They didn’t take the easiest road in the world to get here, but the Baltimore Ravens have made it to the Super Bowl for the second time in their franchise’s history. They’ll get a chance to claim their second ever Lombardi Trophy on February 3rd, but they have a long road to climb to be able to get to that point. Check out our Super Bowl keys to the game and what the Ravens needs to do to beat the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans.

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#4 Baltimore Ravens vs. #2 San Francisco 49ers
Superbowl 47 Location: Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Superbowl Date/Time: Sunday, February 3rd, 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Superbowl TV Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Joe Flacco has to come up with one more “elite” game
We’ve had this one drilled down our throats for weeks, months… and heck, even years! QB Joe Flacco isn’t an elite quarterback. We know this. All we have to do is look at the way that he stands in the pocket, the way that he ultimately plays under pressure from time to time, and his numbers, and we know that he isn’t the second coming of John Elway or Joe Montana. However, what Flacco is, is a winner. He has brought his team to the playoffs for five straight seasons, has won at least one playoff game for five straight seasons, has made it to the AFC Championship Game three times in the last four years, and now, he has his team just one game away from the Lombardi Trophy. Something different has happened this time around, though. Flacco is actually outplaying some of these truly “elite” quarterbacks. QB Tom Brady looked like a chump in the second half of the AFC Championship Game in comparison to Flacco, while the week before, Flacco was throwing big time passes, while QB Peyton Manning was busy getting picked off in overtime. The former first round pick of the Ravens has thrown for 853 yards and eight TDs over the course of his last games here in the postseason. Sure, some of it was luck, and sure, had that 70-yard floating pass not found its way into the hands of WR Jacoby Jones, we’d probably still be talking about Flacco as the man that has never won the big game in his career. But now, Flacco can say that he is a winner. He has been in the Super Bowl. And with one more game with the stats of an elite quarterback, there might be no way to avoid putting Joe Cool in the same discussion with Brady and Manning.

Key #2: Torrey Smith has to find space deep in the San Fran secondary
The 49ers can be had in their secondary, and we have seen it time and time again over the course of the last few weeks. They allowed WR Julio Jones to catch 11 passes for 182 yards and two TDs against the Atlanta Falcons, and he hasn’t nearly been the only receiver of late to make some big plays happen against these 49ers. Roddy White did it (7 catches, 100 yards). James Jones did it (4 catches, 87 yards, 1 TD). Michael Floyd did it with Brian Hoyer throwing him the football (8 catches, 166 yards, 1 TD). Brandon Lloyd did it, too (10 catches, 190 yards). Four of these five names all share the same thing in common: They aren’t No. 1 receivers on their own teams. In fact, short of the NFC Championship Game, there really aren’t any top targets that have beaten up the Niners. It’s always been the No. 2 or No. 3 guy in the pecking order. Smith is that type of receiver, and he is a man that can get up the field in a hurry. It isn’t a prerequisite for him to score, and he doesn’t even have to have one of these games where he catches 10 passes for 130 yards. Smith just needs to break through the 49ers in the back end a time or two over the course of the game, and the passing game could really open up.

Superbowl 47 Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Baltimore Ravens +4
San Francisco 49ers -4
Over/Under 48.5
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Key #3: The offensive line has to keep Aldon Smith out of the backfield
The best games that the 49ers have had this year have seemingly all involved big outings from LB Aldon Smith. The man from Mizzou had 19.5 sacks this year, and in games in which he logged at least one sack, the team allowed 13.1 points per game. In games in which Smith doesn’t get a sack, which now includes five games in a row, the Niners have conceded 24.6 points per game, and they certainly have looked beatable. Of course, we know that there are some fallacies in there, as Smith is getting more attention and room is opening up for some of the other members of the front seven to get to the quarterback. However, this is a real key in this game. When the Ravens were struggling at their worst this year, they were allowing men like DE JJ Watt or DE Von Miller wreak havoc on Flacco and the offense. If the offensive line and the combination of tight ends and FB Vonta Leach can figure out how to put a hat on Smith, it’s going to make life a heck of a lot easier for this offense for the whole game.

Key #4: The defense has to confuse Colin Kaepernick
It is clear that the more time that QB Colin Kaepernick has to throw the ball and get into space, the more likely he is to make the big time play to burn the Baltimore defense. We have seen that time and time again. Teams just underestimate how fast this guy really is, and in the end, he has blown just about every unit he has faced up, especially here in the playoffs. However, Kaepernick isn’t without his struggles, and he has made some young mistakes. There isn’t a defense that has more ornate schemes than this Baltimore ‘D’, especially with two weeks to game plan for the mobile quarterback. Though the Atlanta defense didn’t end up having the most success in the world, it was clear that it had a better chance to get off the field when Kaepernick was in the pocket than when he was out of it, but that doesn’t have to remain the case when push comes to shove. Remember that the pick six that Kaepernick threw against the Green Bay Packers at the outset of that game came while he was on the move, and he made a poor decision. Whatever it takes to make Kaepernick make some of those bad decisions, as rare as they are, is what will be the key factor here for Baltimore defensively.

