NFL Playoffs

Akers FG% is 84.6, Tynes is 79.2 is there really a huge difference? Akers has had some monster seasons before and come up small in the playoffs, just ask the Eagles it's the reason he's in SF right now.

Andy Lee averages 5.4 yards more per net punt than Weatherford. It is a decent amount but is that really flipping the field, 5 yards?

GL.

No disrespect Mac, but they've allowed that the last 4 games. The whole world has forgotten about the other 14 games they've played this season as if they are meaningless. I really cannot believe the entire world has forgotten about that. The Niners have been hot all year. They Giants have been hot for 4 games.

But it isn't the same group. They've been banged up all season. Those 5 games (2 of which came in November) were the only games those guys played together all year and they didn't give up over 20 points.

I don't think special teams is going to be a big factor in this game. No Ted Ginn, sloppy field (potentially). It'll be a very slight edge to SF....although no Ted Ginn may hurt the Niners as guys like Kyle Williams aren't as accustomed to handling returns, which could lead to a turnover.

I know. I've heard the argument over and over. I just don't agree with it. I've also heard about the Giants injuries the first time these two teams met and nobody seems to mention the Niner injuries, like Frank Gore essentially not playing and Snyder being hurt, which forced them to insert Rachal (AKA worst lineman in the NFL) into the game.

Giants are improved, don't get me wrong, I just think people are ignoring their entire body of work over the course of the season and focusing on the last few games when they played an overrated Falcons team and a Packer team that never got off the bus. I'm starting to think the Niners win this one rather comfortably. Bring on the homer comments.

Fair enough.

Good back and forth.

I fail to see the logic in the cultural mystic over such simple biological functions.

ML PARLAY BALT & NYG

50/ 362.50 !

Like your plays Andarmac !

ander - i'm on you with the ravens

all the clues about the patriot defense are in that washington game

flacco can look stale like grossman many times

however look what uncle rex did to this pats d , look what the rookie roy helu did

to me the denver games are throw outs when evaluating this defense

the bills game was a revenge game and the bills won 1 game in all of nov and dec , and who was that , that's right denver

miami and matt moore moved the ball all over the field on this d , and reggie carved them up on the gorund

last 5 games ats pats are 3-2

2 wins over denver and a win over a hapless bills team that even when spotted 21 points simply gave up and bill b poured the gasoline on

they didn't cover wash or miami game and that's the game is see on sunday

I have flipped back and forth on the Ravens/Pats game.
As mentioned in many other threads, Brady will probably come out no huddle and try and tire the Balty D early. If Baltimore can make a couple of stops or at least hold them to some field goals early, they will have a great shot in this game. What scares me as a Ravens fan, is trying to stop they dynamic duo at Tight end.

The flipside is you have Pats defence, that is continually getting ripped every week in the press, for being the worst in the league. You have  Coach Bill, who has always prided himself on this side of the line and I just wonder if this is the week they finally step up.

Flacco, plain and simple is an enigma. In that drive against the Steelers this year on Sunday night, he looked so sharp in that last drive and I thought to myself, maybe he really has turned the corner here. The rest of the year there was not much to back that up. I keep thinking as the playoffs get deeper, Flacco's play  has not been one to breed confidnece in. Granted two of those games were against a tough Steeler D, but still. I consider this also, a huge statement game for him to show he can take this team to the next level, or that he will never be what the Ravens had hoped for.

I think the Pats win, but I have no interest in laying more than a touchdown on them. I think the Pats D steps it up and I am on the under 50.5.

Giants/Niners game to me is a coin flip. Both playing well, should be a true test of character and a great game. I think Boley being healthy has had a huge impact on the Giants D. I am intrigued to see how Smith plays this week. Again, he looks so ordinary for most of the game, but seems to find those one or two drives, where he puts some balls "spot on" for some big plays. My one concern as a Niners fan is the amount of blocked balls the Saints D line had, and they are nothing compared to the Giants front. I will take Eli over Alex, but if it is a field goal to win it, Tynes  would not make me feel comfortable in the least. I am on the under in this game also, grabbed it at 43.5 when it first came out. Good luck to Andy, BigNiner and everyone else.

