When the NFL's 2013 divisional round schedule was officially released, major analysts and commentators all said: This year's divisional round will be very interesting.
American League, "Denver Broncos VS San Diego Chargers", "New England Patriots VS Indianapolis Colts", both games will be battles.
In the National League, "Seattle Seahawks VS New Orleans Saints" and "Carolina Panthers VS San Francisco 49ers", both games will be contradictory battles.
In addition, the American League and the National League are both a matchup between old and new plus a matchup between the same grade——
The American League's "Brady VS Luck" and the National League's "Brees VS Wilson" are both new and old matchups that have attracted much attention, and they are both elite quarterbacks against emerging second-year quarterbacks; the American League's "Manning VS Rivers" is a duel between veterans, and the National League's "Lu Ke VS Newton" is a third-year duel, and they all know each other well.
Such a wonderful unity and dislocation form a unique landscape, making the four division games full of countless highlights. Each game cannot be missed. Each game has its own highlights. Each game has its own highlights. There are countless possible directions. Even the "Denver Broncos VS San Diego Chargers", which is relatively disparate in paper strength, has added more uncertain factors due to the divisional civil war. The excitement is still worth looking forward to.
Rather than single out the most compelling game, every game deserves attention. If there is a clear difference, then the game "Carolina Panthers VS San Francisco 49ers" will stand out because it is the most explosive game.
Why Carolina Panthers vs. San Francisco 49ers? Rather than another AL West division civil war?
Although the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers are rivals in the same district, in fact, the sense of fate between the two is not as intense as imagined——
These two teams have played against each other a total of 115 times in history. All games took place in the regular season. There is no unforgettable life-and-death showdown like the playoffs. Even the regular season is due to the peak of the two teams. The periods are completely staggered and there is no classic duel worthy of being recorded in history. The only game came from last season. In the Monday Night Game, the Denver Broncos trailed in the first half, played a score of "24:0" in the second half, and finally came back to win with a score of "35:24". It also created the biggest comeback moment in the history of Monday Night Football, and that's all.
This matchup is the first playoff confrontation in the history of the two teams. This is a give-and-take on the edge of the cliff. The spark that belongs to them is only now officially ignited.
In comparison, the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers are not mortal enemies in the same district, but they are better than their destined enemies. The first confrontation of "Cam Newton VS Lu Ke" created a strong chemical reaction. As a result, Lu Ke He crushed Cam with an absolute advantage and proved with actual performance that he was the real strong one among the rookies in the same class in 2011; just two months later, the second confrontation came again, and it was in the playoffs. In a life-and-death duel, will Lu Ke continue to be strong, or will Cam counterattack strongly, or will the two sides be indiscriminate, and the strong smell of gunpowder has overflowed.
There is no doubt that all four divisional games will be life-or-death duels, but on this basis, the grudges between the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers still add more highlights to this game—— This has also become the main focus of many analysts and commentators.
"Now, it's the last game, the Carolina Panthers vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Before we officially jump into the discussion, I personally have a little question: Does the league's schedule indicate anything? Who can tell me, this is Am I delusional, or am I not the only one who thinks this way?”
"Inside the League" host Edward Bowen smiled at the ten analysts and commentators and made a small comment.
According to the league's schedule, there will be two games on Saturday, January 11th. The National League's Seattle Seahawks will play the New Orleans Saints in the afternoon game, and the American League's Denver Broncos will play the San Diego Chargers in the night game; Sunday, January 12th There are two more games, the afternoon game is the New England Patriots of the American League against the Indianapolis Colts, and the night game is the NFC Carolina Panthers versus the San Francisco 49ers.
The primary factor to consider in scheduling is ratings, and the appeal of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady is unquestionable. Having their two top quarterbacks sit in night games will greatly stimulate the ratings. Obviously; but the league changed its original intention, and the Sunday night game was led by Lu Ke.
what does that mean?
Of course, it doesn’t mean that Lu Ke’s position in the league surpasses Brady’s - in terms of resume and qualifications, Lu Ke still has to accept the test of more time; but from the side, we can see the intention of the league, Roger Gu Del is trying to build Lu Ke into a brand-new signature of the alliance. He has neither concealed nor planned to conceal this matter. There is also a tacit consensus within the alliance that Goodell is "creating a god" step by step.
