NFL Weekly Recap: NFC/AFC Championships

The Super Bowl matchup is set, and we are getting a repeat of Super Bowl 42.

In the end, we got two very good close fought games that wound up being decided by one team making huge mistakes and the other team not making them.

The Patriots overcame a bad game by Tom Brady after the Ravens had what would have been a touchdown pass to Lee Evans knocked out of his hands at the last second and their kicker pulling a Finkle.

Then the Giants won a defensive struggle after Kyle Williams had a flashback to his final game with ASU where he fumbled a punt in the closing minutes of a tie game against archrival U of A to cost them the game, except this time he put the ball on the ground twice in crucial situations. And with the Niners offense being incapable of doing anything outside of two big plays to Vernon Davis and their receivers unable to get any separation from the Giants defense they could not overcome that either.

Baltimore Ravens vs New England Patriots Recap - January 22, 2012 - NFL - SB Nation
Foxboro, MA (Sports Network) - First, the win and a Super Bowl berth was knocked out of Lee Evans' hands. Then, Billy Cundiff pulled the Ravens' chance to tie the game wide left. Baltimore couldn't capitalize on two good scoring chances in the final minute, and the New England Patriots held on for a 23-20 victory in Sunday's AFC Championship Game. Tom Brady's diving touchdown on fourth down early in the fourth quarter was the decisive score, and helped the Patriots advance to Super Bowl XLVI against the New York Giants. It will be a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, which the Patriots lost to Eli Manning and the Giants on a game-winning drive in the final minute. The Giants, who ended New England's perfect season that year, beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime later Sunday to win the NFC Championship. Baltimore was playing in its first conference championship since the 2008 season, when it lost to Pittsburgh. It hasn't advanced to the Super Bowl since winning XXXV to conclude the 2000 season, and Sunday's failure ensured the Ravens will head into the offseason stunned. Baltimore players were already visibly shocked when Cundiff missed the 32- yarder with 11 seconds to play. Mouths agape, they seemed to be in disbelief that the offense couldn't cash in on such a sure thing.

New York Giants vs San Francisco 49ers Recap - January 22, 2012 - NFL - SB Nation
San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - For the second time in five seasons, New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes got a chance to win the NFC Championship in overtime. He's 2-for-2. The extra minutes at Candlestick Park provided a crueler dose of deja vu for the San Francisco 49ers. Tynes kicked a 31-yard field goal after the 49ers fumbled a punt in overtime, lifting the Giants to a 20-17 victory on Sunday and sending them to Super Bowl XLVI to face the New England Patriots. "A classic football game," said Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who had seen a similar finish from the sideline before. In 2008, Tynes kicked a 47-yarder in overtime to beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game and the Giants went on to down the Patriots in a memorable Super Bowl, ending New England's perfect season. This time, the Giants were gifted a chance to kick the game-winner after 49ers return man Kyle Williams fumbled a punt deep in San Francisco territory when he was stripped by Jacquian Williams. The ball was recovered by New York's Devin Thomas, his second such heads-up play of the game. In the fourth quarter, Thomas jumped on a ball that hit off Williams' knee in a muffed punt that led to a Giants touchdown. "You hate to be the last guy to have the ball and give it up and lose the game that way," Williams said in the locker room. "But everyone in here has had my back and patted me on the shoulder and said it's not on me." Eli Manning, who has played years his older brother's shadow, passed for 316 yards and two touchdowns and will get a chance to beat Tom Brady's Patriots yet again on February 5 in Indianapolis. It won't just be a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl, but also of New York's 24-20 win over the Patriots on November 6 this past season -- New England's last loss before rattling off 10 straight wins up to Sunday.