 

andarmac,
You say SF has been out gained in every game vs playoff teams but yet are 5-1 against them.I think SF is screw the naysayers again chasing the fade

Andermac looked back and thats not a true statement the SF has been out gained and lost the TOP to every payoff team the have played but it doesnt matter TO count as lets not forget the Giants got 4 turnovers last week from the Packers and the also fumbled 3 times but recovered it back all 3 times.

Det they out gained
Cincy they won the TOP

with you on Balty but obviously against you on the other one

 

BOL Andy....

Good luck on the Ravens Andy...they have a good shot to cover, I think it'll be a very close game. I will be on the Under myself. One thing I disagreed with in your writeup is about Chung/Spikes not meaning anything to this D. That is not true. Both are leaders on this defense, very physical and bring confidence to the D.

Return of Chung and Spikes added confidence: "It helped out a lot. Those guys have a lot of experience and they make big plays on the field, so having them now helps because of the emotion and passion they bring to the defense, and then the playmaking ability. That gives us confidence."

Good luck on your play, I hope my Pats pull it out.

GL this week, Andy. 

I went with NE -6.5(bought hook) and Giants ML +115.  Don't really have time to go into detail, so I'm gonna copy and paste something I posted yesterday in another thread.  It's a bit of a rant and I was all over the place as the context of the thread was a little different than just capping the game(had something to do with some sportswriters or something), but you get the gist of why I made these wagers.

 

No idea who either are. One thing I learned about 10 years ago is stay away from any and all media hype and you will be a better gambler because of it. These guys are clueless and especially the former players and coaches you see on ESPN/FOX/CBS. They don't have a clue.

For instance, the big thing this week is how bad Flacco is(something anyone with half a brain knew years ago). It almost makes me want to wash my NE -7 bet and take a shot with the Ravens.

Then the Giant game, I have seen dozens of different sports writers throw out a hundred different scenarios on how this game is gonna break down, yet not one person has thought enough to say, "hmmmm, the 233 inches of rain completely changes everything we know about this game, so let's breakdown how the weather will affect each team and go from there." Another thing I keep hearing is what a great crowd SF is. Last week while watching the Saint game, I mentioned to my buddy a dozen times how it was arguably the WORST crowd I have ever seen for a home NFL playoff game.

My own personal opinion is NE is a good bet over Baltimore as Flacco is a horror show on the road throughout his entire career(with a few small exceptions). I don't particularly object to Ed Reed's statements as there was some decent criticism there and not your typical sore loser Monday morning quarterbacking, BUT I think it just turned the pressure up 10 notches in Flacco's brain which isn't a good thing for HIM(he is not A-Rod or Brady or even Eli). I don't like laying 7, and if this was regular season, I would lean NE but ultimately pass and focus on other games on the card. I think NE will handle Baltimore's run game which leaves the game in Flacco's hands to win which is bad news so I took a shot on NE. I was hoping Baltimore would handle Houston and win big so the line would be a more reasonable 4, but the opposite happened and IMO that line jumped up 3.5/5 points higher than it would have been if Baltimore took that early momentum in Houston and routed like they should have.

For the Giant game, I see it as NY flew to SF two months ago. San Fran played an absolute PERFECT football game, and still needed pretty much a goal line stand hold on. They had less penalties, less turnovers, more sacks, better special teams play(especially with kicking), better RZ efficinecy, Akers was perfect kicking FG's, and even got points on a surprise onsides kick at one point(I believe they got a TD but not sure). All that and they still were a couple yards from OT. On the flip side looking at a different set of stats, the Giants had an edge with TOP, total plays, rushing yards, passing yards, 3rd down conversions, 4th down conversions, first downs, etc etc etc. All while coming off a dream win in New England and flying cross country to a team that was frothing at the mouth to play them. So I think the Giants were a better team then, and after getting hot, the better team now. But like I said, throw everything out because of this rain. That field is gonna be a nightmare. It is gonna take away one of SF's biggest advantages which is their SPEED and viciousness on defense. I think it also hurts the 49ers special teams quite a bit. It is also gonna take away from the Giant's strength which is spreading the ball all over the field and picking on SF's secondary. Also, with all the talk of SF being a smashmouth kind of team, I don;t think they have a particularly good O-line or running game and that was exploited the few times they played a team who was physical enough in the trenches to fight fire with fire(I think Balt sacked Smith 9 or 10 times on Thanksgiving). Also, a chance of no Ted Ginn or a hobbled Ted Ginn is gonna be HUGE.

