Brother v. Brother…Ray v. Retirement…Kaepernick v. History
Those are just three of the storylines for this year’s big
game. Baltimore
and San Francisco , our two finalists for this
year’s trophy, traveled different roads to New Orleans .
San Francisco
was considered one of the league’s better teams throughout the season,
finishing as the NFC’s #2 seed with twelve wins. Baltimore ,
on the other hand, sputtered through a 1-4 finish to the regular season and
looked like a possible first round upset victim. Not so fast.
While San Francisco overcame an early
seventeen point road deficit to drop the Falcons, Baltimore pulled off its second straight
sizeable upset in dropping the Patriots in Foxboro.
So here we are with just one game remaining in the 2012-2013
NFL season, and both of these teams can thank their quarterback for that. Joe Flacco has played excellent football this
postseason, throwing eight touchdowns without an interception in three
games. He’s had his inconsistencies this
season, but Flacco has become one of the better postseason passers in the
league. Then there’s Colin Kaepernick.
The Niners second year quarterback took over for a concussed Alex Smith
in November and has exceeded any and all expectations in going 7-2 as a starter
and spearheading the dual threat quarterback movement.
Flacco throws the deep ball better than anyone in football,
as Rahim Moore witnessed a couple of weeks ago. The guy is playing with such confidence
right now, and it’s showing. After
pulling off the Mile High Miracle, he came back the next week and once again
outplayed Tom Brady in a head-to-head matchup.
Not only is his play a huge reason the Ravens are still alive, but
Flacco has earned himself a few more dollars in upcoming offseason contract
talks with his recent performance.
Kaepernick continues to break new ground. After dominating the Packers and setting a
new single game rushing record for a quarterback, he showed the poise of a
veteran two weeks ago, rallying from that early deficit in a raucous Georgia
Dome to win on the road. What was most
impressive to me about that victory was how he didn’t call his own number until
late in the second quarter. A week after
running through the Packers, he focused on winning the game from the pocket,
and he did it without turning the ball over.
As much talk as these two quarterbacks are getting, the
defenses are just as dangerous. The
Niners were the better defense for the regular season, but I really haven’t
seen much separating them this postseason.
The Ravens are simply clicking at the right time and are getting the
most from soon-to-be-retired Ray Lewis.
With all due respect to Ray, if he hadn’t sustained the injury earlier
in the season and spent a great deal of time on the sidelines resting his body
while getting healthy, I really don’t think he’s playing at this level this
late in the season. That doesn’t matter
though. What matters is that they’ve
advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2001. Speaking of getting healthy, last year’s DPOY
Terrell Suggs looks to be just now getting back to form after missing a large
part of the year with his Achilles injury.
He’s the dominant pass rushing presence you need to win games of this
magnitude. Throw in guys like Paul
Kruger, Corey Graham, Cary Williams, and Dannell Ellerbe stepping up as go-to
players, and it’s easy to see why the Ravens are rolling.
When talking about San
Francisco ’s defensive unit, you’ve got to start with
the two inside linebackers – Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman. These guys are probably #1 and #2 in the game
at the position and give the Niners a size, speed, and power combination that
gives opposing offenses nightmares. Flanking
them are two pass rushing standouts – Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks. While those two combined for 26 sacks during
the regular season, neither recorded either of the two sacks the Niners have in
their two playoff games. Aldon still
hasn’t recorded a sack since Justin Smith sustained his triceps injury, and it
should be worth noting that they only got to Aaron Rodgers once after the
Packers passer was sacked 51 times during the regular season.
Here’s how I see the matchups playing out –
Ravens run offense v. 49ers run defense
Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce have thrived thus far this
postseason in the run game. They
combined for 170 yards against the Colts, 155 against the Broncos, and 121
against the Patriots at nearly 5 yards per carry. The Ravens weren’t breaking new ground by
gashing the Colts, but the Broncos and Patriots were 3rd and 9th
respectively against the run. San Francisco ranks 4th but hasn’t been tested
yet having faced the 22nd (Green Bay )
and 29th (Atlanta Baltimore Seattle and Minnesota
I like this matchup for the Ravens. I expect them to run the ball up the middle
quite a bit, attack NT Isaac Sopoaga, and be as physical as possible with the
Niners defensive front. They’ll hit the
edges too, especially with Rice, against a defense that really fell off late in
the year on run plays outside the tackle box.
I saw a stat that they’ve given up 5.5 yards per carry on outside runs
since week 15. Vonta Leach’s role in
this one cannot be understated. He’s
arguably the best lead blocker in the game and will give the Niners another
physical presence to deal with. Again,
Willis and Bowman are the best at their positions, but they won’t stop this powerful
rushing attack on their own. I expect to
see them making more tackles at their level rather than in the Ravens
backfield. If that happens, the run game
is doing its job, and Flacco will have even more space to operate in the Niners
secondary.