Key #5: The emotion just can’t run out
If you really look at the talent level that the Ravens have been playing with and playing against over the course of the last several weeks, you have to think that they have just been overmatched. They certainly weren’t a more talented team than either New England or Denver, but they were able to persevere in spite of the fact, largely because of the emotions that are coming from the squad in purple. Oh sure, LB Ray Lewis’ pending retirement is helping the team ride that wave, as is the fact that the team has that “us against the world” mentality to it. However, there is always a danger, especially with the long layoff before this one kicks off, that any team is going to fall flat. The Ravens have to keep this intensity up for the next two weeks, because they are running into a very businesslike team in the 49ers that are going to be in the Bayou for business and business only, not a party. If that intensity isn’t high from the start of practice on Monday through the very last second of the Super Bowl, the Ravens are going to be in some trouble for sure, and they run the risk of getting their doors blown off.

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The San Francisco 49ers became the first team to lock up a spot in Super Bowl 47 when they knocked off the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 at the Georgia Dome. Now, they’re playing in the biggest game of the season, and we are set to make our Superbowl predictions and picks.  In this article we’ll discuss the keys to the game; as in what the 49ers need to do to win the Super Bowl.

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#2 San Francisco 49ers vs. #4 Baltimore Ravens
Super Bowl 47 Location: Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
When is the Super Bowl?: Sunday, February 3rd, 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Super Bowl TV Coverage: CBS

Key #1: 49ers have to come out firing & let C.K. orchestrate the offense from the start.
Early in the Falcons game, it appeared that Jim Harbaugh & Greg Roman were trying to out-think Atlanta defensive coordinator, Mike Nolan.  It seemed as if the 49ers assumed that all the focus would be on Kaepernick’s running ability out of the pistol formation.  On the very first play, the 49ers came out of the huddle, showed the pistol formation, and than quickly switched to a power-i before running their first play.  Perhaps this was their way of saying, “We’ll do what we want”.  But, it didn’t fool Atlanta’s defense at all.  A hand-off to Gore resulted in Falcon defenders filling holes and swarming to the football.  Everyone knows the 49ers intend to run the football between the tackles, regardless of how well Kaepernick slinging the rock.  If the Niners coaching staff really wanted to throw the Falcon defense off-guard, a 5-wide receiver set along with a no-huddle offense from the start really would have done the trick.  The Falcons were playing the run on every play in the first quarter, and the 49ers were playing right into their hands.  Due to the quick three-and-outs, Kaepernick wasn’t able to get comfortable orchestrating the offense until he was allowed to hit some receivers in stride and make some check downs.  Baltimore is going to do everything they can to show that San Francisco’s highly touted offensive front isn’t going to push them around in the running game (and they are going to try to rattle the young gunslinger).  The Ravens will be very aggressive  in doing so.  Therefore, making sure C.K. gets into a rhythm throwing the football early is important.  Not only will it surprise the Ravens defense, but it will also open things up for the Gore/James/Kap running attack trifecta.  It will also allow them to use the Pistol more often later on in the game.  Making the older Ray Lewis run around a little bit, so that he’s huffing and puffing, rather than screaming, will do wonders for the 49ers offense.

Key #2: 49ers secondary has to communicate and avoid allowing big plays down the field.
The one knock against the 49ers over the course of the last few weeks is that they’ve been giving up some big plays down the field.  Early in the Falcons game, a blown assignment by the 49ers secondary allowed Julio Jones to catch a wide open TD.  The Ravens proved in the AFC Championship Game that they can score using the big play, as they got off quite a few big plays in the second half against the Patriots. Baltimore likes to run a modified hurry up, and it has the potential to get a heck of a lot of snaps off if the defense can’t get off the field. Keeping a close eye on WR Torrey Smith down the field and Anquan Boldin over the middle will be very important.  When playing against any elite defense, most teams that have a big arm quarterback are going to take their shots down the field; hoping they can either make a play or get a flag.  If the 49ers can bat these deep ball shots down, they will force the Ravens into some early 3rd and longs and some mistakes.

