SATELLITE NEWS SERVICE - WEEK
20
1. 49ERS @ FALCONS 10:13
2. RAVENS @ PATRIOTS 9:48
TRT 30:25
01:10:10:15/ 49ers @ Falcons
9ers travelling across country, Michael Crabtree legal issues during the middle of the week starting in this game though. Kaepernick on the biggest stage he’s going to see. Matt Ryan playing in the biggest game of his life. Biggest Falcons home game in franchise history. Matt Ryan looked great in the first half. Hits Roddy White there for 16 yards. First half, this was the first drive of the game guys and we were surprised as to how effective they were against the 9ers offense. This is the first time I’ve seen the 49er defense looked a little shell shocked. I mean they didn’t know –have any answers for Julio Jones. I’m confused as to what coverage they were running because the safety is sitting short, the corner comes off that’s like okay you’ve got him, no I don’t have him. But then the ball goes over your head and you’re like, who did have him? Who was supposed to? But it looked like a busted coverage to me where the safety was being a little bit too aggressive. Wouldn’t be the first time Julio Jones left them looking for answers. 46 yards on that touchdown, it’s 7 – nothing. Colin Kaepernick gets the football back, comes downfield and Thomas DeCoud, this was just like last week’s game. They came out and played great football on both sides of the football in the first 30 minutes. Okay, so Falcons defense sets them up with good field position and Julio Jones again just taking it away from 9ers looking like he was a pro playing against college kids. Great throw but an unbelievable catch and listen, the 49ers’ secondary, they’re one of the best secondaries in the league so to see them get this nailed by this guy is impressive. It was 10 – nothing after a field goal on that drive. Julio Jones had over 100 yards in the first quarter. And then the crowd gets into it and the Falcons pass rush. We’ll drop them. Mike Nolan, the defensive coordinator of the Falcons, the former head coach of the 49ers, liking what he was seeing there. So Jim Harbaugh, Frank Gore talking it over there. Here, second quarter. Falcons with it after they change sides. Do you see the protection? This is an unbelievable throw, I don’t want to overshadow this catch either because it’s unbelievable but man. Tell me about that control here. It’s just unbelievable, the fact that he’s so big and so strong and so poised and so athletic that he could not only go up and catch that but tap his toes, actually, got your ground. Still 17 – nothing and you’re figuring the Falcons are going to the super bowl for only the second time in their history. A lot of football still to be played though. What a key answering drive that they had to have here. This was huge and this goes back to Harbaugh and his coaching decisions. The fact that they did not panic, a lot of teams down by this many points would just put the ball in the air. They had a heavy dose of Frank Gore. They tried to control the clock, settle down that defense. Let that defense rest. But also settle down that offense and say, “we’re going to do what we do best, and that’s run the football.” The read option puts LaMichael James into the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown. So it was a 10 point game. 9ers defense comes back out, forces a punt. Donte Whitner threatening Jacquizz Rodgers right there for the incomplete pass. So the ensuing 9er drive, Kaepernick, Vernon Davis. Getting that ball in tight windows, that kid’s arm strength is unbelievable. It’s what we saw last week from Russell Wilson as well, functioning inside the pocket. Here he breaks contain and actually makes plays with his legs. He just, he functions so well inside that pocket today. And then, 9ers fans have been wondering where has Vernon Davis been? Vernon Davis is here today. He made some big plays and you know what, Colin Kaepernick you mentioned it, I think there had to have been some pressure on him to say, “I’ve got to do what I did last week and everyone is expecting me to run for all these yards”, he didn’t put that pressure on himself. He didn’t force anything. He made the plays that were there for him to make. He got the ball into the playmakers hands. Those plays, obviously good scouting right there because the Falcon’s defense not prepared for Vernon Davis. Great play calling and a great job by Jim Harbaugh and his offensive staff getting these guys ready to play and not panicking when they got behind early. And I’m sure in that meeting room that coach Harbaugh has sat down with Kaepernick and explained these situations to him and said, “okay, this game might kind of work out this way, you know it’s not a time to panic you know and just play your game.” Just certain things from him having played that position that you can’t really get from any other type of coach. Well we’re watching the Falcons answer here right here because they come back down and you figure it was a three point game, here comes the Falcons crumble. Not so much. Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez touchdown extends the lead again to 10 points going into the half. And it would happen because look at the score now, 24 points for the Falcons and we start the second half. The 9ers open up with the football and what would they do? Bang, bang, bang. Down the field. Look at it. Straight from the pocket, throwing the intermediate routes, tight ends involved. Randy Moss played a large role. And then they cap it off with the run as they did with the LaMichael James drive. Absolutely. It changes the momentum and gives them hope going forward and also, it sets a little doubt in the mind of that Falcons team. Then we have the 9ers defense come back and make a – we saw Matt Ryan throw an interception at a key time last week against Seattle. It didn’t ultimately cost him. This one though averts a scoring drive and keeps the Falcons blanked so far in the second half. Kaepernick comes back, right around midfield, finds Vernon. You know what? He’s bold when he needs it and then the touch when he needs it. It’s a great read because he saw the matchup in having Vernon Davis matched up with the linebacker that cannot cover. Great read by Kaepernick going to the right. Even still they come in and you see Asante Samuel, former Philadelphia Eagle, a little chatter with David Akers, former Philadelphia Eagle. And he stoinks it off the left upright. We’ve seen this a lot this year. I thought it was, it was questionable that Jim decided to stick with him going into the postseason. Talk about Billy Cundiff the former Raven’s kicker but they stick with Akers here and they’re going to go to the Super Bowl with Akers, that’s something we’ll be talking about for the next two weeks. Michael Turner getting a little medical attention on the sideline. Falcons get the football back though, still with the lead. There up by 3 and then Jason Snelling converts on a second and short for a first down. This hurts them dramatically not having Michael Turner with Jacquizz Rodgers and Snelling in there. Two very capable backs though. It always comes down to a couple mistakes that usually determine the outcome of the game. This drive right here, the one before – the interception, taking points off of the board, not allowing your offense to stay on the field. Giving the ball back to this guy. So very unnatural of him. Third and seven incomplete pass, what do you think of the personal foul? It’s part of the rules. Especially when you get the face mask as well. You got the helmet, which is all you need for the penalty. He wasn’t exactly going to hurt Kaepernick but it was a 15 yard penalty. You don’t want to affect the outcome of the game. Same drive, we flip the field to start the fourth quarter. The 9ers down by 3. Michael Crabtree with a catch to put them into the red zone. On second and goal, Colin Kaepernick looking to the left side, Crabtree, we thought this might have been the play of the game here, DB comes in and strips it. At this point as a receiver you just want to get down but it’s great for their defenders to attack the football. Great play for Dunta Robinson yanking that ball out. Defending every blade of grass. Alright so Dunta Robinson strips it. The Falcons need breathing room at first but on third and 6 they get enough to get the punt away but they don’t get a first down. Sets up good field position for the 9ers. They come back down the field, third and short. They handoff. They went with that jumbo formation a couple of times and pounded it on third and short. Then they go back out there. Crabtree, he’s inside of the 10 yard line, first and goal San Francisco. I just like the way they massage the defense if you know what I mean. They spread you out, they hit you straight up the middle. They have so many ways to attack you. Okay, Matt Ryan takes a shot. Had Julio Jones between two defenders there. Ball hung up a little bit though and was that Goldson? Actually Brown makes the play on Julio. Third and four they come back to Jones to move the sticks, okay, clock is running. Matt Ryan has had seven game winning drives so far this season and this was one of the plays of the game and maybe the most controversial call of the playoffs. Harry Douglas, ruling on the field a catch. And the replay fellas. Looks like the ball moves a bit but they said his hand did not come off the football so he’s still secured it. They lost a challenge on that one. The drive continues, the drama builds. We are at the two minute warning. They’ve got to get a touchdown to win the game or take the lead. They throw underneath Jason Snelling fighting for yards. Now its third down and the San Francisco Pro Bowl linebackers come to play when they need them most right here. Very good point. Third down, they take a timeout. They come back out, third and four, Matt Ryan rolls right, throws right, ball batted away. Fourth down and the season could come down to this. Strange play call their because the route wasn’t deep enough to get the first down. Obviously Roddy White, Julio Jones not bad choices but maybe in that situation Tony Gonzalez would be a good choice. But either way, you’ve got to get beyond the first down marker. Okay so now we’re calculating timeouts and yardage and whatnot and Darren you called it, you said they’d get the ball back with about 20 seconds or less left to play. Indeed they did. 6 seconds. They’ve got to go to the end zone but if Ryan’s shoulder was hurting, that’s as much muster as it could get on the ball. And you know people might not notice how big that run was from Frank Gore, why it was so big. Because it took more seconds off the clock. You give him another chance, that could be another hail Mary opportunity, you don’t know what can happen. Those seconds are so precious, especially in a situation where you’re trying to seal the deal and close a game out. Especially against Matt Ryan. Okay, 28-24 the final. The 9ers going to the super bowl for the 6th time in franchise history.