However, the official response from the league is to "balance the focus of the American League and the National League." In other words, Manning and Brady are both from the American League, and they cannot arrange for the American League to appear in two consecutive night games, so the National League There must be dissatisfaction; that's why an NFC matchup is scheduled for Sunday Night Game -- but, if so, why not schedule the Seattle Seahawks against the New Orleans Saints? That was the top seed in the National League against Drew Brees, which also had a shocking effect; then, the specific reasons are left to the audience's imagination.
Now, Edward Bowen deliberately threw out an introduction: The format of three divisional games had been discussed before, and everyone in the studio was a little tired, and they needed to liven up the atmosphere.
Then Henry Jamieson curled his lips and said, "What, do you have a problem with Lu Ke?"
Edward didn't panic and asked with a smile, "What do you mean? Am I not allowed to have opinions? I thought we were in the United States now."
"Hey, Henry, you misunderstood Edward. Aren't you allowed to have opinions about Cam?" Elizabeth Nelson also started teasing.
Spencer Larson interrupted just in time and said, "Shouldn't you be the one who has the most opinions about Lu Ke now?" Elizabeth's favorite team is the Green Bay Packers, and other analysts and commentators also Followed by cheers.
Elizabeth showed a helpless expression, "I don't like the result of the game, but I respect this game. In fact, this is my favorite Packers game this season, from the offensive group to the defensive group, the team's performance It's really amazing to end the season in such a way. It's not perfect, but it's not disappointing either." Then, Elizabeth continued following the topic, "This is also the biggest charm of the NFL. Data rankings can explain a lot of problems. , but cannot influence the trend of the game. On-the-spot performance and game will are often the key to victory or defeat. The same is true for the last divisional game."
Seamlessly, from gags to game analysis, Elizabeth used her own way to shift the topic to the topic, and other analysts and commentators got back on track.
"Oh? According to you, you should be more optimistic about the Carolina Panthers?" Henry said with interest.
According to the league's official statistics after the end of the regular season, the San Francisco 49ers' comprehensive strength ranking is a better team.
In the overall ranking of the offensive team, the San Francisco 49ers ranked seventh in the league, while the Carolina Panthers only ranked 18th. The gap is very obvious. To further break down the options, in terms of passing offense, the San Francisco 49ers ranked third in the league, while the Carolina Panthers dropped directly to 29th, fourth from the bottom in the league; in ground offense, the San Francisco 49ers ranked tenth in the league, with Carole The Panthers are eleventh in the league.
In the overall ranking of the defensive team, the Carolina Panthers ranked second in the league and the San Francisco 49ers ranked fifth. The gap between the two is very close. To break it down further, in pass defense, the Carolina Panthers rank sixth in the league, and the San Francisco 49ers rank seventh in the league; in ground defense, the Carolina Panthers rank second in the league, and the San Francisco 49ers rank the same. Ranking fourth in the league.
It can be seen from the data that in terms of offense, the San Francisco 49ers have a strong lead; in terms of defense, the Carolina Panthers have a slight advantage, but the San Francisco 49ers are not to be outdone. In terms of overall strength, the San Francisco 49ers are the stronger side, and the showdown in the tenth week of the regular season also proved this. The strength gap between them is ultimately reflected in the league's year-end data summary.
Elizabeth shook her head and said with a smile, "No, I think the San Francisco 49ers can win the final victory. I thought you all liked Carolina better, so I expressed this idea. It seems that my prediction is obviously There is a slight error in the estimation.”
"Our focus is very clear: the San Francisco 49ers' offense and the Carolina Panthers' defense. This is the key to this 'conflict battle'. The Carolina Panthers have shown strong performance on the defensive end this season. Although their dominance was robbed by the Seattle Seahawks' explosive legion, their ground defense and pass defense have strong confrontation capabilities, defeating Tom Brady and Drew Brees. This is the most powerful thing. Good proof.”
"From a statistical perspective, the Carolina Panthers are the stronger side. At the same time, they are still the second seed and have home court advantage, so they must be a relatively strong side; but personally, I think the San Francisco 49ers Their on-the-spot performance and will to compete will be the turning point in this divisional competition. Under the leadership of Lu Ke and Hubble, they have a good chance of reaching the National League finals for three consecutive years. This is my judgment."
Elizabeth told her own point of view, then glanced around the audience and smiled, "I thought you were all on the opposite side of me and didn't agree with my point of view? Now it seems that my judgment was somewhat wrong. ?”
