Seahawks Flight Halted, while 49ers Soar to NFC Championship

By Carly Nevis

AP Photo/ David Goldman

The NFL playoffs have swept across the nation in exciting fashion, two steps away from the big night on February 3rd. Two NFC West teams went into this weekend with high aspirations, but only one team had its fulfilled.  

Both games were intriguing, getting football fans off their seats at almost every play. Seattle was just yards away from pulling off the comeback, but the Falcons would not let that happen. San Fran also came back in its game, led by their comeback kid, Colin Kaepernick.

SEATTLE

In Atlanta, Seattle dug itself into a 20-0 hole at half time. It seemed that the magic carpet that Russell Wilson and the Seahawks had been riding on, with a 5-game winning streak heading into the playoffs, had quickly fell from under them. But, that was not the case. The rookie, arguably the rookie of the year, concocted a 28 point second half, 21 coming in the 4^th quarter. If the game had been 30-seconds shorter, the Seahawks may have come back and been victorious. But, the 20-point half time deficit for Seattle came back to haunt them, as it only took Atlanta a 49-yard field goal to seal and steal back the game for good.

A field goal for the victory, seems typical, right? Yet the fashion that this specific field goal occurred was atypical, or maybe not so much in the NFL. More like just really bad luck for the Seahawks. Falcons Matt Bryant kicked a field goal that went wide right just as Coach Pete Carroll called time out. This timeout led to another chance for Matt Bryant, which he took advantage of. Bryant launched the ball straight through the field goal post, and the ball took the Seahawks hopes of going to the title game with it.

"I would have really liked it if he missed the kick," Carroll told ESPN.

I’m sure the rest of Seattle would have liked that too, Coach.

SAN FRANCISCO

If you shut off the TV after the first few minutes of this game, you may have predicted that the outcome would be different. First play of the game. Kaepernick… interception. And all is lost for the 49ers, right? Wrong.

Colin Kaepernick did not let the mistake faze him. He was spectacular, to say the least. When is the last time you have heard of the quarterback leading a team in rushing yards? Not often. And when is the last time that a quarterback had 2 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns, never. This performance by the dynamic quarterback will go down in football history, hopefully one of many historic moments in the quarterback’s young career.

"It feels good. We're one step closer to where we want to be," Kaepernick told ESPN happily after the victory. "I feel like I had a lot to prove. A lot of people doubted my ability to lead this team."

If the 49ers do pull off the victory against the Falcons, Kaepernick will be one step closer to proving himself.

The NFC championship is sure to be a good one. The Seahawks will just have to watch with jealousy as the 49ers storm into Atlanta. Be patient though. Seattle is sure to be hungry next season.

To Atlanta, we go!