NFL Elite

Who are the Elite? By David B. ESPN.com

San Fran vs. Atlanta

The 49ers are in my mind the best all around football team in the nation. I can't think of a team better then them. The Niners have veterans to lead the team and talented rookies including the likes of Aldon Smith and Collin Kaepernick. Smith leads his team by far in sacks with 19.5 and the next player on the list would be Ahmad Brooks and he has 6.5 sacks. Kaepernick came up the way a lot of rising stars have come up. They start as a backup and then they get "the call". Collin got his shot when former starting quarterback Alex Smith was injured and he came in and got the job done. In fact he did so well he got to play again and again until he was officially named the starter and the first stringer. The one wild factor for the Niners is the ability to keep the defense on their heels and guessing if they are going to run, pass, or who will run with it. Kaepernick is very good with his legs he ran for 415 yards in the regular season and he only played 13 games. Another player who keeps you guessing is Frank Gore who ran for 1,214 with 8 touchdowns and is built very strong so he can block very well for Collin to make a long run.

On the other hand there is the menacing Atlanta Falcons. They are the team that has left everybody in their dust. The Falcons are 13 and 3 in the regular season. They are lead by quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Roddy White. White has caught 92 passes and has 1351 receiving yards, also Julio Jones has 1198 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. The guy throwing those balls is Matt Ryan who has completed 422 passes for 4719 yards. John Abraham is one of the best defensive weapons on the Falcons, he has 10 sacks this season leading his team. He will be listed as questionable for Sunday's game at 3:00 PM EST.

I think that the Falcons have reached the end of the line and the Niners will go to the Super Bowl to play in New Orleans. Post in the comments with your game predictions.

By David B.

Play-offs

The NFL play-offs have just finished the divisional round and are on to the league championship. The teams that are left are the Ravens, Patriots, Falcons, and 49ers.

The Niners will play the Ravens for the NFC Championship. The Ravens have won the past two games they played, when they were underdogs in both of them. The Colts were a higher seed when they played the Ravens in the wild card round, but they were projected to win by many. Also the Ravens played the #1 seed  Broncos who were the heavy favorite to win the game. Although the Ravens came out on top by a field goal in OT. The Ravens have indeed had a great run, but I believe it is the end of the line for the Ravens. I think the Patriots have to much talent. I predict that Matt Ryan and the Falcons can come away with win and a Super Bowl chance.

Young quarterback Collin Kaepernick and defensive end Aldon Smith I think can lead this 49ers team to victory against a veteran Patriots offense. Smith has 19.5 sacks and an interception. The more impressive numbers come from Collin Kaepernick who has 415 rushing yards and 1814 passing yards in only 13 games. He also has a passer rating of 98.3 and a total of 15 touchdowns. The Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has put up numbers like no other and so has running back Stevan Ridley. Ridley has 1263 rushing yards on a whopping 290 rushing attempts. Brady has 4827 passing yards with 34 touchdowns and has not thrown a single interceptions in the play-offs. I Believe the #2 49ers will win this game and move on to
the big game in New Orleans.
                                  Matt Ryan         Ray Lewis        Stevan Ridley    Collin Kaepernick

By David B.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks played the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional play-offs and it was a blow out until the final quarter. Then the Seahawks made a run at it. They came out above by 1 with 0:31 seconds left in the fourth. When after 2 pass plays the Falcons came within range of a field goal. So the Falcons called Matt Bryant out for a field goal attempt from 49 yards and he missed it, but the Seahawks called a time-out trying to ice Bryant. The next time Matt wouldn't miss he put it through the uprights with only 0:13 seconds. That would be it for this amazing Seattle season.

I believe the game would have turned out differently if Marshawn Lynch had ran for more yards than 46 yards. There was one Seahawk who gave completely everything he had, Russel Wilson. He had 385 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns. He also had 60 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Tight end Zach Miller had a game nothing short of outstanding. He had 8 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. Also if the Seahawks defense played better than they did that would have helped. Because they didn't have a single sack all game. Plus Atlanta's Micheal Turner had 98 rushing yards and an average of 7 yards.



