Championship Weekend 2012

New York Giants (11-7) @ San Francisco 49ers (14-3)

The Giants and 49ers play tough, hard-nosed football. They have out-lasted the record-breaking passing offenses from Green Bay and New Orleans and delivered us an NFC Championship focused on defense, and the running game. However, the key too their playoff success has been their quarterbacks improved play.

QB Eli Manning took some hits against the Packers but kept on firing. Late game hero QB Alex Smith struggled for most of his game against the Saints  to capitalize on 5 turnovers but my, were the final drives impressive. Perhaps some confidence in that arm will jumpstart the 49er offense. While the defenses are elite, the running games decent, overall depth on both teams impressive, any regression by Eli or Alex Smith would be a diaster.

KEYS FOR NYG: The Giants don't get to play the Falcons and Packers defenses any more. RB Brandon Jacobs had looked good in the box score but the eyeball test makes it pretty evident he will have no success against a physical D like San Francisco. Jacobs runs like a back 100lbs lighter, afraid of contact, the Giants O-line will need to dominate even that much more.

KEYS FOR SF: It wouldn't hurt to keep punching out those turnovers. QB Alex Smith is lucky to be at home for this NFC Championship and if TE Vernon Davis keeps up his brilliance, the offense could take a step up at a perfect time. They would love RB Frank Gore, however, to remain the focus.

Baltimore Ravens (13-4) @ New England Patriots (14-3)

Plain ol' vanilla QB Joe Flacco and his pedestrian stat lines come rolling into QB Tom Brady's magical miracle show. It is a good thing for competetive spirt that the Ravens D is great and the Patriots' D was one of the league's worst during the season.

LB Ray Lewis will get 'em fired up, Coach Bill Bellicheck will have his team humming low and deadly, but we know these stories already. To beat Patriots, pressure Brady constantly. To beat Ravens, get ahead early and make Flacco throw. Now, accomplishing these tasks is a whole different thing, but we know the formulas.

KEYS FOR BAL: DT Haloti Ngata and the rest of the line will obviously need to play well. WR Anqouan Boldin and RB Ray Rice know they can't get to the Super Bowl with two mediocre performances, and they need to show up in a big way on the road.

KEYS FOR NE: Hopefully some spark in New Englad's defensive step has been lit and Brady won't have it entirely on his shoulders. This playoff year, we are seeing elite defenses exposing weak defenses that have coasted on their highlight-reel offensive counterparts (see: Packers, Saints). The Patriots do not want to be that next lesson.