Advantage – Ravens
Ravens pass offense v. 49ers pass defense
As ferocious as the Niners defense has been, they’ve been
thrown on quite a bit lately. Rodgers
and Matt Ryan combined for 653 yards passing against the Niners in the last two
games, and Julio Jones owned San Fran’s secondary, catching 11 passes for 182
yards and two scores. They’ve been
getting beat deep which isn’t a good thing coming in against Flacco’s deep ball
and Torrey Smith’s ability to outrun secondaries. Dashon Goldson and Donte Whitner can swap
paint with the best of them, but you’ve got to catch Smith before you can hit
him. I’m not in any way trying to
compare Smith, Anquan Boldin, Jacoby Jones, and Dennis Pitta to Atlanta
The Ravens actually surrendered less sacks than the Niners
this year (38 v. 41) and have only allowed four sacks in three postseason
games. They’ve done a good job of
protecting their passer, especially of late.
I mentioned earlier how ordinary the Niners pass rush has been of late, and
Justin Smith remains the key here. That
arm isn’t healing without surgery, so he’ll do his best to eat up blockers and
free up Aldon to get after Flacco. I
just don’t think it will be enough.
They’ll need Brooks to have a big game against Oher and keep Flacco from
having time to make plays downfield.
I think a huge key here is how well the Ravens are operating
at all three levels in the passing game.
Ray Rice is one of the best receivers out of the backfield in the short
game, Anquan and Pitta are solid in the intermediate zone, and there aren’t a
lot of people on the planet that can keep up with Smith and Jones when they go
deep. I’m looking for the Ravens to
focus on Anquan and Pitta early on, spreading out the Niners and forcing them
to play their safeties a little closer to the box than they want.
If Anquan can win the matchup against Carlos Rogers, that’s
huge for Baltimore Rogers Rogers
As long as the Ravens can hold off the early onslaught I’m
expecting the Niners to send their way, I like Flacco to continue his stellar
play. Again, he’s thrown eight TDs
without an INT this postseason. The Niners
picked off Rodgers and Ryan once and I believe will need to get one from Flacco
to win the game. That said, Dashon
Goldson might be the most important defensive player in the contest. It may be his ability to defend the deep ball
that decides this one.
I don’t think Anquan gets shut down by Rogers
Advantage – Ravens
49ers run offense v. Ravens run defense
What hasn’t been said about Kaepernick? The guy is a freak who looks ready to take
over the league. He destroyed the
Packers on the ground and beat the Falcons from the pocket. His ability to take advantage of mismatches
with both the read option and pistol formation make this unit, arguably, the
scariest rush offense in football.
Kaepernick (like Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and RGIII) is a passing QB
who can run, and he’s probably the best total package of the group. I could easily see him breaking off a few big
runs without a high attempt total. I
expect him to run when he needs to, not for his rushing to be a focal point of
the game plan.
I’ve got to mention LaMichael James. He’s not being used a ton right now, but he’s
the kind of player who shines in big games like this. James has game breaking speed, and I’ve got
to think that the scheming Jim Harbaugh is planning a play or two to get LMJ
the ball in space. Whether it’s James,
Gore, or Kaepernick toting the rock, they’ll be doing so behind, arguably, the
league’s best run blocking linemen featuring two All Pros in LT Joe Staley and
LG Mike Iupati and a breakout at RT in Anthony Davis. These maulers are going to bang against Baltimore ’s front that’s
given up it’s share of yardage this year.
In their three playoff games, the Ravens have surrendered a
total of 385 yards. That’s number looks
even worse when you consider that Indy, Denver ,
and New England were 22nd, 16th,
and 7th in rushing the ball this year. On the bright side, they have yet to
surrender a rushing touchdown in any of their three playoff games. Will Ray Lewis look like the five-years-ago
player we’ve seen over the last few weeks, or will this dominant Niner front be
too much for the Ravens? One matchup
I’ll be anxious to watch is Iupati pounding against Haloti Ngata. Talk about point of impact.
Advantage – 49ers
49ers pass offense v. Ravens pass defense
The Niners don’t run a wide open passing game, but they do
enough to get the job done. No need to
when you’ve got a thriving run game and stout defense to lean on. Again, Kaepernick isn’t a runner who can
throw. He’s a passing quarterback who
can make plays with his legs when needed.
The guy is playing lights out football for a second year passer who
didn’t see the field until the midway point this season, and it all started in
that first game against the Bears.
