Things I Noticed: Conference Championship Round

We're down to the final four teams, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.  Which two teams will be heading to New Jersey?

Here are some things I noticed this week:

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos

• Peyton Manning set a franchise postseason record with 32 completions on his way to throwing
  
  for 400 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Broncos to victory.  It was Manning's third career postseason game with 400+ yards, tying him with Drew Brees for the most ever.  
• When these teams met in New England back in November, the Patriots prevailed in overtime, but this game was completely different.  In the regular season match up, Manning threw for only 150 yards, while relying on their running game to move the ball.  Knowshown Moreno ran for 224 yards that week, but was held to only 59 yards in this game.
• Last time, these teams combined for 7 turnovers in the game.  This time, neither team threw an INT or lost a fumble.  New England did turn the ball over on downs once after a failed 4th down attempt, but that was the game's only turnover.
• For the second straight season, the Patriots defense fell apart in the AFC Championship game after Aqib Talib was knocked out of the game with an injury.  Talib had been doing a respectable job shadowing Demaryius Thomas, until a collision with Wes Welker forced Talib out with a knee injury.  Without Talib, the Patriots pass defense struggled, particularly with containing Thomas, who finished with 7 catches for 134 yards and a TD.
• Bill Belichick was uncharacteristically candid in his post-game comments regarding the play Talib was hurt on, accusing Welker of intentionally trying to injure his top corner.  "It was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib. No attempt to get open," Belichick said. "I'll let the league handle the discipline on that play, whatever they decide. It's one of the worst plays I've seen. That's all I'll say about that."  That's a pretty strong accusation, showing there's still no love lost between the coach and his former player.  I have a hard time believing Welker is the type of guy to intentionally try to inflict a serious injury on anyone, but it was clear that his role on that play was to set a pick to free Thomas on a crossing route.  Welker never looked for the ball and made no attempt to make a play for it before colliding with Talib.  It clearly was offensive pass interference, which went uncalled, but calling Welker out for trying to hurt Talib may be pushing it a bit.
• Tom Brady (277 yards, 1 TD) played fairly efficiently, but there's at least one throw he would surely like to have back.  He overthrew Julian Edelman on a deep pass in the first quarter that almost certainly would have gone for a TD had they connected.  It's a pass Brady says he makes 9 out of 10 times.  Perhaps it was the thin air in Denver that caused the ball to sail further than he intended.  The outcome of the game would have been drastically different had that pass been completed for a score.  Perhaps had the score been closer late in the third quarter, New England may have opted for a field goal instead of running that failed 4th down attempt.  If both of those things happen, we have a tie game.  While it never really felt like the Patriots were in the game, it just goes to show that if a play or two went their way, they could have won this game.  
• One of the biggest take aways from this game is the vast difference in receiving options between the two teams.  It's been well documented that Brady was without 4 of his top 5 receivers from last season and the loss of the injured Rob Gronkowski deprived him of that 5th target.  While the emergence of Edelman was a welcome sight this season, it's been clear for weeks now that this team doesn't have enough weapons on offense when Gronk isn't on the field.  The last time the Patriots lost to Peyton Manning in the AFC Conference Championship was 2006, when Manning's Colts went on to win the Super Bowl.  Belichick responded by reloading the offense with trades to acquire Welker and Randy Moss.  What will he do to revamp the offense this time?
• Manning will be the 2nd oldest player ever to start a Super Bowl game.  The only one ahead of him on that list is his boss, Broncos Executive VP, John Elway.  He was 38 when he led the Broncos to a win in Super Bowl XXXIII.  Elway played in 5 Super Bowls in his career, winning two of them.  This will be Manning's third trip to the big game, where he'll have a chance to tie the Hall of Famer with a second ring.  A win would also finally put his career postseason record over .500.  He's currently 11-11 in the postseason.
• Final score: Broncos 26, Patriots 16.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks

• Russell Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse with a 35-yard TD pass early in the 4th quarter to give the Seahakws their first lead of the game and the defense helped them hang on to the win by forcing three 4th quarter turnovers.
• On the game deciding play, Colin Kaepernick tried to throw a fade route in the end zone to
  
  Michael Crabtree, but corner Richard Sherman was able to tip the pass to teammate Malcolm Smith for the INT.  Sherman made headlines with his mouth as much as his play after the game with one of the most ridiculous post-game interviews you'll ever see.  In his furious rant, he not only proclaimed himself to be the best corner in the game, but repeatedly referred to Crabtree as a "mediocre" receiver.  There was plenty of trash talk between the division rivals throughout the game, but Sherman's comments after the game were classless and made him sound insane.  Poor Erin Andrews looked terrified to be interviewing him!  The outspoken Sherman is a passionate player that was responding emotionally in the heat of the moment, but he went way overboard and has to be smarter about what he says in the media.  
• Kaepernick threw for only 153 yards, but rushed for 130 yards.  It's his second career postseason game with 100+ rushing yards.  Those 130 rushing yards are the second most every by a QB in the postseason, trailing only the 181 yards Kaepernick ran for in last year's Divisional game against Green Bay.
• The 49ers didn't allow an opposing RB to rush for 100+ yards against them all season, but Marshawn Lynch put up 109 against them in this game.  That included a 40-yard TD run that tied the game in the 3rd quarter, which was the 2nd longest TD run in franchise history.
• Wilson became only the 6th player ever to reach the Super Bowl in one of his first two seasons in the league. Kaepernick became the 5th player on that list last season.
• Final score: Seahawks 23, 49ers 17