With less than two months remaining on the NBA's regular season schedule, the Los Angeles Lakers who entered the 2012-13 season as the consensus favorites to win it all this year or at the very least compete for a 17th NBA title are on the brink of failing to make the playoffs. Currently sitting at 28-30, coach Mike D'Antoni's Lakers trail the 8th seeded Houston Rockets by 2.5 games in the Western Conference standings. Having played inconsistent ball all season long, it wasn't until just recently that the Lakers who's roster consists of two former MVP's in Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant and the best center in the league in Dwight Howard began playing like it. And not to be forgotten is All-Star Pau Gasol who's on the shelf with a foot injury.
In need of some inspiration, the Lakers got plenty of just that on Monday after learning that longtime owner Jerry Buss had passed away at the age of 80. In their first game following the All-Star break, the Lakers played host to the hated Boston Celtics. With emotions running high, Kobe Bryant and company payed homage to their late owner of 30+ years by defeating the rival Celtics who Dr. Buss said he bought the Lakers some 34 years ago to beat, 113-99. Following the win, Kobe would go on to make a guarantee that the Lakers would in fact make the playoffs and will fear no team in their way. Though over time we've learned to believe anything and everything the Black Mamba tells us, his most recent promise is one that won't be a cake walk to fulfill as half of the Lakers' remaining schedule will be games on the road (12-of-24) as well as games versus teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
Their emotional win in honor of Jerry Buss versus the Celtics appeared to be the shot in the arm that Dwight Howard and company desperately needed as the Lakers went on to win their next two games against the Portland Trailblazers and on the road versus the Dallas Mavericks before witnessing their three game winning-streak hit a skid at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. While they've played better ball as of late winning 11 of 15 games since January 25 entering Monday's meeting at Denver, a streak bested by only the Heat and Spurs during that stretch, the Lakers will need to treat every game from here on out with a win or go home mentality and play with that same hunger that they played with against the Celtics. And with their final game of the season at home against the Houston Rockets we could be in store for some late-season drama down the stretch.
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49ers rally to punch ticket to New Orleans - For the first time since the 1994 season the San Francisco 49ers are going to the Super Bowl. After their heart-wrenching overtime loss at home to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship just a year ago, Jim Harbaugh and company made sure not to disappoint the second time around as his team rallied late to pull off the unthinkable in Atlanta, overcoming the largest deficit in NFC Championship history. What ended up being the proudest day for the 49ers franchise since Steve Young's legendary performance in Super Bowl XXIX that solidified him as one of the game's all-time greats as well as help him get the monkey off his back, began as a nightmare.
Like they did in their divisional round meeting at home against the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers fell into an early hole. Only this time the hole would be much bigger to crawl out from. Ten points bigger as San Francisco found themselves down 17-0 in the second quarter as the Falcons scored on each of their first three possessions. But after watching the division rival Seattle Seahawks overcome a 20-point halftime deficit in Atlanta the week before, the 49ers knew that there was still hope despite no team ever coming back to win an NFC title game down by more than 14 points. With the odds stacked against him in only his 9th career start at quarterback, Colin Kaepernick refused to push the panic button and proved to be composed while in a situation that most QB's his age would fold in. With everyone expecting him to steal the show with his legs like he did the previous week at Candlestick Park where he torched the Packers for an NFL record 181 rushing yards, the speedy quarterback instead got the job done with his arm.
After finally getting on the board during their first possession of the second quarter thanks to a 15-yard touchdown run by rookie running back LaMichael James, the first of his career, the 49ers got their first stop on defense. And after watching the Falcons put up 17 straight points to open the game, San Francisco found themselves scoring 14 unanswered-points of their own as Kaepernick lobbed a pass to a wide-open Vernon Davis from 4-yards out to pull within a field goal with just under two minutes remaining in the half. But as Seattle learned the week before when Falcons QB Matt Ryan orchestrated a game-winning drive with only 31 seconds remaining in regulation, never leave enough time on the clock to allow Matty Ice to march down the field. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Ryan would do just that, capping off a 7-play, 80-yard drive with a touchdown pass to tight-end Tony Gonzalez. Seemingly stealing back the momentum after San Francisco began picking up steam to pull closer, Atlanta once again found themselves leading by double-digits as the 49ers trailed 24-14 at the half.
