kearly":fpbufgxz said:
I'd be surprised if Kaepernick could beat New England on the road. If they do, they deserve to be division champs. As much as I respect SF, I'd give them maybe a 20% chance of winning. By DVOA this is one of the better Patriot teams ever and that is saying a lot. That plus they are firing on all cylinders right now.
I actually thing these two teams are very evenly matched, and the game will come down to Kaepernick making a mistake.
The Niners will set some receiver traps at the sticks, and when the ball get there somebody is going to smash the guy. They do it every game. I don't think anybody else does as good at that as they do. We saw Pats receivers get short arms on our field after a few of those hits.
Pats linebackers are not so fleet of foot. That bodes well for San Fran throwing out of the backfield and to the tight ends.
Those same linebackers seem to bite a bit on play action. And Kaepernick is gonna get some yards that Schaub would not even dream of going after.
Pats have some good matchups too. I am curious if Iupati will need help with Wilfork. I bet he does. And that Pats O-line will set some traps for Aldon Smith. Watching some of the sophisticated protections the Pats run is pretty cool, they will pull a guard in pass pro to smash the DE/LB when he stunts. I don't think the other Smith will enjoy the success that Watt had in getting to Brady. And the Pats run the ball well enough to keep SF honest in pass D.
Mostly, though, I am looking forward to the battle of wits between Bill and Harbs.