NFL Picks - Championship Round

One more weekend. Then the big game.

(Winners in bold.)

Giants at 49ers

I am sticking to my guns, I think a Super Bowl appearance is too much for a rookie coach. Tom Coughlin is battle tested and been on this stage before. Jim Harbaugh, both in the NFL and college, has never sniffed a game with these type of title implications. His quarterback was practically left for dead a year ago and his offense was completely out of sync last year. Somehow he rallied the troops and kept them focused throughout the grind of the regular season. Right now, they are completely healthy and ready to take the stage. The problem is, they have a Manning in their way. With Peyton gone, this world needs a Manning to be successful in some capacity. Since Eli couldn't grab the MVP ( or won't, at least), this is the only way he can prove he is truly the real deal. He has too many weapons and the necessary big game experience to bring his team to yet ANOTHER win.

Ravens at Patriots

Undoubtedly, the most difficult week of my short 2012 came after the Ravens beat out the Texans. The following week has been full of posturing and pondering about how the Ravens COULD and possibly SHOULD get blown away by the awesome Patriot offense. Ten minutes later, the same game brings up a totally different conversation about how the Ravens are destined to harass Tom Brady and use Ray Rice to expose the Pats leaky defense. There are just as many reasons to believe either side of the argument. When in doubt, though, I will always go with the most recent past. I picked against the Ravens last week out of pure belief that I could reverse jinx them to a win. Better believe I'm doing it again. Monday is going to be an interesting day, nonetheless.


Best weekend in football, without a doubt.