Last week, I churned out a lot of statistics. NFL season
stats, individual stats, I even mentioned a few of those irrelevant stats that
really mean absolutely nothing, but sound good. I usually like to provide my
thought process in order for our readers to analyze my mindset in order for
them to make their own educated bets. If you still want to gain knowledge while
spewing off numbers while watching these games, feel free to take a look at last
week’s Lock Street. Every man, myself included, loves to provide obscure
football statistics as one defining trait of alpha dominance is related to
football knowledge. This week though, I have simplified my article because as
proven by the Ravens last week, previous statistics do not win or lose a game.
The teams still have to play.
3:00pm-Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49 (o49)
This has the potential to be a blowout. San Fran has a
straight up athlete at the helm. Even though he slightly resembles Skeeter from
the animated kids show Doug Funny, he can ball like he is an 1/8th
of an ounce. Colin Kaepernick is playing an elite style of football. The guy
might be the best athlete on the field every week with his size, strength,
decision making, and blaring speed. Crabtree should buy him a car at the end of
year because he has been the player who has gained the most from his presence. The Niners have gotten explosive plays not
from just their passing game though, but have made some huge plays on the
ground recently. One thing that separates the 49s from most teams in the league
is that Kaepernick (181 yards and 2 TD’s last week) and Frank Gore can cause
the score to run up QUICKLY without even passing the ball as the 49 ground game
last week combined for a measly 323 yards. Their defense is solid, but they
will have to defend against a Falcons team comfortable in their own aviary.
Matt Ryan finally took care of that huge playoff loser
formed abscess on his ass by leading his team into field goal range with 31
seconds left. I have written previously about the offensive horses the Falcons
have, but I’ve never been fully aware of their resilience. It takes skill,
passion, resilience, and luck to end up at the peak of the NFL season. I think
the Falcons finally proved they have these traits beating the hottest team in
the NFC going into the playoffs after giving up an almost insurmountable lead.
Last week, these two teams combined for 75 points and their opponents combined
for 59. There should be fireworks
here.
6:30pm-Baltimore Ravens (+9) vs. New England Patriots
The way things are going, the Ravens could beat the Patriots
by 20 this week and yet still be +8.5 versus whoever they have to play in the
Super Bowl. It’s crazy to think that the Broncos were on an 11-game win streak,
considered the most well-rounded and the best team in NFL, have one of the
greatest QB’s in NFL history, and the Ravens beat them and yet still do not
receive any respect. Oh yea, the Ravens also won in negative degree temperatures
at high altitude in the fourth longest game in NFL history. Most teams would
have crumbled after the first half. It’s funny because now people are making
excuses for the Broncos by stating that Fox called a poor game or the refs were
terrible. Say what you want, but the top-tier special teams unit of the Ravens actually
spotted the Broncos 14 points at high elevation and still won. You can’t really
complain anymore. All I have to say is that Flacco is on fire, the receivers
are making plays, and the defense is actually playing really well. They gave up
3 field goals against the Colts and only 21 points to an explosive Broncos
offense. Also, they have the biggest intangible advantage in the Conference
Championship this week; the Power of Ray.
Don’t get me wrong, the Patriots run literally like a well oiled engine,
but the Ravens have proven in past on several occasions that they know what it
takes to disrupt this machine.
-Kyle
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