...ophet?lang=eng

[. . .]
Third: The living prophet active player is more important to us than a dead prophet retired hero.

[. . .]

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Obviously I'm a big fan of this Ray Lewis PED story. There's not enough time to suspend Ray Lewis, there's just an allegation from one sketchy dude. But it serves as a huge distraction that undermines this holy righteousness (to play for the guy who stood trial for murder) that seems to have guided the Ravens. Suspending Ray Lewis would probably just piss off the Ravens and perhaps make them play harder. This thing helps the Niners I think.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I don't know who to cheer for in this game.

I don't want Ray Lewis to win a championship. Other than that I have no real problem with the Ravens.

I also don't want the 49ers to win after benching Alex Smith and have to listen to the annoying type of BYU fans that will bash on Smith. Falcons were going to choke just fine with either Smith or Kaepernick at QB.

I think at the end of the day, I'm going to have to go with the Ravens. I think the ideal situation is that Ray Lewis learns from Eugene Robinson and gets caught soliciting a prostitute the night before, doesn't play, and the Ravens win the game. I think that would be perfect.