Super Bowl Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
San Francisco 49ers -4
Baltimore Ravens +4
Over/Under 48.5
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Key #3: Someone has to get in the face of quarterback, Joe Flacco
Though we know that QB Joe Flacco has a history of being cool in the pocket, he has also had some games in which he has folded as well when he is under a lot of pressure. Matt Ryan was very comfortable early in the NFC Championship.  However, in the second half, they were able to get to him a little bit and force him into some mistakes.  Clearly the talent is there to get to Flacco.  DE Aldon Smith is one of the best pass rushers in the game and DT Justin Smith is a monster up front as well.  However, DT Isaac Sopoaga managed to get the only sack of the game against Atlanta. Two weeks ago, LB Patrick Willis had the only sack against QB Aaron Rodgers and the Pack. Aldon Smith, had 19.5 sacks in his first 13 games of the season, but has not recorded a single sack in his last five games.  He seems to get them in bunches as he recorded 11 sacks over a 4 game span in the midway point of the season. Regardless, it doesn’t have to be Smith, but someone had better get a hand in Flacco’s face and knock him around a little bit.

Key #4: Other receivers have to step up aside from Michael Crabtree
Head Coach John Harbaugh isn’t a fool by any stretch of the imagination. He knows that WR Michael Crabtree is going to get the ball thrown his way quite a bit, as Crabtree really is the only outstanding receiver that the team has at its disposal. The Texas Tech Red Raider caught 15 passes for 176 yards and two TD in the playoffs thus far.  He was largely blanketed by a bevy of Atlanta defensive backs in the NFC Championship (opening things up for a big game from Vernon Davis). No matter what the Baltimore defense throws at Crabtree, he’ll get his catches, but someone else has to step it up. Don’t discount guys like WR Randy Moss and TE Delanie Walke. Though the two only combined for four catches and 66 yards, they were all in clutch spots for the offense. It’s not a matter of getting 100 yards out of Davis, Moss, or anyone else in the lineup, it’s just that a few guys need to make a few big plays to help Kaepernick win his first Superbowl.

Key #5: The 49ers’ front seven absolutely cannot miss tackles
RB Ray Rice is going to be coming and coming strong at the San Francisco defense, and he forces as many missed tackles of linebackers as any running back in the league with his low center of gravity. TE Dennis Pitta and WR Anquan Boldin also have the ability to bowling over unsuspecting members of the secondary to boot. San Fran is one of the best tackling teams in football, and it comes all over the field. This is the second straight year that Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has had his 49ers in the Top 5 in the league in tackles, and that has to hold true in the Super Bowl. If Rice is shaking tackles left and right, the Niners are going to be in some trouble. They have to continue to wrap up at the point of attack no matter who has the football. If they do that, Baltimore is going to have a heck of a time just trying to move the pigskin.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots are set to do battle with one another. Check out our Ravens vs. Patriots predictions and the keys to the AFC Championship Game for Baltimore vs. New England.

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#4 Baltimore Ravens @ #2 New England Patriots
Ravens vs. Patriots Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Ravens vs. Patriots Date/Time: Sunday, January 20th, 6:00 p.m. (ET)
Ravens vs. Patriots On TV: CBS

Key #1: The Ravens need to figure out how to keep from being on the field for 80+ snaps
There are only so many snaps that a defense can be on the field for. The Baltimore defense has been on the field for exactly 87 plays over the course of the last two weeks against the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. The team only allowed three field goals against the Colts, and though there were 35 points allowed to the Broncos, 14 of those points were allowed on special teams. Conceding 21 points in over five quarters on the road to the No. 1 team in the AFC is nothing to be ashamed of. Though emotion has gotten this team thus far, and LB Ray Lewis has been tremendous in his farewell tour, there is still only so much that can be asked of for a team that allowed 350.8 yards and 21.5 points per game this year. QB Tom Brady is the master of running play after play and taking advantage of a tired defense. He did it all last week against the Houston Texans, and he might be able to take advantage of that against the Ravens as well. New England ran 77 plays when these two teams met the first time. If it does that again, Baltimore is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble. If the Ravens can get the job done on defense and keep control of the ball on the ground with RB Ray Rice, this could be a very interesting game.

