There is no one on the outside who scares a defense, with the exception of Percy Harvin and his status is unknown , and they don't threaten defenses vertically. As a result, Wilson is holding the ball too long and not trusting his initial reads, as he showed on several occasions against the Saints on Sunday. The rushing game has been tremendous with Marshawn Lynch , who had an amazing 66 of rushing yards on Sunday after contact , but they've been bailed out by their defense too often. If they can't run the ball against San Francisco's stout front seven, this offense will struggle to move the ball.
On the other side, San Francisco's offense is evolving and has been a different unit since Michael Crabtree returned in Week With Vernon Davis healthy, they now have two pass-catchers who can win one-on-one against man coverage.
Having both of them on the field also means more space for Anquan Boldin to operate. Boldin had a big game on Sunday in Carolina eight catches, yards but really struggled against Seattle's press coverage in Week 2 one catch, 4 yards. The 49ers have one of the best offensive lines in the league and have been running the ball extremely effectively in the postseason, averaging Frank Gore is a very consistent runner between the tackles and is also terrific in blitz pickup.
Colin Kaepernick has been making better decisions with the football but still has a few errant throws every game. He must make the correct reads against an opportunistic Seattle defense. Defense: This Seattle defense is arguably the best in the league and doesn't have any real weaknesses. It is even more dominant because of the imposing home-field advantage Seattle has with the 12th Man at CenturyLink Field. On the back end, Earl Thomas is terrific at diagnosing plays and has tremendous closing speed, and Richard Sherman can shut down any receiver in bump-and-run on the outside.
Seattle's corners are very physical at the line of scrimmage and use their length very well to disrupt receivers. The Seahawks' linebackers are very good both in pass coverage and against the run. Seattle has solid run defenders in the middle of the line like Red Bryant and an assortment of pass-rushers on the outside, including Bruce Irvin , Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril , who can get to Kaepernick. They've been successful against San Francisco in the past by not having to blitz Kaepernick and getting to him with four pass-rushers.
However, Seattle must make sure that its defensive ends are disciplined in their rush lanes and don't get too far upfield. Otherwise, Kaepernick can use his legs to his advantage.
It's important to flush him to his left, as he likes to throw more on the run while going right. They are stout against the run third in the NFL during the regular season and Willis and Bowman, like Seattle's linebackers, never have to come off the field because they can hold up in pass protection. San Francisco's corners aren't as good as Seattle's but are very solid. If Carlos Rogers is healthy enough to play, that would provide a big boost for this unit.
Advantage: Seattle. With the 12th Man, this is the best defense in the league. They have a plus turnover differential at home. If you get behind in down and distance, forget about moving the ball on them. Special teams: Phil Dawson has been extremely consistent for the 49ers, as has Steven Hauschka for the Seahawks both were 3-of-3 on field goals last week; Dawson is 6-of-6 in the postseason. Andy Lee is a great weapon to flip field position at punter for San Francisco.
X factor: Harvin. There is a reason this team traded three picks, including a first-rounder, to get this guy. He is simply special in the open field and has elite acceleration and change-of-direction ability. You could see his impact last week when he ran a "jet" fly sweep for 9 yards in the second quarter. The next play, Harvin was lined up on the left in a bunch, three-WR set. The threat of Harvin drew the defense's attention and personnel , allowing Lynch to score easily on a yard draw play.
Harvin is also a special kick returner. Prediction: This is going to be a great game, and both teams are similarly built with a mobile QB, strong defense and the desire to run the ball. I'm a little nervous about Seattle's passing offense being able to move the ball, but I believe they'll do enough -- particularly running the ball with Lynch -- to build a lead.
Once they get a lead, San Francisco won't be able to do enough on offense with that defense and crowd behind the Seahawks. So much for parity. The popular regular season buzzword has been pushed aside, as the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers all make return trips to conference championship games.
The Atlanta Falcons are the only newcomer. Last season, the Patriots were able to survive a challenge from the Ravens thanks to a late field-goal miss by Billy Cundiff. Baltimore will hope to turn the tide in its favor this time with the emotion of Ray Lewis ' final playoff run leading the way.
A key turnover by return man Kyle Williams in overtime doomed the 49ers. Now they prepare to face the top-seeded Falcons, who aren't getting much respect. A lot has changed around the NFL since last year, but the conference championship games show that the best teams were still able to elevate their game when it mattered most.
Let's take a look at Sunday's title game schedule followed by previews of both matchups. Plenty of questions were asked about how 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would perform in his first career playoff game.
So when his second pass was intercepted and taken back for a touchdown, fans around San Francisco probably started getting nervous. From that point forward, however, the rising star was unstoppable. He accounted for nearly yards of offense and four touchdowns, illustrating his dynamic play-making ability. From , Denver reached the conference title game six times in 13 years, all with quarterback John Elway, and won five of those contests. Elway and Co.
The San Francisco 49ers will have been in more than one-third of those contests, including the last three years. The Niners are looking for their second straight and seventh Super Bowl appearance. As for their other five wins in this round, head coach Bill Walsh and quarterback Joe Montana led the team to four victories in the s, defeating the Dallas Cowboys in and the Chicago Bears in and Montana and new head coach George Seifert led the team to a win over the Los Angeles Rams in Ah, the losses.
The Seattle Seahawks are in their third conference title game, but their first since , when they rolled the visiting Carolina Panthers, In under head coach Chuck Knox, the franchise reached the playoffs for the first time and made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. The club fell to the Los Angeles Raiders, , at the Coliseum that afternoon.
No player has thrown for more yards in postseason history 6, and only Joe Montana 45 and Brett Favre 44 have thrown more touchdown passes than Brady 42 in the second season. That win raised his record in his last 15 playoff games to The veteran signal-caller threw 14 touchdown passes and just three interceptions in those 10 victories.
However, it is certainly understandable at times. Last week, the prolific passer snapped a three-game losing streak in the playoffs with a victory over the San Diego Chargers.
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