Touch Downl NFL

For the first time in NFL history, the best offense (by yards and scoring) will face the best defense (by yards and scoring) in the Super Bowl. 

This will be the fifth time since the AFL and NFL merged that the league’s top-scoring offense played the top-scoring defense in the Super Bowl, the first since the Buffalo Bills(top offense) and New York Giants(top defense) met to close the 1990 season. 

The NFC Championship Game was decided when Richard Sherman made the play of the game. Then he followed it up with the quote of the day.

Sherman deflected a Colin Kaepernick pass intended for Michael Crabtree in the end zone. The ball was intercepted by linebacker Malcolm Smith with 22 seconds remaining to seal the Seahawks' 23-17 win against the San Francisco 49ers.

After the game, Sherman, known for his bold statements, took a shot at Crabtree.

Oddsmakers had trouble picking the favorite in what figures to be one of the most evenly matched -- and heavily bet -- Super Bowls ever.

Bettors knew who they wanted, though, putting early money on Denver and making the Broncos a slight favorite to beat the Seattle Seahawks in most of this city's legal betting parlors.

Denver was favored by 1 point at several books in the early betting, while others had the Broncos as high as a 3-point pick. The move to the Broncos came after some books had initially made the Seahawks as much as a 2-point pick in the game.

The Seattle Seahawks booked their place in Super Bowl XLVIII with a dramatic victory over the San Francisco 49ers which was bookended by huge turnovers.

The Seahawks beat the 49ers 23-17 to win the NFC Championship and join the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in New Jersey on February 2.

The San Francisco 49ers' long road trip to a Super Bowl return will now take them to Seattle after beating the Panthers 23-10 in Carolina.

The fifth-seeded 49ers will head to the noisiest stadium in the world to play in their third straight NFC Championship game after already logging thousands of playoff miles while earning victories in Carolina and Green Bay. San Francisco split two games with their division rivals this season, winning at Candlestick Park but losing in Seattle.

When he got around the edge, there was no one for Marshawn Lynch to hit. Directly ahead was open field, the end zone and the Seattle Seahawks' place in the NFC championship game.

 Once again, Lynch overpowered the New Orleans Saints in the postseason.

"That was maybe `Beast Mode II.' I don't know but it was a very cool way to end that game and give us the score that we needed," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.

Lynch carried 28 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns and Seattle's defense flustered Drew Brees and New Orleans in a 23-15 victory Saturday in the NFC divisional playoff game.

The New Orleans Saints shook off the idea which they can't win while on the road in their playoff opener , though pulling off a victory at raucous CenturyLink Field in Saturday's NFC divisional matchup with the Seattle Seahawks are going to be a more daunting task .

Although it has yet to play a match between the Steelers and the Bengals, I will be free for you this week as the best player of the week, introduce Marshawn Lynch. With three touch down, Lynch was unsolvable enigma for the 49ers. 

Lynch scored on touchdown runs of 14 and 2 yards, and added a 7-yard TD reception in the second half. Lynch finished with 135 total yards, including 98 yards rushing, to make up for quarterback Russell Wilson hitting on only two of his first 10 throws and Seattle's receivers struggling to get open. His TD run on the first drive of the second half gave the Seahawks a 12-0 lead. His TD catch pushed the advantage to 19-3 early in the fourth quarter.