01:20:38:00/ Ravens @ Patriots
AFC Championship game in Gillette prior to which we saw Bob Kraft making pizzas in the parking lot. A windy day in Foxborough after Jim had made it. So it was up to John to make this a brotherly love super bowl as Ray Lewis as we know is on a game by game basis right now. That was him during the national anthem. First drive of the game, two minutes in the game, Tom Brady on third and short going over the middle. Wes Welker. These are opportunities you cannot miss in a game of this magnitude. I know the wind had a little something to do with the pass play but you can’t miss those opportunities. So, next play, 4th and 2, going to punt but that’s Ryan Mallet, the backup quarterback. Is this like a Tebow situation? Oh, wait a minute. Is this the Tebow package they’re running? No, it’s just something to have the Ravens call a timeout and burn a timeout. A fake fake punt. The genius at work right there. So finally they do punt it away. The Ravens punt it back. Patriots second possession of the game now on the plus side of the field. Brady over the middle, that is a grab by Brandon Lloyd in his AFC championship appearance. First for the Patriots. Now three plays later, we’re quick snapping. Ridley stopped on third and short. Ravens run defense was pretty good and they did a great job. Gave up a couple of big runs but for the most part, they contained the fast break run game. Steven Gostkowski with the field goal and then the Ravens get the ball back and on third and long Aqib Talib pulls up, this is the last play of the game for him, this was a different situation after this. It seems that he pulls a hamstring and that happens sometimes late in the season when you’re not used to bursting like that. So Talib was done for the day. Second quarter in this game, it is still 3 – nothing. Near seconds into the second quarter, Joe Flacco over to Dennis Pitta. Found Pitta a couple of times over the middle. Big third down conversion. 6 plays later, Flacco to Torrey Smith over the middle. Just look at how he’s driving the ball through the wind. He was throwing some balls extremely hard. Four plays later, Ray Rice running. Touchdown. That was a Marshall Faulk type cut. The linebacker has to make that play. Thirteen plays, 90 yards, 551. Patrick Chung is down that’s half the secondary that is now injured for the Patriots right now. Patriots back on offense on the plus side of the field there’s Wes Welker off the screen. 24 yards into the red zone. Four plays later its third and goal, 10th play of the drive and what do they do here Mike? They had some beautifully designed plays all day long, the Patriots did. They pick Wes Welker for – in the corner there – for the touchdown. Great job. So the Patriots answer right back, they are up by three and then Flacco taken down by Rob Ninkovich who has come on strong in late weeks. Ravens forced to punt. Patriots next possession. Two minutes left in the half, normally that’s Brady time and here he is picking him up, putting them down and runs into the umpire. At least he didn’t butt fumble there. A buck 26 to go in the half, Danny Woodhead for two yards. Going for it on 4th and 1 and this is the situation in football that the Patriots do so well. This a practiced play with direct snappage to Woodhead moving the chains. It was a good play because Baltimore was playing the run and you’ve got to try other things to get that ball moving. 34 ticks to go. Third and 10 on the Ravens 27. Brady to Aaron Hernandez, 17 yards on Paul Kruger. That’s an easy matchup for the Patriots there. 