Ravens @ Patriots Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Baltimore Ravens +9
New England Patriots -9
Over/Under 51
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Key #2: The Patriots have to get over all of their injuries
Brady might be healthy and ready to get back to the Super Bowl for the second straight year, but he doesn’t quite have the healthiest team in the world around him. TE Rob Gronkowski is out for the rest of the year with his second forearm injury of the campaign, and RB Danny Woodhead might be out of the lineup as well. Granted, last week, we saw RB Shane Vereen step up with three total touchdowns, and RB Stevan Ridley had himself a great game, too. Ridley only had 37 yards on 13 carries when these two teams met the first time around, and both Woodhead, RB Brandon Bolden, and WR Julian Edelman were the three offensive touchdown scorers. Bolden will likely have to suit if Woodhead sits, and Edelman’s season is said and done with. All of a sudden, there is a huge difference from entering last week’s game when the Pats were as healthy as they have been all season long, and now when they have a few vital injuries that could prove to be costly. Just about everyone is going to be on notice this week to get into the lineup for New England, and whomever it is that is out there is going to have to be at his best beat the Ravens.

Key #3: Joe Cool has to stay calm and continue to deliver the big time throws
QB Joe Flacco ended up with a raw deal last year. He is still looked upon as the man that is never going to take his team to a Lombardi Trophy, yet in the AFC Championship Game, he still played his heart out. On a day when RB Ray Rice and RB Ricky Williams combined for just 89 yards on 27 carries without a touchdown, and on a day where the weather was awful and the New England defense was swarming, Joe Cool threw for 306 yards and two TDs against one pick. What’s worse for Flacco is that he delivered the ball right on the money that would have won the game if it weren’t dropped by WR Lee Evans, and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he would have won the game in overtime had K Billy Cundiff not missed that chip shot of a field goal attempt. Over the course of the last two weeks, Flacco has thrown for 613 yards and five TDs without tossing a pick, and the argument could be made that it is the best stretch of football that he has played in his entire career in the postseason. If that continues, the Ravens will have a shot at winning once again. If it doesn’t continue and Flacco resorts back into the quarterback that is largely known for blowing it when the games count the most, Baltimore has no chance.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons are set to do battle with one another. Check out our 49ers vs. Falcons predictions and the NFC Championship Game keys to the game for San Francisco vs. Atlanta.

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#2 San Francisco 49ers @ #1 Atlanta Falcons
49ers vs. Falcons Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
49ers vs. Falcons Date/Time: Sunday, January 20th, 3:00 p.m. (ET)
49ers vs. Falcons On TV: FOX
Key #1: Vernon Davis has to be a factor for the Niners
We know that the 49ers have been a remarkable team all year long, and they put up an outstanding effort against the Green Bay Packers last week. However, if there has been a knock on QB Colin Kaepernick, it is that he just hasn’t really figured out how to get a great rapport consistently with any of his receivers. Last week, the Falcons were just destroyed by TE Zach Miller, who finished the day with eight receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown. Miller isn’t the only tight end this year to light up the Falcons. Five tight ends since November 29th have put up at least 50 receiving yards against this Atlanta defense. Davis was expected to have a heck of a season, but he only had 41 receptions for 548 yards with five TDs. He also had just one catch against the Packers, but it did go for 44 yards. That now gives Davis just seven receptions in his last seven games dating back to Week 12 against the New Orleans Saints. If Davis isn’t going to be able to figure out how to get the job done, Kaepernick might have a tough time trying to get together with his receivers. Only WR Michael Crabtree had more than two receptions against Green Bay, and with DB Asante Samuel matched up with Crabtree all day on Sunday, someone else will have to step it up. Davis is the perfect man to do just that.

49ers @ Falcons Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
San Francisco 49ers -3.5
Atlanta Falcons +3.5
Over/Under 47
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Key #2: The Falcons have to get some pressure on Colin Kaepernick
DE John Abraham spent most of the game on the sidelines with an ankle injury in the Divisional playoff game, and as a result, QB Russell Wilson was able to run all over the field. Wilson finished with 385 passing yards and 60 rushing yards, and a lot of what he created over the course of the game came on the move. QB Colin Kaepernick has proven that he has ice water in his veins, and he isn’t going to be worried about playing on the road in this situation. He beat the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints on the road in the regular season, and in his first playoff start, he rebounded from throwing a pick six on the first drive of the game by rushing for 181 yards and two TDs and throwing for 263 yards and two TDs. Atlanta did get two sacks on Wilson, but that just wasn’t good enough, especially in the second half. With Abraham certainly in doubt for this coming week’s game, someone else is going to need to get into the backfield and force Kaepernick to throw the ball, because if he gets on the run like Wilson successfully did time and time again on Sunday, it is going to be a long day for this defense.