Kaepernick was making throws you don’t see some touted veterans make…in
his first start! He combines arm
strength and accuracy with an undeterred confidence, which can translate to a
long night for the opposition.
Kaepernick had a 63.5% completion percentage, 496 yards,
three touchdowns, and one interception against the Packers and Falcons. He was also sacked just twice in those games.
Now those aren’t exactly the stoutest
defenses in the league, but this is playoff football and the guy just refuses
to be stopped.
Enter the Ravens.
Their stat sheet won’t blow you away – 288 yards for Luck, 290 yards for
Peyton, and 320 yards for Brady – but they’re the epitome of the
bend-but-don’t-break defense. In the
first three rounds of the playoffs they held the 4th, 5th,
and 7th ranked passing offenses to four total touchdowns and forced
seven turnovers. They’re getting to the
passer as well. In those three games,
they totaled six sacks and made Brady look like Blaine-Gabbert-scared.
Sure, Kaepernick is the most elusive of those passers, but
he’ll be seeing a lot of Suggs, Kruger, and Ngata Sunday. Suggs and Ngata are the healthiest they’ve
been all year, and soon-to-be-free-agent Kruger is earning himself a lot of
money this postseason. Getting to
Kaepernick and forcing him to look outside the numbers for receivers will be to
the Ravens benefit.
I like how Cary Williams and Corey Graham project against
Michael Crabtree and Randy Moss.
Crabtree is Kaepernick’s #1 target, but he’ll be blanketed by Williams,
the guy who picked off Brady to seal the win in Foxboro. Look for Williams, the Ravens season leader
in passes defended, to be on Crabtree’s hip all night and limit his yardage
after the catch. Williams winning this
matchup will go a long way to helping the Ravens emerge victorious.
Working in Baltimore ’s
favor as well is having the two veteran safeties in the back of the
secondary. Ed Reed has been quiet of
late, but you know he’s going to do his best to tempt the young QB to make an
ill-advised throw or two. Davis is far too fast for
Benard Pollard, so the Ravens enforcer will hope to keep the pass catcher in
front of him rather than playing the chase game. He cannot allow Davis to get free in space, or he’ll be
watching him celebrate in the endzone.
In summary, I can’t see how the Niners don’t attack Lewis
and Ellerbe in coverage. I think Davis will be their
leading receiver, but will it be enough?
I’ve got Williams holding Crabtree to a stat line that closer resembles
his 6/57/0 from the Falcons game and the safeties to make a game-changing play
on the big stage. Think Suggs wants to
make his mark in this one? Look for him
to get in Kaepernick’s kitchen early on.
Advantage – Ravens
Special Teams
The kicking matchup is clear. Justin Tucker is good, and David Akers
isn’t. The Ravens rookie was 30 for 33
(90.9%) while the veteran Akers missed 13 of 42 kicks (69%). If this one comes down to a field goal, I’m
feeling a lot better if I’m a Ravens fan.
Jacoby Jones was one of the league’s better kick returners this regular
season, but he’s had a quiet postseason.
I actually think LMJ will be the more dangerous returner in this
one. Baltimore
allowed Trindon Holliday to take two to the house in the Denver game, so they need to be worried about
a guy with James’ elusiveness. Still, I
think the kicking will end up being the most important aspect of the special
teams units, and again, that edge goes to Baltimore .
Advantage – Ravens
In summary –
BAL rush v. SF – Ravens
BAL pass v. SF – Ravens
SF rush v. BAL – 49ers
SF pass v. BAL – Ravens
Special Teams – Ravens
Prediction
I’m not underselling the Niners, but Baltimore Baltimore will
also be the most physical team San
Francisco Baltimore
had two tougher matchups in prior rounds at Denver
and New England than did San Francisco
To me this is setting up to be a big statement game for Mr.
Flacco. I haven’t been his biggest
believer, but I can’t ignore the way he’s playing right now. I think that that he’s going to make the
necessary throws and that the surging Ravens defense is going to apply a bit of
pressure to Kaepernick, causing him to play more hurried than desired.
I have two brothers who both played professional baseball,
and I’m still having a hard time putting what the Harbaughs are going through
into perspective – sons/brothers reaching the pinnacle of their game and facing
each other for the most prestigious championship in professional sports. I can’t wait.
With the way both offenses are clicking, I expect there to
be a good bit of scoring. I think this
one will be close throughout, with the lead changing hands at least three
times. Quite simply, I think this is
Joe Flacco’s moment. I expect to see him
make the decisions, plays, and passes that championship quarterbacks make and
for there to be a lot of Flaccoholics after this one.
Ravens 31
49ers 24
MVP – Joe Flacco
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