26 ticks to go. On first and goal, Brady rolling out here, he slides down. Normally the Patriots are far better in these situations where they either get up to spike it or call timeout. Instead they don’t quick spike it, they finally do call timeout, but not with enough time to run another play in the half. That was Tom being greedy. You spike it, you try to score. He wanted both of those downs. He wanted an attempt on second and an attempt on third to score the touchdown. Instead its just a field goal they settle for. Up six in the second half now as the Ravens can’t score on their first possession. Third and 7, a big Welker drop. A big drop by Wes Welker. They were hitting these guys all day and you knew the effects of being hit would take its toll. Well after that drop, old Mo put on a purple helmet as Dennis Pitta moves the chains here on 2nd and 10. Two plays later, Flacco to Ray Rice running. First down. Aqib Talib can only sit there and watch. Trying to stay warm. Five plays later 1st and goal. The ninth play of the drive, Flacco to Dennis Pitta. Look out Jerod Mayo. Decleats him, no flag. That’s bang bang. That’s defenseless receiver. No penalties called. We got a lot of tweets that if Pollard did that there would be a flag. Anyway, no worse the wear as the Ravens do score. Dennis Pitta right there. Flacco to Pitta touchdown. Flacco and the Ravens take the lead. Another perfect play. A lot of talk about Flacco. That’s an elite type of a throw. Well he’s sneaky elite. What about that throw to Torrey Smith getting the ball back, still up 1. Now with 2 and a half to go in the third quarter, this young man, Bernard Pierce has come on strong. And that’s a first down right there. We’re now in the fourth quarter, Ravens start the first quarter. First play in the fourth quarter from inside the 5. Flacco to Anquan Boldin. Eight point lead for the Ravens, what will the Patriots do. Here’s Ridley. And would you believe it? The man that blew up Tom Brady and Wes Welker’s knee blew up Steven Ridley on that play. Bernard Pollard and just before his butt hits the turf, the ball comes loose on his own knee. That is a fumble. Ridley is done for the day. Ravens get the ball on the turnover and what do they do with the turnover? Flacco right to Torrey Smith again for 16 yards. You’ve got to respect Joe Flacco’s speed. He’s escaping. You’ve got to contain. 14 yards. Two plays later, 4th play of the drive its Flacco to Anquan Boldin again. It’s a 15 point lead. Brady throwing this one to the sideline to Brandon Lloyd for 12 yards, moving the chains. Now inside the red zone, Brady, Shane Vereen drops it. So now here’s Brady with 8 and a half to go in the game having to go for it from inside the red zone. Brady thinks about running for it, can’t pick it up with his feet. Throws it and its incomplete. But talking about the Ravens, they threw the ball twice in the next set of downs, only took one single minute off the clock, giving the ball back to Tom Brady with 7 and a half to go and he’s quenching his thirst. And now he’s finding Wes Welker wide open over the middle and lookey here. Here come the Patriots right back on the cusp of the red zone just like that. But would you believe, the very next play, Brady throwing over the middle. It is a tipped ball by Purnell McPhee right to Ellerbe and I’m a fool. Take a look at the play that essentially ends the best hope for the Patriots down 15. And then the Ravens ran out the clock. Here’s Vonta Leach up the middle, the Patriots would have to burn timeouts. And Ray Lewis will not go gently into that good New England night. They come back and avenge last years AFC Championship game loss. Joe Flacco is a super bowl quarterback. Steve Bisciotti is a super bowl owner of the Baltimore Ravens. One win away from getting his first title as the full-fledged owner of the Baltimore Ravens. Hugging Ray Lewis who has a chance to go off into retirement a la Elway, a la the Bus, a la Strahan. With a super bowl victory. The Baltimore Ravens are the champions of the American Football Conference, handing the New England Patriots their first ever home loss in AFC Championship game history.