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Key #3: Atlanta absolutely has to run the football
Sure, you can pick on what the Falcons had done in the past in the playoffs and you can say that QB Matt Ryan and Head Coach Mike Smith had never won a playoff game since coming to Atlanta. However, the real NFL expert handicappers that disliked the Falcons did so because they didn’t run the ball well all season long, and they really didn’t play great defense. In the first half against the Seahawks, they did both of those items. They held twice on defense in the red zone, and they rushed the ball for 133 yards. In the second half, they allowed three touchdowns on the first three drives of the half on defense, and they only rushed for 34 yards. Needless to say, with as close as the Seahawks came to winning on Sunday, the Falcons are lucky to be here. If they don’t find a way to run the ball against a San Francisco defense that allowed just 94.2 yards per game this year on the ground, this game won’t be even close, as Matty Ice proved last week that he probably isn’t winning the NFC by himself without the help of RB Jacquizz Rodgers and RB Michael Turner.

Just two teams are left standing in the chase to capture the Lamar Hunt Trophy as the winners of the AFC, and they are the exact same two teams that we saw last year in this spot. Check out how the odds to win the AFC shake out for the final game of the year, as the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots do battle.

The team that is going to be the heavy favorite on the odds to win the AFC are the New England Patriots (Odds To Win 2012 AFC Championship: -410 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook). The Patriots have accomplished a ton this year, but they have had a lot fall into place as well. They are ultimately going to have a relatively soft trip to the Super Bowl this year, knowing that they ended up not having to play in Wild Card weekend, drew a struggling Houston Texans outfit in their first playoff game, and then got the Ravens at home instead of the Denver Broncos on the road.

Including the playoffs, QB Tom Brady now has thrown for 5,171 yards and 37 TDs against eight picks, and he has thrown five TDs without an interception in his last two games. His top target in the red zone, TE Rob Gronkowski is out of the fold for the rest of the year, but WR Wes Welker is coming off of a game in which he caught eight passes for 131 yards. RB Shane Vereen and RB Stevan Ridley combined for four touchdowns and over 200 total yards from scrimmage against Houston last week. The team has had some problems defensively though, and last week was no exception. The Texans racked up 425 yards of offense against the Patriots, and that marked the fifth time this year that they allowed at least 28 points. Of course, the offense has put up 427.9 yards and 34.8 points per game this year, and there have been 12 games with at least 29 points scored.

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The team in the other corner is going to be the Baltimore Ravens (2012-13 AFC Championship Lines: +330 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook). This is going to be the third time over the course of the last four years that the Ravens have played in the AFC Championship Game, but they have never made it to the Super Bowl under this regime. Head Coach John Harbaugh has never been able to get his team to the big one, and QB Joe Flacco always has been the quarterback that has performed well in the playoffs at the beginning of the postseason, but he has never been able to win the AFC Championship Game. This is the game that Baltimore fans badly want Flacco to win to validate his career. The route to the Super Bowl hasn’t been an easy one this year, as Baltimore had to go through the up and coming Indianapolis Colts and the top seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos, who had won 11 straight games prior to that point.

There are a lot of problems for the Ravens this year on both sides of the ball. The offense came out of the blocks on fire this year, but in the end, this unit really did turn out to be the same old Baltimore offense. The team will only go as far as RB Ray Rice takes it, though Flacco is playing some of the best ball of his career here in the second season. The vet from Delaware has exceeded 600 total yards and has five touchdowns thus far in the postseason. The Baltimore defense has been on the field a ton in the playoffs, too, taking 87 snaps in each of the first two games of the second season. This unit ranked in the 20s for most of the year in most of the major yardage categories, and LB Ray Lewis is out to make sure that that doesn’t remain the case here in the AFC Championship Game. Remember that Lewis is on his farewell tour, and his next loss will be his final game of his career.

AFC Championship Betting Odds and Spreads @ WagerWeb Sportsbook (as of 1/13/13):
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New England Patriots Win AFC Championship Game -450
Baltimore Ravens Win AFC Championship Game +300

AFC Championship Betting Odds and Spreads @ JustBet Sportsbook (as of 1/13/13):
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New England Patriots Win AFC Championship Game -450
Baltimore Ravens Win AFC Championship Game +300

Odds to Win The 2013 AFC Championship Game @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (As Of 1/13/13):
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New England Patriots Win AFC Championship Game -410
Baltimore Ravens Win AFC Championship Game +330

Full 2013 NFC Championship Game Odds Are Located At The End of this Post

There are just two teams left standing that can beat the odds to win the NFC Championship Game, and here at Bankroll Sports, we’re taking a look at the NFC Championship Game between the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers and what they need to do to contend on the Super Bowl odds in Februry in New Orleans.

