Predictions for Hole #18 Conference Championship Games:
New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos
The football world is abuzz about this game. Brady vs. Manning. I’ve never seen two QB’s playing against each other yet so what this game is all about is two great QB’s trying to keep the other teams offense off the field. Eat up the clock. That means converting on 3rd down and running the ball to move the chains. Over the course of the season, NE ran the ball for an average of 129.1 yards per game – 9th in the league. Denver averaged only 117.1 – 15th in the league. Now on the defensive side, Denver was the 7th best against the run allowing only 101.7 yards per contest. NE was almost at the bottom at 30th and allowed 134.1. Comparing the conversion rates of the two teams shows that NE moved the chains on 3rd down only 37.6% (16th) where Denver converted at a 46.3% or 2nd best in the league. That’s huge. On defense, Denver stood at 16th in the league allowing only a 38.1% conversion rate and NE 26th at 42.2%. It’s true that the Bronco D will suffer from the loss of Chris Harris. Brady may be able to exploit the backfield of Denver if he has the time to see downfield. I believe that NE will be hard pressed to cover all of the offensive weapons that Denver will present and try to stop a better than average running game…Oh ya, the last time these two met up, Knowshon Moreno ran 37 times for 224 yards with the longest carry being only 18 yards. That’s consistency and that moves the chains and that eats the clock which will keep Tom Terrific on the sideline. Denver moves on to # 48.
Prediction: Broncos 35, Patriots 30
San Francisco 49ers @ Seattle Seahawks
As has been well documented, the 49ers have made two visits to Seattle the last two seasons and left losers by a combined 71-16 score. So it is pretty simple for the defending NFC champions, The team has to ignore the recent past and concentrate on the present. That means doing what it has done in each of its last eight games. Win. One of those victories was a 19-17 triumph over the Seahawks in San Francisco. The Niners managed only one touchdown in the game but cut up Seattle’s defense for 163 yards on 33 attempts. During the team’s current winning streak, the 49ers are averaging 135.5 yards per game on the ground. All told, in six meetings versus Carroll’s Seahawks, Harbaugh’s club has managed five offensive touchdowns while settling for 17 field goals. In those encounters, San Francisco has scored exactly 100 points, an average 16.7 per contest. This 49ers team is hot at the right time and Seattle just isn’t scoring enough points and they won’t against the leagues 2nd best defense. SF goes on to their 8th Super Bowl.
