NFL Conference Championship Open Thread
By On Pats/Ravens, I wouldn’t make too much of how dominant the Patriots looked in the last round; without first round Broncos MVP Dick LeBeau involved, Tebow turning into a pumpkin was inevitable, and the Broncos defense was overrated. On the other hand, while Flacco is an NFL QB and at this point Tebow is not, he’s not a very good NFL QB either. Between wondering if the Ravens are the right team to exploit New England’s secondary (which does look slightly less awful with Chung back) and Ed Reed apparently being a lot less than 100%, I’ll take New England -9. I’ll also recommend Pierce on Belichick, which I agree with almost entirely; maybe Charlie has even learned to love Belichick’s correct 4th down gamble against Indianapolis.
On Giants/49ers I don’t think I have anything original to add; if the Giants (especially Eli and the pass rushers) play the way they’re capable of playing they should win, but the Niners are more consistent and we should remember that the Giants were beaten badly by the Redskins just a few weeks ago. Given this kind of even matchup, though, I have to take the points. New York +3.