Equally as hot as they were on offense to end the first half, the 49ers opened the second half in a similar fashion as Kaepernick came out guns blazing, completing passes of 21, 20 and 17 yards to Randy Moss and Delanie Walker, setting up Frank Gore who put an exclamation mark on an impressive opening-drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to once again bring San Francisco within a field goal. What was a turnover-free ballgame throughout the first two and a half quarters would soon evolve into a game of miscues as three of the next four possessions would end in turnovers. The first of which being a Matt Ryan interception that led to a missed field goal by David Akers. San Francisco would be given a second chance following Ryan's fumbled snap recovered by Aldon Smith but once again failed to capitalize as Michael Crabtree fumbled on the 1-yard line just three plays into the fourth quarter. But a three and out inside their own 10 yard line would prove to be harmful for the Falcons as the 49ers got the ball back with excellent field position. For the San Francisco offense, the third time would be a charm as Frank Gore broke the plain for his second touchdown on the day, giving the 49ers their first lead of the game.
It would then be up to Matt Ryan who would be called upon to lead his team on a game-winning drive for the second consecutive week, only this time with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. And after stringing together a number of plays including a controversial pass to wide-out Harry Douglas that appeared to have hit the ground but was ruled a catch with a little help of the officials, the Falcons appeared to be heading in the right direction. Marching all the way down to the 10-yard line and in need of a first down to keep the drive alive, the Falcons faced fourth down. Having been relatively quiet all game long logging only a pair of tackles, Pro-Bowl linebacker NaVorro Bowman would come up with the biggest play of his career, knocking down a pass to Falcons receiver Roddy White that forced an Atlanta turnover on downs, sealing the game as San Francisco completed the comeback and pitched a shutout in the second half to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years.
Quest For Six - Equally impressive is the road that the Baltimore Ravens took to become AFC Champions. After easily taking care of the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round in Baltimore, the Ravens did what they do best by taking to the road and knocking off the number one seeded Broncos in Denver, setting up a rematch of last year's AFC Championship between the Ravens and New England Patriots. After falling behind early, the Ravens pulled a similar trick from under their sleeve to that of the 49ers by not allowing the Patriots to score a single point in the second half. Three costly turnovers including interceptions on back-to-back drives doomed any chance New England had of pulling off a comeback of their own as Baltimore avenged their heart-wrenching loss that took place in the same exact stadium just a year ago by pulling off the upset.
Setting the table for what should be a hard fought battle between two of the most formidable defenses in the league, brothers John and Jim Harbaugh will meet for only the second time in their coaching careers. Though defense is what comes to mind first when mentioning these two teams, it's their quarterbacks who've gotten them where they are. Had it not been for Joe Flacco's deep desperation pass to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds remaining in Denver to send the game into overtime or Colin Kaepernick's record setting performance to oust the Packers, we'd be seeing two other teams going at. Instead we'll see a pair of teams that many predicted would meet in the Super Bowl before the season even started, including myself. Having drooled at the thought of a Harbaugh family reunion in the Super Bowl since last season, football fans and everyone that has a sibling, will finally be treated to what they've longed for.
Though both teams share the same task - win the Lombardi Trophy, one team will fall shy of the ultimate goal and will be forced to walk off the field with a bitter taste in their mouth and a heartache even more painful than the one felt after losing in the Conference Championship last season. A feeling neither organization has ever endured as the 49ers and Ravens are a combined 6-0 in Super Bowls with San Francisco winning five and Baltimore one. And while this Ravens team shares a good amount of similarities with the one that won the Super Bowl in 2000, most notably on defense, the same cannot be said for their opponent. Although they were the team of the decade during the 1980's and won a fifth Super Bowl after the 1994 season, these 49ers aren't your father's 49ers who were led by Joe Montana and Steve Young. These 49ers are being led by a new breed of quarterback. One that is just as dangerous with his legs as he is with his throwing arm. Not to discredit Steve Young who owns the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns ever among quarterbacks, but even Young knows his running ability isn't quite up to par with Kaepernick's.
Making only his 10th career start in the NFL, Kaepernick will take the challenge of being the one who the 49ers franchise will depend on to make it a record 6-0 all-time in Super Bowl appearances. When the 49ers last went to and won the Super Bowl I was 4 years old so as you could imagine I've been waiting for this day almost my entire life. Some 18 years later my blood still runs red & gold, proving that some things never change. Something else that won't change is the 49ers undefeated mark in the Super Bowls as I have them coming out on top, 21-17. #QuestForSix
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