I had grand plans for this post, but illness swept through my household like Aldon Smith before Justin Smith's triceps injury.
San Francisco (-4) over Baltimore
I can't shake the feeling that Baltimore is going to win, but I can't point at enough evidence to back it up to feel comfortable actually picking Baltimore. As much as that looks like a waffle worthy of Belgium, that's not my intent. I am picking San Francisco. I really should feel more confident in this pick than I do, but something keeps nagging at me.
My reasons:
1) Baltimore's defense may be performing better in the playoffs than they were during their end-of-season tailspin, but they are still weak at a) defending the run and b) defending the deep pass. Luckily for them, none of their playoff match-ups were strong enough (or built) to attack them in these ways. The 49ers, in contrast, are built to attack the Ravens in exactly these ways.
2) San Francisco has a giant (see what I did there?) advantage in their tight ends against the Ravens' linebackers. I expect them to exploit it all game long.
3) Even with his surperb postseason, the quarterback advantage isn't big enough for Baltimore to offset their disadvantage at so many other positions.
49ers 27, Ravens 20
MVP: Frank Gore
And with this pick, my quest to pick all 256 regular season games plus the 11 postseason ones comes to a close. And as everyone expected, I proved to be no wiseguy. Oh well, there's always next year.
Last round: 1-0-1 (.750)
Postseason: 6-3-1 (.650)
Regular Season: 114-133-9 (.463)
2011 Postseason: 6-5 (.545)
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