The two teams hyped the most by sports writers have been eliminated. It seemed liked everyone was picking Green Bay to return to the Super Bowl. And in the AFC though there wasn't an equal amount buzz about Peyton Manning's Broncos they were heavy favorites against Baltimore.
Kaepernick demolished the Packers defense. The 49ers put up 45 points and Kaepernick with his sprinter's speed rushed for 181 yards, both a regular season and playoff record for a quarterback. Much like last year's Green Bay loss to the Giants Aaron Rodgers never got into the flow of the game.
The Ravens-Broncos double overtime game was tremendous, a televisual smorgasbord. Despite two touchdowns on special teams from Trindon Holliday, a strong performance from running back Ronnie Hillman and home field advantage Denver could not get it done. It says a lot about the true grit of the Ravens. They were all banged up -- the game last week against the Colts was not a cakewalk -- and then to have to travel and play a single-elimination game on the road at altitude and then to win that game in double overtime by intercepting a pass from the great Peyton Manning, the old Raven defense on the field play after play after play, tells me do not rule this team out. As Ray Lewis eloquently said on the field right after Justin Tucker's 47-yard game-winning field goal, "God is amazing . . . Man believes in the possible. God believes in the impossible." How nice; what a complex conceptualization that is. The NFL on TV packs a wallop.
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