NFL Conference Championship Weekend

Fascinating weekend. Two Harbough brothers now will be coaching in the Super Bowl against each other. That story will be played to death by midweek. On the other hand, you have to admit it's pretty amazing. I think I like the elder brother a bit more. Baltimore's John H. seems a bit more in control. Jim's a spaz at times. Are we still using "spaz" in the lexicon of today's language? I'm a child of the 80's so it seems appropriate. Anyway, you have to be impressed by the way the 49ers and Ravens have been coached the past couple of years. They are fairly disciplined and tough and when their players are on, they are a tough to beat. Joe Flacco was certainly "on" this past weekend. Ray Rice was solid, Kaepernick continues to impress, and the defenses for both squads bent at times but didn't break. I wouldn't have put either team in the Super Bowl at mid-season (hell, I didn't have the Ravens there as of yesterday morning) but they are the last two standing.... and good for them. I really thought the Packers, the Seahawks, Patriots, or the Broncos may end up in the big game but all made critical errors that sank their chances.
     I'm shocked with the play of Joe Flacco most of all. He has the most road playoff wins by a QB...ever.  You would in no way say he's a better QB than Payton Manning, but it's absolutely legitimate to say he's been a better playoff QB than Manning. Even in Manning's Super Bowl year he wasn't at the top of his game. Flacco has a chance to further his reputation as a playoff warrior by taking down San Fran's secondary in a couple of weeks.
    I need to also say how shocked I am at the Patriots play yesterday. Brady looked, dare we say it, ...average. Does taking Gronkowski out of the lineup really make them attack that much less? The whole season they were relentless in their offensive approach, yet yesterday they were much less aggressive. Even Belichick who is normally a go for it kind of guy on 4th down, punted twice inside the Raven's 40 yard line. Belichick has taken heat for it when it hasn't worked in the past but in this case he should take some heat for not being more attacking. They punted at the Ravens 36 yard line! Either something was wrong with their kicker or something was wrong with Brady. Otherwise I can't explain why the Patriots were playing not to lose. That's not their "m.o" usually. Again, shocking to see what happened in Foxborro.

    I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl. I' don't have a dog in the fight so I'll just be rooting for a competitive offensive style game.