So yea, I think the Giants are the better squad ESPECIALLY with how good they have been rolling, but throw it all out in this slopfest. The smarter more disciplined team is gonna grind this one out. My money will be on the Gints, but I can't seriously sit here and PUSH that opinion with the weather the way it is. No bias either. I'm from NJ and love rooting the Giants with friends and family, but I took Atl over them a few weeks ago(bad bad wager), and I pounded SF over NO last week, so no hometown BS coming from me.

That crowd was actually pretty intense yesterday and that is coming from many former players that have experienced some of the best crowds ever. I watched the rematch of the first game tonight at the bar with my wife (she was very pleased to spend her Saturday night like that). The Niners were very close to having two other additional picks...missed by inches....they were far from perfect. They were without gore (essentially) and Snyder. They gift wrapped the Giants an interception in the redzone when Ted Ginna head-butted it off his helmut into the Giant defenders hands. So, I don't know how you can say they were perfect. There are many other errors I am not mentioning.

As far as the field is concerned, it remains to be seen if and how badly it will be impacted by rain. What I will say, is that I think if it is a sloppy field, it hurts the GIANTS far more than it hurts the Niners; particularly their pass rush and WR's. You can feel free to disagree with me on that one, but many coaches and former players feel the same. The Giants key to success on Defense is their pass rush and a sloppy field will substainally hurt their speed on that rush.

Finally, I am so tired of hearing about the Giants "ROLLING." They have won 4 games in a row, as have the Niners. The Pats have won 8 in a row and you hear nothing about them. Niners have been ROLLING all year.

I'm starting to feel pretty sure the Giants are about to get fucking stomped tomorrow. We will see very soon...

sorry...little tipsy

Nice thoughts Jim. I agree with you about Flacco, he can be very enigmatic. I do have a strange feeling about him though. I think he plays well here and makes a statement. If anyone has something to prove this weekend it is Joe Flacco.

Hope you are doing well in the Pucks.

You were right about the DET game. My mistake, I heard the stat and should have taken the 2 minutes and back-checked it myself. SF did have more yards than SF though it was only 4 yards.

I don't mind what he did. This team was listless last week. They had just seen the Patriots look incredible and were already penciling in a meeting thinking they could walk over a team with a rookie 3rd string QB. That's my opinion anyway, I thought they would show up but there just wasn't any energy.

They need a fire lit under their asses. Reed knows this is probably the last kick these guys have as players like himself and Ray Lewis are starting to slow a bit. Reed is desperate, I believe he realizes the situation and wants to win bad and if Flacco looks as shaky as he did last week then they will probably lose. Pittsburgh has knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs a couple times in the last few years and they aren't around this season. I'm not going to call them the Dallas Mavericks but if this group is ever going to step up and win the time is now.

Ravens have stunk on the road this year I can't disagree though many games were against lesser teams. This group is still 7-0 against playoff teams. They've been in many road playoff battles in the last few seasons as well so it's not like this will be a new experience.

GL.

I can't root for the Pats to win and not cover as I have some ML as well but GL buddy. Your boys are capable of almost anything.

Do the Ravens have anything left in the tank to make it 8-0 vs. playoffs team?

If Reed was 100%....I would be interested in taking those value. He was helped carried off the field by 2 ravens last week when the game ended....he was hoping on 1 leg. I don't think he's 100%. The guy shuts down half of Brady's passing lane.