The day after Championship Sunday

The NFL is the top product in sports for a number of reasons, and we had many of them detailed to us over the course of eight riveting hours of tense, painful, and high-stakes competition.

In the end, it seemed that two teams advanced by simply surviving. All four teams accomplished many of their laid-out objectives and felt like they put themselves in a perfect position to win late in the game. But, only two would advance to play for the Lombardi Trophy in two weeks time. And how those games played out were enough to have each dropped into the “instant classic” bin immediately.

AFC Championship: Flacco delivers but Ravens come up wide left

The AFC Championship Game was a battle of strengths as the Patriots offense would have to deal with the Ravens defense. But, the game was so much more than Tom Brady versus Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. New England was a favorite, but because of some sloppy play at times (from Brady, no less), the Patriots ended up allowing the Ravens a plus-2 turnover margin.

Ultimately, Joe Flacco outplayed Tom Brady. In fact, Tom Brady owned up to his sub-par play after the game.

“I sucked pretty bad today, but our defense saved us.” – Tom Brady

Flacco was 22 of 36 (61%) for 306 yards, two TDs and one INT. Brady, was 22 of 36 (61%) for 236 yards, no TDs and two INTs. However, he did deliver the decisive touchdown on a quarterback sneak on 4th and goal from the 1-yard line. Even still, Baltimore couldn’t capitalize on two golden scoring chances in the final minute, and the New England Patriots held on for a 23-20 victory.

Sure, while Cundiff’s missed kick was the Ravens’ last failure, it wasn’t their only one. They had multiple chances to score after Brady dove head-first over the pile with 11:29 left in the game, giving the Patriots a 23-20 lead, but came up short each time.

After Brady’s touchdown, the Ravens drove into New England territory before Joe Flacco was intercepted by Brandon Spikes on a pass over the middle. Baltimore’s defense then got the ball right back thanks to an acrobatic play by its secondary. Safety Bernard Pollard stretched out to tip a deep throw by Brady, and cornerback Jimmy Smith snared the ball just before it hit the ground in the end zone, rolling over to ensure possession.

Again, the Ravens reached New England’s side of the field, but the Patriots forced Baltimore into a 4th-and-6 and Flacco threw the ball away under pressure. Baltimore had one final opportunity after the Patriots punted, taking over at its own 21 with under two minutes to play.

Flacco and receiver Anquan Boldin made the possession into a promising one, hooking up four times for significant gains. The biggest play was a short pass that Boldin turned into a 29-yard gain with a run up the left sideline. Flacco went back to Boldin on the next play for nine yards, and the receiver fumbled out of bounds to give the Ravens the ball at the New England 14 with 27 seconds remaining.
Then, it all fell apart.

Flacco threaded a pass to the right side of the end zone for Evans, who had the ball in his hands but couldn’t secure it before Sterling Moore knocked it out. Moore defended Flacco’s next pass, too, a rushed throw to Dennis Pitta on third down with Cundiff waiting to attempt a kick well within his range. He made 18-of-21 kicks between 30-39 yards over the last two seasons, and had kicked field goals of 20 and 39 yards earlier in Sunday’s game.

But the snap came and the hold wasn’t perfect — the laces faced to the right — and Cundiff’s kick sailed wide of the left goalpost.

“I get paid to make field goals. I don’t get paid to miss field goals.” - Billy Cundiff

The failure hit hard, particularly because the Ravens defense held the potent Patriots offense in check, just like it did two seasons ago in a wild card round victory.

New England posted 45 points in last weekend’s playoff victory against Denver, and had scored fewer than 30 only four times all season. But Sunday, the Patriots were held to a Stephen Gostkowski field goal three times, and were outgained by a 398-330 margin.

Even in defeat, Joe Flacco silenced his critics – including me – with his performance. Flacco, a player who most felt did not have the quality to win a game like this – including some of his teammates. But, throughout the day, he looked poised and ready to make a play when needed. He missed on a few throws that would have been huge gainers to his speedster, Torrey Smith, but managed the game quite well.

It was yet another late season playoff run for the Ravens, only to come up short in the championship game. This one hurts and  and Sunday’s failure ensured the Ravens will head into another offseason stunned and wondering what could have been.

NFC Championship: Deja “Blue” for Giants

The Giants are heading back to the Super Bowl. Thanks, in part, to Kyle Williams – a punt returner for the 49ers.

Williams coughed up the football twice in crunch time, including a fumble in overtime that set up a 26-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes that lifted the Giants to a 20-17 victory against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game at rain-soaked Candlestick Park.

“Just a classic football game, where it looked like nobody was going to put themselves in position to win it.” - Tom Coughlin

Williams muffed a punt in the fourth quarter — the original call was reversed when TV replays showed that the football glanced off Williams’ knee — that set up Eli Manning’s 17-yard, go-ahead touchdown to Mario Manningham. Essentially, Williams gift-wrapped New York’s trip to Super Bowl XLVI with the turnover that essentially settled the game.

I was asked how I would describe the Giants season and this most recent playoff run. I thought about it for a minute before coming up with a simple, one word response:

Resilient.

Think about it.

Since an upset loss to the Washington Redskins in Week 15, the Giants (12-7) have ripped off a five-game winning streak in the nick of time. As coach Tom Coughlin put it during his post-game news conference, the Giants have faced elimination in five consecutive weeks — and survived.

The turning point? Perhaps it began during the final five minutes at Dallas in Week 14. The Giants rallied from a 34-22 deficit with 5:41 remaining and won 37-34.
Two weeks later, the winning streak started with Victor Cruz’s 99-yard TD against the Jets, which ignited a 29-14 victory.

“To get this far, you’ve got to have some luck, and some good players, and good coaches. It’s all coming together for us.” – Giants general manager Jerry Reese 

The Giants have had their fair share of both.

In my opinion, no player epitomized the Giants’ grit on Sunday like Manning. On a night when the Giants averaged 3.3 yards in scratching out 87 rushing yards, Manning completed 32 of 58 passes for 316 yards. It was more difficult than it seemed, as he shook off one blow after another.

It was also the second time in four years that Tynes sent the Giants — 5-0 in NFC title games — to a Super Bowl with a field goal in overtime.

Special Teams standout Devin Thomas, who recovered both turnovers, said his role was like a dream come true.

“I had a vision in my mind that I was going to make some type of play to help us win the game, I thought it was going to be that first fumble, but I got another opportunity.” – Devin Thomas

And with it, the Giants punched their ticket to Indianapolis.