NFL Weekend Recap: AFC and NFC Championship is set

After a NFL weekend for the ages, the conference championships are set for next weekend. Fans get an AFC rematch from last year and a NFC team gets another shot.

Falcons 30 Seahawks 28
The Atlanta Falcons and Matt Ryan finally exercise their playoff demons by defeating the hottest team in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks in heart attack fashion. The jumped out to an early dominate lead over Seattle 20-0 at halftime. Russell Wilson finally got the offense going in the third quarter connecting with Golden Tate for a 29 yard touchdown. After the third quarter, the Seahawks went on a 21 point run to take the lead for the first time with only  :31 seconds left in the game. With the weight of Atlanta on his shoulders, Matt Ryan lead a 2 play scoring drive with the help of Roddy White and Tony Gonzales capped with a 49 yard field goal from Matt Bryant.

Coach Smith said in his post game comments, "Our quarterback is a special player. They call him Matty Ice, but I feel like we've got two Matty Ices. There's Matty Ice Ryan and Matty Ice Bryant."

This Falcon win was not easy, but again beating Seattle is easy at all. They played their way into the number one spot in the NFC and today they earned. This is Matt Ryan first playoff win in 4 attempts.

49ers 45 Packers 31

Reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers could not match newcomer Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers made a quarterback change after Alex Smith, the QB that took the 49ers to the NFC Championship last year, suffered a concussion. This was the game that it all made since.

"I didn't know how fast he was. Coming in I never really paid attention to it. But he is fast", says Green Bay Packer Charles Woodson.

Kaepernick rushed for 181 yards breaking a postseason NFL record for quarterbacks set twice ironically by Michael Vick when he played with the Atlanta Falcons. In his first playoff game, he ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for 2 touchdowns.

Colin Kaepernick's comments after the win, "Our receivers  our tight ends, blocked great outside, and our running backs were running hard, so it made it easier on me."

Ravens 38 Broncos 35
It took 2 overtime periods to decide a winner in a NFL battle that will be apart of two Hall of Fame career summaries, Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning. The story of this game starts with what is now being called the "Flacco Fling" as Joe Flacco hit Jacoby Jones for a 70 yard touchdown on 3rd and 30 with :31 seconds left to play.

"At that point you have to start taking shots." said Flacco. "You have to get a little lucky."


Unfortunately, Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning will be remembered for other reasons. Mainly that he still is not a big game playoff winner. Broncos' fans will carry into the offseason the memory of Manning rolling out of the pocket to throw across his body to the Ravens cornerback Corey Graham.

Peyton Manning's explanation: "Yeah, bad throw. Probably the decision wasn't great either. I thought I had an opening, and I didn't get enough into it, and I was trying to make a play and certainly a throw I'd like to have back."

Justin Tucker ends the game with a 47 yard field goal kick that sent Ray Lewis to his knees with emotion. This also means more Tim Tebow talk this offseason since he does have more playoff wins in Denver than Manning.

Patriots 41 Texans 28
Another dominant performance in the playoffs for the Patriots and Tom Brady. The Patriots defensive game plan was simple; don't get beat deep and stop the run. The Texans have not lost a game when Arian Foster rushes for 100 yards, but today he could only get 90. The New England win did not come without sacrifice due to Rob Gronkowski re-breaking his forearm in the first quarter and will miss the rest of the postseason. Tom Braby also passes Joe Montana with 17 playoff wins. After the game Brady commented, "I grew up a 49ers fan. Joe Montana and Steve Young...those guys are in another class."

Overall, this was one of the best NFL weekends in recent history. In the words of Bart Scott, "Can't Wait".