The team that is going on the road is actually the team that is favored to win the NFC this year. The San Francisco 49ers (NFC Championship Odds: -185 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) have really made a name for themselves over the course of the last couple of years. Head Coach Jim Harbaugh took over a team that was mired in mediocrity for years and years, and now, this is the second straight year that they are playing in, and are favored in, the NFC Championship Game. Last year, QB Alex Smith was beaten by the New York Giants. This year, QB Colin Kaepernick is going to take his best shot at the Atlanta Falcons. The rookie has already proven that he can play some big time games in this, his first year as a starter. He went on the road and beat the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots, and he also has a win over the Chicago Bears to boot. Of course, his defense has been somewhat suspect at times, allowing at least 31 points in three out of four games, though a lot of those problems came via the special teams and the offense directly or indirectly giving up points.

Kaepernick is coming into this game off of one of the best performances that a quarterback has ever had in the history of the NFL playoffs. He broke the playoff record for the most rushing yards in a game by a quarterback, and he accounted for four touchdowns in the game. All of that came after throwing a pick six to start off the contest. That’s what we have seen out of Kaepernick all year long. He has the ability to make the play that Smith can’t make athletically, but he also has the ability to make that questionable throw that makes you shake your head. All told though, Kaepernick now has 2,077 passing yards and 596 rushing yards in basically the equivalent of 10 full games under center this season. He’s got a great rushing game with RB Frank Gore, who had over 100 yards against the Packers last week as well, and the defense still ranks in the Top 5 in just about every major category in the league. There’s no doubt that this is a team not to be messed with that can win the whole thing this year.

However, the Atlanta Falcons (NFL Betting Lines for the NFC Championship: +155 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) are the ones that have home field advantage in this game. It’s amazing that all season long, the target has been on the Falcons’ back, as they have always been looked upon as the team that was always winning games, but was never expected to be able to win in the playoffs. All of that really didn’t change this past week though, knowing that the club blew leads of 20-0 and 27-7, and it needed a field goal in the dying seconds just to beat the Seattle Seahawks. The monkey is off the back of Head Coach Mike Smith and QB Matt Ryan though, as both men now have their first career playoff wins as coach and quarterback respectively. Now, the reward is getting to host the NFC Championship Game for the first time in Falcons history.

There is still a real concern about how good this team really is. There aren’t many that would argue the fact that this isn’t one of the best teams in the league, and we really don’t even think that it was one of the best five or six teams in the NFL this year in spite of a 13-3 record in the regular season. Good teams can run the ball, and good teams play at least respectable defenses. The Falcons were able to play two great quarters of ball against the Seahawks, but in the end, their ‘D’ only looks worse than it did in the regular season when it allowed gobs of yards. The rushing attack had 133 yards in the first half against Seattle, but just 34 yards (16 of which came on one carry) in the second half. It was a harsh reminder of what this team can and can’t do. Matty Ice did throw for three touchdowns, and he had just three total touchdowns in his first three playoff games prior to this one. He also threw for 250 yards against the Seahawks, which marked the first time that he ever threw for 200+ yards in a postseason game as well. Still, he really looked lost at times in the third and fourth quarter. Few will remember that he had pinpoint accuracy throughout the first half and made some tremendous plays to help open up that lead, and most won’t even remember the fact that he led the team down the field for the game-winning field goal drive with a couple of great passes. What will be remembered, especially if this game is lost, is the fact that he played so poorly at all other times in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

2013 NFL Odds to Win NFC Championship @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 1/13/13):
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San Francisco 49ers Win NFC Championship Game -185
Atlanta Falcons Win NFC Championship Game +155

Current Odds to win the NFC Championship Game @ JustBet Sportsbook (as of 1/13/13):
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San Francisco 49ers Win NFC Championship Game -200
Atlanta Falcons Win NFC Championship Game +150

2013 Super Bowl Odds (Odds To Be the NFC Team in the Super Bowl) @ WagerWeb Sportsbook (as of 1/13/13):
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San Francisco 49ers Win NFC Championship Game -190
Atlanta Falcons Win NFC Championship Game +155

Our 2013 NFL playoffs predictions continue on Sunday, January 13th with the Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots. We are set to make our Texans vs. Patriots predictions, tips, and keys to the game for this crucial duel in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

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#3 Houston Texans @ #2 New England Patriots
Texans vs. Patriots Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, MA
Texans vs. Patriots Date/Time: Sunday, January 13th, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Texans vs. Patriots On TV: CBS

Key #1: Houston has to come to Gillette meaning business
We just can’t imagine that the Texans are going to come into this one the same way that they did the first time around. Everyone on the team was given a letterman jacket just before going up to Foxboro a month ago, and the club got the living heck beaten out of it. The lasting impression of that game was that the Patriots were playing the game against the Texans on Monday Night Football as all business, while Houston was really there overconfident in itself. This time though, it has to be 100% business for the Texans, who are playing in the biggest game in franchise history. This win would be the best thing that ever happened to the Texans in their 10-year history, but they can’t ultimately get caught up in the moment. This is just too big of a game to ultimately come up here thinking that it is going to be fun and games in Foxboro against a team that clearly is going to be taking this game as pure business.

