MAQB – Championship Game edition

A last second FG attempt to force OT goes wide left. A punt returner goes from a nobody to a household name for all the wrong reasons. What a great weekend of football (unless you hate the Giants and Patriots, which I’m assuming most of my readers do).

I took two things away from the championship games. 1) Great QBs are necessary to win a Super Bowl these days. It’s been almost a decade since the Brad Johnson led Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII. Since then every QB who has led his team to a Lombardi has been an elite QB. Sure, hindsight is 20/20 because nobody thought Brady or Eli were elite when they won their first Super Bowls, but no one is going to mistake Alex Smith for elite. 2) You need to play well in all facets of the game and avoid critical mistakes in those facets. Yes I’m looking at you Kyle Williams.

I’ll rant on Kyle Williams (punt returner for the 49ers who lost 2 punts that directly led to 10 NY Giants points, including the game winning FG in OT) for one paragraph and then I’m done. He may go down as one of the biggest goats in NFL history. If the 49ers don’t put a punt returner back on either punt and just let it hit the ground and roll, they win. You could call Billy Cundiff a goat, but if he doesn’t attempt that kick, the Ravens still lose. Never again will you see a player where if he did nothing, his team wins. Heck, Kyle Williams crashed twitter. When he fumbled that ball, twitter stopped working. It’s pretty impressive that one player managed to screw up so bad he crashed twitter. Kyle, if you’re reading this,  I know a few insurance salesmen. They don’t make $400-700k a year like you do in the NFL, but you can make a good living. You probably won’t see a paycheck from the 49ers again. Think about it.

Now that my rant is over, I’ll focus on some things (that hopefully interest you *crosses fingers*) that I noticed on Sunday that led to why the Ravens and 49ers are sending players to Hawaii instead of Indianapolis. On paper, that sounds kind of crazy, who would rather go to Indy than Hawaii? Super Bowl aside, it’s kind of funny players are disappointed that they have to go to Hawaii. I stayed at one of the resorts the players have stayed at (Hilton at Waikiki) and it’s gorgeous.

I’ll start off with the 49ers because their loss was more heartbreaking and it’s fresher in my mind. I want to throw a few things at you and when you see them, you’ll wonder how the heck this game went to overtime.

-Alex Smith completed only 46% of his passes, but he did have 7.5 yards per attempt…unless you simply ignore his 73 yard completion to Vernon Davis halfway through the first quarter. When you take away one completion, his yards per attempt drops to 4.92. Eli didn’t light the world on fire either passing the ball, but he was their offense. The Giants running game was ineffective all game long. Alex Smith was aided with 108 yards rushing from his RBs on only 22 carries (4.9 yards per carry, 1.4 yards per carry more than the Giants).

-The 49ers did not have a 3rd down conversion until overtime. They were 0-12 the first 60 minutes. The Giants were a mediocre 7-21 (33%) but 0-12 just screams failure. Alex Smith wasn’t even a game manager here. Game managers convert 3rd downs and keep the chains moving. The 49ers would have loved a game manager and not Alex Smith circa 2007.

-Alex Smith attempted 9 passes to 49ers WRs. There was 1 (one, yes one) completion for 3 yards(that’s three yards, you are reading that correctly). 1 completion out of 9 attempts for 3 yards. I can’t repeat this enough to demonstrate how pathetic it is. Henry Hynoski, a fullback not known for his receiving abilities (12 catches all season), had 3 catches for 20 yards on 3 attempts. A FB had more catches and yards than the entire WR corps for San Francisco. I don’t care how good Vernon Davis is. Does Alex Smith suck at throwing to WRs or do their WRs suck? Those 2 statements are likely not mutually exclusive though.

I hate to say it, but it seems like last week was a fluke for Alex Smith. I was quick to give him praise for a phenomenal, gutsy performance, but he was absolutely unable to make plays that weren’t passes to Vernon Davis. He had a few decent runs when the pocket collapsed, but 0-12 on 3rd down in regulation means he didn’t do it when it counted. His defense gave him a  phenomenal performance and he played scared when it counted most. A lot of Eagles, Redskins, and Vikings fans probably thought they saw Donovan McNabb out there. Smith threw way too many worm burners (low balls that hit the ground before their intended target) and looked like he was afraid of losing the game with a mistake. The Alex Smith we saw last week threw the ball into tight coverage, took risks, and played like he had nothing to lose.

Yesterday, he played like he had everything to lose…and he did.

If you told me on Saturday that Joe Flacco would have more yards, more touchdowns, and less interceptions than Tom Brady, I would have told you “wow I can’t believe the Ravens won.” This is one of those games where you look at the stats and you can’t figure out how the Ravens didn’t win this game. As stated, they had more passing yards and a +2 turnover ratio (2 Brady INTs and a Danny Woodhead fumble to only one Flacco INT). They had more rushing yards (116 to 96), were better on 3rd down (9/17 to the Patriots 5/11) and more than a 7 minute edge in time of possession.

I don’t want to say the Ravens lost this game because of one missed FG at the end but from a hindsight perspective, they played better than the Patriots. Heck, after Joe Flacco’s lone interception, the Ravens got the ball right back on a beautiful interception by rookie Jimmy Smith on the very next play. They only lost 15 yards of field position in that whole scenario. Their biggest mistake was nullified immediately.

