For the second time ever, the Baltimore Ravens go to Foxboro to face the New England Patriots in the playoffs. Baltimore has never beaten New England in the regular season (0-6), but is undefeated against the Patriots in the playoffs, winning their lone meeting from the 2009 playoffs 33-14. They went ot overtime only once, in their last meeting in 2010. Again, New England won at home 23-20. There have been no shutouts in the series. The only time Baltimore played in the Super Bowl was the 2000 season (SB XXXV). New England has been to the Super Bowl five times, winning three. Their last appearance in the Super Bowl was in the 2007 season (SB XLII).
The New York Giants go to the Stick to take on the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners beat the Giants earlier this season 27-20. This will be their eighth playoff meeting and the sixth in San Francisco. The Niners lead the playoff series 4-3 and lead at home 4-1. San Francisco leads the all time series 18-17. Their last playoff game against each other was in 2003, when San Francisco won 39-38. They first faced each other in the playoffs in 1982. This is their second meeting in the NFC Championship game. Their first championship game was in 1991. The last time the Niners shut out the Giants was 12-0 in 1980. The Giants have never shut out the Niners. This series has never gone to overtime. The Giants have been to four Super Bowls, winning three of them. Their last appearance was a victory in 2007 (SB XLII). San Francisco has been to five Super Bowls, winning all of them. They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 1994 (SB XXIX).
Who will go to the Super Bowl? The Patriots remember that loss in the playoffs two years ago and should beat Baltimore this time. The Ravens have struggled on the road and unless they show up as if this was a home game, New England will win easily.
In college football, when two teams who met in the regular season play again in a bowl game, the team who lost the regular season game will win the bowl game. That's not necessarily true in the NFL, although the Giants pulled off the upset win over the Green Bay Packers after losing to them earlier in the season. The New Orleans Saints beat the Detroit Lions during the season and in the wild card game, the Saints beat the Lions again. So it's anybody's game. However, the Niners have a good physical defense, which matches well with the Giants' offense. San Francisco will win in a close game, maybe even in overtime.
Some Lagniappe
When I write these entries, I try to look for videos to feature the teams and players, especially for older era games. YouTube has some videos of previous playoff meetings between the four teams. I make no claim of ownership of any of the videos featured.
Here's highlights from the Ravens and the Patriots only other playoff game against each other.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a highlight video of the only other NFC Championship game the Giants and Niners played in that had narration. However, I found two series of videos, one with 15 parts (the whole game) and one with 5 parts (second half). Here's the second half of that game, which occurred on January 20, 1991.
In addition to the Hall of Famers in this game, there were other good players. The Giants had Jeff Hostetler (playing for an injured Phil Simms), Dave Meggett, Ottis Anderson, Jumbo Elliott, Mark Ingram, Mark Collins, Leonard Marshall, Pepper Johnson, and Mark Bavaro. The 49ers had Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, John Taylor, Brent Jones, Jesse Sapolu, Matt Millen, Dave Waymer, Jim Burt (who played for both teams), Charles Haley, and Spencer Tillman. This was a great game played by two great teams.
Have a great weekend!!
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