Sunday, 16 December 2012

Live NFL - San Francisco 49ers at New England Patriots BBC Red Button 1.30am

Apologies for the Giants' pick: they stunk it up in that special way that only the G-men can!

This should be a fascinating game, but those of you who read this rubbish occasionally will know that often, I lean on Bill Belichik's ability to out-coach the opposition.

This game will depend upon the Pats success stopping the run and forcing the 49ers to pass. Frank Gore excels in the read option offense and stopping him and the scrambling ability of Colin Kaepernick will severely limit the 49ers in a game where they will need to put up points simply because New England are so potent on offense. Belichick will need to show Kaepernick some things he hasn't seen before, as well as making sure his D line shows a little more form against the run than they have recently.

As it is, San Francisco will probably have to air it out rather more than usual and there's no doubt that New England can be beaten deep; the problem is that the 49ers are pretty thin out wide with Manningham out and Vernon Davis finding it difficult to get involved. Michael Crabtree is the 'go to' receiver at the moment and he will doubtless draw Aqib Talib.

Tom Brady and the Pats' offense have been irresistible, but now they run into a defense ranked second against the run and the pass. Stevan Ridley will have to negotiate his way past NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis and it'll be really tough on the ground. The San Francisco secondary is not as strong as their ranking would suggest however, and that could be costly against a passer like Brady.

In Belichick and Brady we trust.

Pick: New England -4 @ 2

Pick: 1st TD Aaron Hernandez @ 9
Pick: Anytime TD Brandon Lloyd @ 3

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