I think what happened in this game boils down to 3 or 4 plays. This game was incredibly close and as I’ve mentioned looks like it should have gone the Ravens way on paper. Let’s go over a few plays that proved to be critical to the Ravens loss. If any of these go the other way, most likely the game does as well.

-Ravens have the ball, 3rd and 5 on the New England 7 yard line. First play of the 2nd quarter, down 3-0. Flacco throws the ball short of the sticks and Anquan Boldin ends up a yard short. 4th and 1 at the New England 3. The FG is good, but a blown opportunity to put up 7 instead of 3.

-3rd quarter, Ravens kick the ball off after a Flacco touchdown pass to Torrey Smith. Danny Woodhead “Kyles” (see what I did there?) the kickoff and the Ravens recover the fumble on the New England 28 yard line. Several plays later 3rd and 8 on the New England 9. Flacco gets sacked for 9 yards and the Ravens kick a FG. When the opposing team “Kyles” the kickoff and gives you the ball on the 28 yard line, you have to punch it in the end zone. If the Ravens score a touchdown there, the score is 24-16 instead of 20-16. Not only would the Patriots need a touchdown and a 2 point conversion to tie it, they would only tie it with that. A missed 2 point conversion and you’re still winning. That’s a heck of a lot different than what happened.

-4th quarter, 2:46 to go, Ravens down by 3. 4th and 6 on the New England 33, questionable FG range. The Ravens opt to go for it. Flacco has pressure in his face immediately and throws it towards the sideline in the vicinity of a Ravens receiver but it isn’t close. Patriots get the ball yet somehow don’t get a single first down.

-27 seconds left in the game. 2nd and 1on the New England 14. The Ravens D stepped up and got their offense the ball back and they’re in FG range. Ask any NFL player: they never want to leave the game in the hands of the kicker. It’s not that they don’t like them, it’s just that you don’t want to leave your season in the hands of a guy who only plays a handful snaps per game. The Ravens are in good position to take a shot at the end zone. 2nd and 1: incomplete pass. 3rd and 1, 22 seconds left, incomplete pass. You know what happens next.

I think what you can really pinpoint this blame on is 3 scenarios in which the Ravens were inside the Patriots 15 yard line and they settled for FG attempts instead of touchdowns. If one of those goes in for a touchdown, the Ravens are headed to Indy. On a day where Tom Brady struggled and the Patriots made mistakes, you have to capitalize on those mistakes and the Ravens didn’t do it.

One of the things that has made the Patriots and Tom Brady great is that killer instinct. When they’re presented with the opportunity to end it, they go for it. The Ravens had that opportunity and they didn’t take advantage of it and that’s why they’re not going to Peyton’s House (there might be a for sale sign though, Peyton might be moving…).

Quick Hits

-I feel awful for guys like Justin Smith and Frank Gore. Neither player has really been on a team that was capable of winning a Super Bowl and they were so close to making it. 2 class acts that never quit.

-Can we please turn “Kyle” into a verb that means “to make a miserable mistake” after what happened yesterday? For example, to the first reader who points out an inevitable mistake in this column, please say that I “Kyled” it. Thanks!

-How good was the Ravens secondary yesterday? Brady had 2 interceptions, 6.6 yards per attempt, and no touchdowns.

-I think the Buccaneers dodged a bullet when Chip Kelly turned them down. I just don’t think his style of play will translate to the NFL, especially on defense. Oregon is not exactly known for good defense. Sure, he would probably leave that up to a defensive coordinator, but there were too many variables between his offensive scheme in the NFL, defensive questions, etc. that make me think it would work.

-Outside of Fisher, I’m not sure the head coach market was all that good this year. Last year you had Ron Rivera, Jim Harbaugh, Pat Shurmur, and Mike Munchak. Not that good this year at all.

-Headline: Billy Cundiff feels bad for letting Ray Lewis down. “Bad” is not the adjective I’d use. I’d prefer “terrified” or “afraid to sleep.”

-Is there anything worse than a sore loser? Brendan Ayanbadejo said on twitter he won’t watch the “unSuper Bowl” because the 2 best teams aren’t playing in it. Cry me a river, build me a bridge, get over it, then jump off if you’re going to keep crying. Waaah.

Underpaid/Overpaid Players of the Week

Underpaid: Victor Cruz, WR New York Giants. Is there a more underpaid player in the NFL this year? Cruz is on an undrafted free agent contract, probably making the bare minimum salary. I read somewhere that Chad Ochocinco got paid more per catch than Cruz has all season. Cruz had a quiet playoff run before yesterday (7 catches for 102 yards previous 2 games) but he exploded for 10 catches and 142 yards. He looked like the best player on the field.

Overpaid: The Giants offensive line. Despite winning, the Giants OL was not very good. As mentioned earlier, Manning was sacked 6x, hit 12, and I think I saw on Fox that he was pressured 20 times. Their running game averaged a hair less than 3.5 yards per carry. That isn’t going to cut it against the Patriots. Play like that and Eli and Peyton will both have Super Bowl losses on their resume.

Next week’s headline: Fans confused over what this “Pro Bowl” thing is and why the players aren’t trying.

Seriously, no one cares about the Pro Bowl. Make it a crazy skills competition instead of a game and it’ll be a lot more exciting.

Next week I’ll do my Super Bowl preview. I have to have something to write about.