NFL Picks: Championship Round

The Divisional Round brought us much more excitement than the opening weekend from a game enjoyment perspective, but us here at FCF continued to struggle. I could not have been more wrong about Green Bay, as C-Kap went H.A.M. on the Pack giving us all a loss, as did Baltimore's shocking comeback on the Broncos. I picked up one game on the rest of the crew with Seattle after Atlanta's epic last-second win left them a half point shy of the spread. On to the Conference Championships!


Divisional Round
Figgs: 2-2
Nick: 1-3
Joe: 1-3
Andy: 1-3

Figgs' $ picks: 1-2

Playoffs to Date
Nick: 4-4
Figgs: 4-4
Joe: 3-5
Andy: 3-5

Figgs' $ picks: 3-3


Sunday
NFC Championship, 3:00
FALCONS (+4) vs 49ers
Figgs: Niners. I will be rooting for the Dirty Birds wholeheartedly here, hoping that maybe my picking against my boys will once again motivate them to victory. But from a logical standpoint, SanFran just seems like the better choice here after watching what Kaepernick did last week. I wasn't totally sold on him before the GB game, but what he did was unprecedented. I'm still not 100% confident that he can do it again, but I think the odds are in his favor. Obviously for the ATL to pull the upset at home they will have to at least somewhat contain him. And Matt Ryan will have to take much better care of the ball then he did against Seattle. ($)
Joe: ATL; I am making this pick because I am trying my best not to let the previous game influence my decision too much. In said previous game, Colin Kapernick looked like the greatest athlete in the history of sports. But, it was just one game. He looked nearly as good in his first start this year vs. the Bears, and followed it up with a loss to the Rams where he was awful, a week or two later. Atlanta is still getting absolutely no respect for a team that is 14-3, since they are more than a FG dog at home here. They do a lot of things very good, and as good a Kapernick has been, there is only one QB in this game that is nicknamed "ICE".
Nick: Niners
AFFWait, have we figured out why Figgs likes the Falcons? It's possible we've discussed that during a game of cards at the Figgs household and my trips to B0 erased that memory, but I can't recall. I feel like it has something to do with Warrick Dunn, but I could be wrong on that. Maybe Deion Sanders? Chris Chandler?

I agree with a lot of what Joe says here, which is not unusual. Yeah, Kaepernick was like Bo Jax in Tecmo Bowl last week, but he's a rookie giving four points, playing in a road dome against a team that had the NFC's best record this season. ATL has been dismissed long enough that I think they'll continue to be motivated to prove the doubters wrong. After the Seattle scare, they'll be more dilligent about closing games, and after Kaepernick (a Nov 3 birthday!) crushed Green Bay's defense, Mike Smith and the Falcons will have a week to prepare a defense better than GB's "watch Kaepernick run wherever he wants to" scheme. Birds.


AFC Championship, 6:30
PATRIOTS (-9) vs Ravens
Figgs: Pats. Another big number for NE and against Baltimore. I really have no confidence in either outcome, so when in doubt you might as well go against the ratbirds. Even though Denver made an incomprehensible gaffe at the end of that game last week to let Baltimore tie it, they still would not have covered the spread had it not happened. I could see a similar situation this week, with the Ravens keeping it relatively close but never really being too concerned about New England losing. The difference is that I don't expect a Belichick team in the playoffs to make the mistakes that Denver did. They also won't sit on the ball with a chance to put the Ravens away either. When brady's foot is on your throat - you're getting choked out, period. ($)
Joe: Ravens; I just see two close games this weekend, so I'm taking the points again. Baltimore always plays the Pats tough. We all knoi how close they were last year in the championship game, and they beat the Pats this year in the regular season. I could see this going either way, so I am definately going to take the 9 points, which means it might not be as close as I think it will be, but I could still get my pick right. All that said, the Pats could do exactly what they did to the Texans, and I will not be the least bit shocked because they always have that capability.
Nick: Ravens
AFF Goddamn fucking ravens, killing my postseason picks so far. I am so over the endless slobbering over the ratbirds' murdering douche linebacker, their fucking purple uniforms, and, it cannot be said enough, those horrible "Art" patches. I cannot, will not pick them.

Plus, have you seen the Patriots' offense?