The strategy that the two road teams will have to employ to pull off conference championship victories is surprisingly simple.
Both road teams are underdogs, but they can easily make the oddsmakers look ridiculous, sending the home teams home disappointed.
The last time two road teams won their conference championship games was in the 1997-1998 season, when the Packers and Broncos met in Super Bowl XXXII. By following these gameplans, that streak will come to and end this year.
| Spread According to Sportsbook | |
| Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots | Patriots (-7) |
| New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers | 49ers (-2.5) |
Baltimore Ravens
Offense: Burn the New England secondary
The Patriots were last of 32 teams in pass defense on the regular season. Clearly, they have some issues defending the deep ball. Fortunately for the Ravens, Joe Flacco has a big arm, and Torrey Smith is a speedster.
Targeting the deep secondary would also cause the Patriots to drop men back, opening up the field for Ray Rice. And we know that he can burn the Patriots in the playoffs.
If the Ravens end up depending on Rice to try to match the New England offense, it's going to be a long day. Baltimore doesn't have the firepower to hang with New England if they're one-dimensional. But if the New England secondary has to play on its heels, the Ravens will go to Indianapolis.
Defense: Drop back and cover
Maybe this seems weird, but the Ravens should not focus on hitting Tom Brady. Instead, they need to drop back and cover the middle of the field, making Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Hernandez run routes in traffic.
You beat a team with a strong pass rush by running short routes and screen plays. The Patriots weapons are made to do just that. If the Ravens have men covering the middle of the field, Brady will be forced to look for the deep ball. At his age, Deion Branch is not a good enough vertical threat anymore to beat the formidable Ravens defense.
In addition, if the Ravens are dropping into coverage, they will catch Brady off guard when deciding to bring actual pressure. That is when big, game-changing plays will happen.
New York Giants
Offense: Force the 49ers to respect the run
On the offensive side of the ball, the stats will not tell the story in this game. Don't expect to watch this game and point out any Giants player and say something like "Wow, that guy is really dominating." It's not going to happen.
What the Ravens will have to do is keep the 49ers from dropping an extra man into coverage. New York's rushing stats don't need to be especially eye-popping, but they do need to do well enough to make the 49ers secondary respect that threat.
If they don't, Eli Manning is going to have a rough day. The 49ers will go hard at Manning all game, forcing early passes, which will lead to turnovers.
Defense: Make Alex Smith and Michael Crabtree win the game
Crabtree had a terrible game against the Saints. He dropped three passes while catching only four balls for 25 yards. The Giants need to keep their focus on Vernon Davis and Frank Gore. That will force Smith to go Crabtree's way, and the receiver did not appear ready for the playoff stage in the Divisional Round.
If Smith is forced to lock into Crabtree, the Giants pass rush will be able to pin their ears back and attack Smith all game. But if Davis and Gore become big parts of the game, Smith will have no problem beating the rush with draw plays and screen passes. If that happens, the Giants' greatest strength (their pass rush) becomes a non-factor.
Anibal Sanchez John Baker Brad Davis Logan Morrison Mike Stanton Josh Bailey
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