San Francisco will take home the NFC Championship

Sunday’s showdown at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the NFC Championship will prove to be a tough battle between two talented teams. The San Francisco 49ers visit the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, with the winner moving on to New Orleans, to battle it out with the AFC Champion for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 47.

The San Francisco 49ers have the talent on both sides of the ball to walk away with a win on Sunday. Since mid season Jim Harbaugh, the head coach of the 49ers, switched his starting quarterback and that has made a world of difference on the offense for San Francisco.

Colin Kaepernick has started at quarterback since week 10 for the 49ers after previous starter Alex Smith had to sit out with a concussion. Smith has not returned to start since and Kaepernick has become the team leader on offense. Kaepernick had a huge game last week in the team’s 45-31 win against the Green Bay Packers. He racked up 444 yards and 4 touchdowns on offense in the game and proved he is couple of taking over the game offensively with his strong arm and strong legs.

The mobile quarterback will give the Atlanta defenders fits. This season the Falcons faced the mobile Cam Newton for the Carolina Panthers and Newton proceeded to rush for over 200 yards and pass for 300 along with scoring 4 touchdowns against Atlanta. The 49ers have played well on the road under the tutelage of Harbaugh.

Even though the Falcons survived against Seattle last week, they allowed the Seahawks to scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and nearly steal the game away from them. In the past two seasons, the 49ers are a respectable 11-5 SU on the road. Between the two teams, the 49ers have the best defense.

The 49ers finished the season fourth in both rushing and receiving yards allowed and can shutdown the running attack of Atlanta, which is led by Michael Turner and teammate Jacquizz Rodgers. The 49ers defense has given up 100 yards in just 3 games over their final 8 games. The pass rush will also make a difference for the 49ers.

Two of the best pass rushers in the NFL play for San Francisco in Justin Smith and Aldon Smith. Justin has been slowed by a torn triceps and has to wear a huge brace nevertheless, he had five tackles in last week’s win over Green Bay.

Another key element that will give the 49ers an advantage in this matchup is third down conversions. Last week against the Packers, the 49ers were able to convert on 8 of their 13 third down attempts. They have the best rate for third-down conversions thus far in the playoffs.

If Kaepernick is not able to run or pass the way he did last week, he can hand off to veteran Frank Gore who has averaged nearly 5.5 yards a carry in three playoff games in his career.

San Francisco holds the advantage in this matchup against Atlanta due to both tangibles and intangibles. The 49ers will put those advantages to good use and walk away with the victory on Sunday 28-24.