The final score would end up with Micheal Turner and the Falcons on top 30-28. Better luck next year Seahawks and as for the # 1 Falcons they will face the 49ers on January 20 at 3:00 PM EST.

Broncos vs. Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens were down 35-28 when Jacoby Jones caught a 70 yarder from Joe Flacco with only 31 seconds. That would send the game to overtime. Then the game was sent to double OT and that is when Baltimore's Justin Tucker sent a 47 yard field goal through the uprights.

The one player that did the most for the Ravens was no other than running back, Ray Rice. Rice racked up a total 130 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown. He didn't do it alone he had help from quarterback Joe Flacco who had 331 yards with 3 touchdowns. Wide Recievers, Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith were the ones catching the passes most of the time with Smith catching 2 of his 3 passes for touchdowns. Also Boldin had 6 catches for 71 yards.

The Broncos put up a great fight though with Peyton Manning playing well, but not well enough. The main reason the Broncos lost was because Manning through 2 interceptions and Flacco didn't throw any. Plus Knowshon Moreno had only 32 rushing yards, before he hurt his knee getting taken out of the game.

         By David B.

Play-off Predictions

ESPN.com predicts the winners of the divisional play-off round. By David B. ESPN.com

Play-off Recap

8 teams faced off over the weekend, but only 4 will made it out. Those teams are the Texans, Packers, Seahawks, and Ravens.

Texans- The Texans win over the Bengals was a hard fought battle to the end. The game was in the Texans favor until the end. When the Bengals made a run at it, but the Bengals never did grab the lead from the Texans. So it would end in a score of 19-13 Texans on top. Next week the Texans will play the Patriots. 

Packers- The Green Bay Packers played the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers had the lead through the whole game. Except for a tie in the early first quarter. One problem that might have lead to a loss for the Packers is that they had to punt 7 times and Minnesota only punted 5 times. They made up for that by getting 3 touchdowns. The final score would turn out to be 24-10 Green Bay on top. They're going to play the 49ers next week. 

Seahawks- Seattle played an unlikely foe, the Redskins. The Redskins were unexpected to make the play-offs, but it happened and it looked like they would upset this Seattle team. The Redskins took a 14-13 lead into the locker room in the second half, but when RG3 came out after hurting his knee in the second half. The 'Skins fell apart and ended up falling short of the Seahawks 24-14. So the Seahawks will get a shot against the Falcons next week.

Ravens- Baltimore would take the lead and keep it in the second half after the first half ended in a 3-3 score. Then it was all Baltimore and the Colts couldn't stop them. It ended with the Ravens leading 24-9. The Ravens will move on to play the Broncos.

By David B.

Bengals VS. Texans

The Bengals are one of this years wild card teams, but don't count them out. Because last year the New York Giants made the play-offs on the wild card and they won the Super Bowl. And everything I said before is true, but I believe that the Texans are just to are just to good of a team to lose first round. Especially after their amazing 12-4 season. The Bengals only won 10 games this season which was barely enough for the play-offs.

Last year the Bengals made the play-offs against the Texans, but quarterback Andy Dalton choked and threw 3 interceptions leading the Bengals to a first round loss. This year Dalton is hoping to do the opposite after a 3669 yard season. Running Back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for over 1,000 yards this season and I think he can put up good numbers in this game. But the player with the largest impact on this Bengals team is Wide-Receiver A.J Green. Green had 1350 receiving yards for 11 touchdowns.

The team that I believe will be coming out on top the Houston Texans will be hosting the Bengals. So with this home field advantage I believe it just adds onto the list of reasons that the Texans have the edge. The first and most important is their running back Arian Foster who I have ranked at number 3 on my list of NFL running backs Top 3 NFL running backs. If wide receiver Andre Johnson has anything to do with it then I believe that the Texans will have a large advantage. Johnson has racked up 1598 yards on 112 receptions. The Texans defense has improved with J.J Watt getting  20.5 SACKS, 4 forced fumbles, and 69 tackles at Defensive End.

Watch out Cincinnati here comes Houston!

             By David B.