Championship Week Begins

The 49ers and the Broncos moved one step closer to the ultimate goal of reaching Super Bowl XLVII.   With victories in yesterday’s divisional playoffs each moved into their respective conference championships next Sunday against longtime rivals.

The Niner’s stingy defense allowed just 7 points and kept the Panthers out of the end zone on numerous trips into the red zone during the early going.  They became even stingier in the second half shutting out the Panthers the rest of the way.  Quarterback Colin Kaepernick efficiently moved his offense to a 23 – 10 victory on enemy turf while passing for one touchdown and running for another.

Peyton Manning and the Bronco took control of their matchup early and held the lead well into the fourth quarter.  At that point in the game Philip Rivers decided to get hot putting up 17 point in a nine minute span.  But in the game’s final minutes Manning came up big on a third and 17 with a 21 yard completion to his tight end Julius Thomas and the Chargers never got a chance to tie the game, losing 24 – 17.

Now, San Francisco goes into Seattle to play for the NFC Crown while Denver awaits the New England Patriots to settle the AFC.  While Seattle and San Francisco split their two meetings this season, the Patriots had a spectacular come from behind victory over Denver back in November.  In that game, at New England, the Broncos jumped out to a 24 – 0 lead only to lose the game 34 – 31 in overtime.

Fittingly the four best teams will meet next week for the Conference Titles.   The winners earn a week off before heading to the bright lights of New York where the Lombardi Trophy awaits…