View From America tributes players that fly under-the-radar on Championship weekend
Thursday 21 January 2016 16:00, UK
It’s NFL Championship Game weekend, and we all know what the focus is going to be on: The quarterback battles. Tom Brady v Peyton Manning will dominate the AFC Championship talk (New England vs Denver), while Cam Newton’s battle with Carson Palmer will dominate chat in the NFC Championship game.
Alex Ferguson looks at some of the players not named Tom, Peyton, Cam or Carson who should be on your radar come Sunday night, live on Sky Sports…
Denver Broncos
If you watched Pittsburgh's game against Denver you'll note that Pittsburgh really didn't have a problem moving the ball, but the Broncos red zone defense made sure they didn't celebrate in the end-zone too much. And those stoppages were mainly thanks to the fact that Ben Roethlisberger's top target - Antonio Brown - was sidelined due to a concussion.
The big play was by DeMarcus Ware, who stripped third-string RB Fitzgerald Toussaint and recovered the ball, turning the game round for the Broncos. Ware, who had a sack and three tackles in the game, will be central to the Broncos defensive plans against Brady and his band of merry men. In the secondary, Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr did a pretty good job making plays against the Steelers' speedy receivers, but they'll have work cut out stopping Messrs Amendola, Edelman and, yeah, Gronkowski.
Offense-wise, the Broncos receivers need to learn how to catch the ball. They shot themselves in the foot numerous times in the first half, dropping five different balls. Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas and co will be central to stopping New England. And Manning will need to avoid the Alex Smith disease of overthrowing his receivers, too. Running backs-wise, Ronnie Hillman and CJ Anderson will hope to batter the Patriots, effectively taking the ball out of Manning's hands. The Pats weren't particularly great at stopping the Chiefs' run and the Broncos will hope to exploit problems.
New England Patriots
Rob Gronkowski is phenomenal, so we anticipate him having a monster day at Mile High. He's the best tight end in the league for a reason and I like the face-off against Talib or Harris. Julian Edelman is going to take advantage of Bill Belichick's short passing regime and, although he shouldn't be playing because of that hit in the Chiefs game, Danny Amendola is a huge danger from special teams. And in the mile high air, you can see Belichick's kicker Stephen Gostowski being money from 60. Defensively, I'm not hugely worried about the Pats. It's the offense that's going to be pretty exciting.
Carolina Panthers
Greg Olsen has been Newton's go-to-guy all season long, grabbing over 1,000 yards and seven TDs. And in the play-off win against Seattle, he had six catches for 77 yards and a TD averaging at 12.8 yards per reception. That's pretty tidy- especially against a secondary that's as good as Seattle's. And with Tyrann Mathieu out for Arizona, Olsen's task is a little bit easier. Carolina will also use the running ability of Jonathan Stewart, who pounded out 106 yards against Seattle's front on Sunday. This guy Newton's not a bad runner either, by the way!
On the other side of the ball, the Panthers' ball-hawks were at it again, intercepting Russell Wilson to make it 14-0. Luke Kuechly will be waiting if Carson Palmer makes any mistakes. The Panthers secondary will have to be at their best again to stop Arizona's offense, which was pretty tidy against Green Bay.
Arizona Cardinals
You thought Larry Fitzgerald's career was over? Think again! Fantasy owners may not have liked his numbers after the middle of the season (he was used as blocker more than a receiver in a bunch of instances, affecting his touchdown numbers), but he came good against Green Bay. And because of fellow WR John Brown, he could cause panic to Carolina's secondary.
Arizona's defense is pretty darned good, too. Dwight Freeney's got the big game experience, and came up with the team's only sack of Aaron Rodgers, but Tony Jefferson, Deone Bucannon, and Justin Bethel are all tremendous. Patrick Peterson could be matched up with Olsen, which will make Newton move his legs. Peterson's also one hell of a return man. That might not be a great strategy either.
View from America's verdict: Carolina and New England to win, and go to the Super Bowl.
