...the SF 49ers are in it to win it this year, and we fancy their chances, plus we'll be watching the NFL Championship game on Sunday at 3:30, so here it goes. (And we promise to focus on the Gigantes and the Arsenal in future posts, but Baseball's out of season, and we're saving the Arsenal posts for our future epic analytical adventures...)
As previously stated, we're not huge NFL fans, but we do follow the sport, and the way we see it, it comes down to another more-or-less-even Offensive (NYGiants) v. Defensive (SFNiners) matchup, and Defense wins in the postseason, or so the Collective Wisdom goes. If the Niners force multiple turnovers and put up 30+ points again, which they can certainly do, we'll win. We see the respective advantages by category thus:
SF NINERS
Defensive Line
Special Teams
Frank Gore
Rush Defense
David Akers
NY GIANTS
Offensive Line
Receiving Corps
Eli Manning
Victor Cruz
...so we guess it depends on who shuts down who. Can the Niners Defense handle the strength of New York's aggressive Offense? It looks like most of the categories above roughly cancel each other out, and that leaves the NINERS with the edge due to Akers & Special Teams. New York will likely dominate the air attack, but that's not the whole story. Yes, the NYGiants might look a bit better on paper: Manning is a better Quarterback and Victor Cruz is incredibly talented, our placing the D-Line in SF's column might be up for argument and the Niners secondary can be inconsistent, but there's one element we left off the list, the importance of which is often minimized in statistical analysis (simply because it's unquantifiable): Team Spirit. We know it's cheesy and some people don't believe in it, but we also know from personal experience on the pitch and on the diamond as players that a bunch of guys (or gals) that truly believe in each other and fight for each other will always win over a couple of superstar hotshots. (Or, in this case, the superstar hotshot's slightly less talented brother.) Especially if either Charlie Sheen or Walter Matthau is involved, and Disney gets a production credit, well, then obviously the plucky underdog gets the edge. Now, if you're talkin bout the World Champion 2010 San Francisco Giants, Team Spirit and the vibe in the clubhouse meant everything. (But we'll save that for yet another future Post.) So always remember...
SF Believes in SF and sometimes, that's just enough. GO NINERS!!
As previously stated, we're not huge NFL fans, but we do follow the sport, and the way we see it, it comes down to another more-or-less-even Offensive (NYGiants) v. Defensive (SFNiners) matchup, and Defense wins in the postseason, or so the Collective Wisdom goes. If the Niners force multiple turnovers and put up 30+ points again, which they can certainly do, we'll win. We see the respective advantages by category thus:
SF NINERS
Defensive Line
Special Teams
Frank Gore
Rush Defense
David Akers
NY GIANTS
Offensive Line
Receiving Corps
Eli Manning
Victor Cruz
...so we guess it depends on who shuts down who. Can the Niners Defense handle the strength of New York's aggressive Offense? It looks like most of the categories above roughly cancel each other out, and that leaves the NINERS with the edge due to Akers & Special Teams. New York will likely dominate the air attack, but that's not the whole story. Yes, the NYGiants might look a bit better on paper: Manning is a better Quarterback and Victor Cruz is incredibly talented, our placing the D-Line in SF's column might be up for argument and the Niners secondary can be inconsistent, but there's one element we left off the list, the importance of which is often minimized in statistical analysis (simply because it's unquantifiable): Team Spirit. We know it's cheesy and some people don't believe in it, but we also know from personal experience on the pitch and on the diamond as players that a bunch of guys (or gals) that truly believe in each other and fight for each other will always win over a couple of superstar hotshots. (Or, in this case, the superstar hotshot's slightly less talented brother.) Especially if either Charlie Sheen or Walter Matthau is involved, and Disney gets a production credit, well, then obviously the plucky underdog gets the edge. Now, if you're talkin bout the World Champion 2010 San Francisco Giants, Team Spirit and the vibe in the clubhouse meant everything. (But we'll save that for yet another future Post.) So always remember...
SF Believes in SF and sometimes, that's just enough. GO NINERS!!
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