Texans @ Patriots Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Houston Texans +9.5
New England Patriots -9.5
Over/Under 48.5
Click Here to Bet Your Texans vs. Patriots Picks!

Key #2: The Patriots have to figure out how to slow down JJ Watt again
The Cincinnati Bengals just couldn’t do it last week. DE JJ Watt was remarkable against the Bengals, and though he only finished up with five tackles and a sack, he was all over the field and caused chaos for QB Andy Dalton and the gang. The Houston defense absolutely cannot play better than it did this past week, as it held the Bengals to just 198 yards of offense and kept them without a third down conversion. Of course, the catalyst of this team is Watt, and it really seems as though when he is non-existent, the defense is non-existent. When the Pats and the Texans played five weeks ago, Watt had just two tackles and two assists, but more importantly, he didn’t have a single sack, nor did he really get his hands on QB Tom Brady. The end result? Brady went 21-of-35 for 296 yards with four TDs and no picks. It is clear if Brady gets time to sit in the pocket and throw the football, he is going to pick any secondary in the league apart, especially against this Houston secondary that has been prone to giving up some big time plays.

Key #3: Arian Foster can’t have an off day after a huge day against the Bengals
RB Arian Foster rushed for 140 yards on 32 carries against the Bengals in the Wild Card round of the postseason, and he is now the only player in the history of the league to rush for at least 100 yards in each of his first three playoff games. What was amazing is that Foster did that against a great defensive front, and he didn’t have a single carry for more than 17 yards on the day. Foster now has eight 100+ yard games this year. The team went 8-0 SU and 6-2 ATS in those games. There were only four games in which he was held to 50 yards or fewer, and the team lost three of those four outings. In the one exception of a game against the Tennessee Titans, RB Justin Forsett rushed for 64 yards to pick up the slack. Of course, one of those games where Foster was held down came against these very same Patriots, as he had just 46 yards on 15 carries. He did score a touchdown on the day, but it wasn’t nearly good enough to get the job done. New England did finish the year ranked ninth in the NFL against the rush, but there were better defenses that Foster has run against in his career.

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Our 2013 NFL playoffs predictions continue on Sunday, January 13th with the Seattle Seahawks vs. Atlanta Falcons. We are set to make our Seahawks vs. Falcons predictions, tips, and keys to the game for this crucial duel in the first round of the playoffs.

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#5 Seattle Seahawks @ #1 Atlanta Falcons
Seahawks vs. Falcons Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Seahawks vs. Falcons Date/Time: Sunday, January 13th, 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Seahawks vs. Falcons On TV: FOX

Key #1: The Seahawks have to keep up this mojo against playoff teams
You really don’t think of the Seahawks as an outfit that ultimately did tremendously well against playoff teams this year, but when you go back and look at it, this is a team that did a heck of a lot better than you would think against the best teams in the league. Granted, we know that the win over the Green Bay Packers should have never happened, but the club ultimately went 5-1 SU and 6-0 ATS, including last week’s 24-14 win over the Washington Redskins to conclude Wild Card weekend. There’s more than that, too. Seattle also beat the Chicago Bears on the road and the Dallas Cowboys at home this year, and those were both wins that, had they not been had, would have cost the team a spot in the second season. This Seattle outfit also ultimately didn’t lose a game this year by more than seven points on the campaign. This team is a heck of a lot better than your average 11-5 team, and it has the longest winning streak of any team in the NFC right now at six games.

Seahawks @ Falcons Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Seattle Seahawks +2.5
Atlanta Falcons -2.5
Over/Under 46
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Key #2: The Falcons have to get back to the fundamentals of football
Teams that win championships run the ball and play good defense at this level. Even when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl a few years ago, they managed to find their way to make some big time defensive plays en route to the title. The Falcons do neither of these things well. They didn’t have anywhere near a 1,000-yard rusher this year, and they ultimately ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing at just 87.3 yards per game, and they allowed 365.6 yards per game. They did the job by allowing just 18.7 points per game, but anyone that has watched this team this year knows that this is a team that is just waiting to implode and allow 40 points in a game if it isn’t careful. But back to the ground game for a second. RB Michael Turner only rushed for 803 yards and 10 TDs this year, and he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. We understand that Turner is coming up towards the end of his career and he is more of a plodding back right now, but the fact that RB Jacquizz Rodgers averaged just 3.9 yards per carry as a spunky, change of pace back doesn’t speak well for this offensive line. If all of this doesn’t improve, it will be a year of disappointment for the Falcons.

Key #3: The Georgia Dome can’t turn on Matty Ice
It’s easy to see why the fans of the Falcons are frustrated at this point. They have never won a championship, and they haven’t won a playoff game under the direction of Head Coach Mike Smith and QB Matt Ryan. Don’t get us wrong, as Atlanta is lucky to have Ryan under center as opposed to QB Chris Redman and whatever other garbage the team had before. However, at 0-3 SU and ATS in three playoff games, it is easy to dismiss Ryan as a quarterback that just can’t play in the big time game in his career. He has never thrown for even 200 yards in a playoff game in three tries, and he has just 584 yards with three TDs and four picks in those games. Last year against the New York Giants, he didn’t even get a single point on the board offensively in a game that was ultimately lost 24-2. That just doesn’t cut it, and it won’t get the job done in the playoffs against any team, especially one that is as hot as the Seahawks ultimately are.

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The 2013 NFL playoff picks are going to be difficult to make, and in this one, the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos are set to do battle with one another. Check out our Ravens vs. Broncos predictions and the keys to the game for Baltimore vs. Denver.

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#4 Baltimore Ravens @ #1 Denver Broncos
Ravens vs. Broncos Location: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
Ravens vs. Broncos Date/Time: Saturday, January 12th, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Ravens vs. Broncos On TV: CBS

Key #1: The Ravens need another inspired effort defensively
The statistics on the win against the Indianapolis Colts weren’t the prettiest in the world for the Ravens, but when push came to shove, they got the job done against a very good offensive unit. The Colts did move the ball quite a bit, getting 25 first downs and 419 total yards, but the defense managed 12 pass defenses over the course of the day and picked up three sacks, 2.5 of which came from DT Paul Kruger. LB Ray Lewis, playing in his final home game of his career, had nine tackles and four assists, and he looked like his old self. QB Andrew Luck only completed 51.9 percent of his passes and was picked off once, and a lot of his yards came after the game was a bit out of reach. The Ravens aren’t going to be able to afford allowing over 400 yards to the Broncos if they want to win, but they do need to play with that same sort of intensity, especially when Denver gets down in the red zone if they want to have a chance of pulling off the upset against the top seed in the AFC.

Ravens @ Broncos Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Baltimore Ravens +9
Denver Broncos -9
Over/Under 45.5
Click Here to Bet Your Ravens vs. Broncos Picks!

Key #2: The General has to continue to command the field
There aren’t many quarterbacks like QB Peyton Manning out there. Manning came back this year after missing the entire 2011 season with a neck injury, and he really is as good as he has ever been. Manning completed a whopping 400 passes and finished with 4,695 yards and 37 TDs against 11 picks. Manning averaged 297.5 passing yards per game over the course of his last 14 games of the season after getting his feet wet with his brand new team. He has posted 13 straight games with at least a 90 quarterback rating and has had nine games in his last 14 with at least three touchdown passes. The bugaboo on Manning though, is that he really hasn’t been able to win the biggest games of his career. Little brother, Eli has one more Super Bowl title than does the elder Manning brother, and little Eli has beaten QB Tom Brady twice, something that has always plagued Peyton. This isn’t the biggest game in the world that Manning has ever played, but it comes against a team that has a defense that really can frustrate him. That being said, in nine games against the Ravens in his career, Manning has averaged 275.2 passing yards per game, has completed 64.7 percent of his passes, and has an 18/5 TD/INT ratio. With a suspect running game, Manning needs to keep that up if he is going to lead his team to the AFC Championship Game.

Key #3: Ray Rice has to hold onto the football
Over the course of his entire 77-game career, RB Ray Rice had only fumbled the ball seven times and lost six of them. He had never had a game with two fumbles ever, but he was stripped twice last week by the Colts, and the team lost both fumbles. Granted, that paved to way to a 100+ yard day for backup RB Bernard Pierce, but this time around, we know that it is going to be Rice that has to be the dynamic one to win this game. The Ravens have run for 396 yards in their last two serious games (forget about a Week 17 loss that meant nothing to the Cincinnati Bengals), but in Week 14, they only ended up with 19 carries for 56 yards as a team against these very same Broncos. Rice had just 38 yards on 12 carries, and he really hasn’t looked totally the same since that point. We’re going to go out on a limb and say that the Ravens need to account for at least 120 yards on the ground to have a chance in this one, and means that Rice has to not only hold onto the football, but continue to rumble through this stout Denver defense to have a chance at the upset.

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