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2B Daily News – Friday, January 20, 2012 49ERS (Continued from page 1B) the crowd,'' Howard said. ''It was so loud in there and the fans were so excited. The Super Bowl was in their grasp. Then to all of a sudden have a turnover at that New York Giants San Francisco 49ers NEW YORK GIANTS (11-7) At SAN FRANCIS- CO (14-3) OPENING LINE — 49ers by 1 RECORD VS. SPREAD — New York 10-8; San Francisco 12-4-1 SERIES RECORD — 49ers lead 18-17 LAST MEETING — 49ers beat Giants 27-20, Nov. 13, 2011 LAST WEEK — Giants beat Packers 37-20; 49ers beat Saints 36-32 (32), PASS (5) (19), PASS (29) PASS (29) PASS (16) GIANTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (8), RUSH GIANTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (27), RUSH 49ERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (26), RUSH (8), 49ERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (4), RUSH (1), STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Teams have met seven times in postseason, with 49ers winning four. ... Giants won only previous NFC championship meet- ing 15-13 in January 1991. ... Sixth conference champi- onship game since 1996 season to feature two teams that missed playoffs in previous season. ... New York QB Eli Manning and San Francisco QB Alex Smith tied for NFL lead with five fourth-quarter comeback wins in regular season. Smith added sixth last week against Saints. ... Marks second time two former No. 1 picks at quarterback faced off in conference championship game. Denver's John Elway faced Vinny Testaverde of Jets in 1998 AFC championship, with Elway getting win. ... Manning set NFL record with 15 TD passes in fourth quarter this season. He has added two more in playoffs and has 113.6 passer rating in fourth quarter. ... Manning has thrown three TD passes in three straight games for first time in career. ... Manning has won six of his past seven playoff games, with five coming on road, including Super Bowl in 2008 vs. New England. Man- ning's four road playoff wins tied for most ever. ... Giants averaging 112.7 yards rushing per game over past seven contests after averaging 82.3 in first 11. ... New York's Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks one of only two wide receiving duos to each top 1,000 yards with Cruz finishing third in NFL with 1,536 (Nicks had 1,192). ... Nicks has 13 catches for 280 yards and four TDs in two playoff games, joining Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald as only players in Super Bowl era with two games of at least 100 yards receiving and two TDs in one postseason. ... Giants coach Tom Coughlin can tie Tom Landry for most road playoff wins by winning sev- enth this week. ... Giants finished tied for third in NFL with 48 sacks in regular season and have 17 over past four games. ... 49ers allowed 44 sacks in regular season, most for any playoff team. ... Vernon Davis had 180 yards receiving last week against New Orleans, setting postseason record for tight ends. ... San Francisco led NFL with plus-28 turnover margin in regular season and were plus-4 last week against Saints, getting five turnovers and giving it away once. ... Smith has gone 201 straight passes without an interception. ... San Fran- cisco K David Akers has 156 career points against Giants, most for any active player. ... 49ers one of three teams to call runs on more than half their plays in regu- lar season. ... San Francisco WRs had seven catches for 48 yards last week. ... 49ers RB Frank Gore had 13 car- ries for 89 yards last week after averaging 3.5 yards per carry over final eight regular season games. ... Rookie Aldon Smith has 7 1/2 sacks over last six games for 49ers, including one last week against Drew Brees. ... With a 49ers win, Jim Harbaugh would become sixth rookie coach to go to Super Bowl. stage of the game and it's over. It's such a vivid memory.'' Seven plays later, Bahr kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired, sending the Giants to a Super Bowl they won 20-19 over Buffalo. ''I got over that on that same day,'' Craig Sunday 3:30 p.m. said this week. ''It was no big deal. It was just a loss that we had. It was- n't meant to be for us to go to the championship that year. The defense made a good play on the ball. They had a perfect hit. It doesn't really change your life. I'm too positive a person to let something like that dic- tate your life.'' Steve Young, who replaced Montana that game, said there was talk about whether they should hand the ball to Craig or run a bootleg. They went with the handoff. ''Then in the end, we Baltimore Ravens New England Patriots BALTIMORE (13-4) At NEW ENGLAND (14-3) OPENING LINE — Patriots by 7 1/2 RECORD VS. SPREAD — Baltimore 8-8-1; New England 10-7 SERIES RECORD — Patriots lead 6-1 LAST MEETING — Patriots beat Ravens 23-20 OT, Oct. 17, 2010 LAST WEEK — Ravens beat Texans 20-13; Patri- ots beat Broncos 45-10 RAVENS OFFENSE — OVERALL (15), RUSH (10), PASS (19) RAVENS DEFENSE — OVERALL (3), RUSH (2), PASS (4) PATRIOTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (20), PASS (2) PATRIOTS DEFENSE — OVERALL (31), RUSH (17), PASS (31) STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — In only previ- ous playoff game between teams, Ravens won 33-14 Jan. 10, 2010 after building 24-0 first-quarter lead. ... Joe Flacco threw 10 passes in that game and Tom Brady had three first-quarter turnovers. ... Flacco only quarterback since 1970 NFL-AFL merger to reach playoffs in each of first four seasons. Brady made it in two of first four. ... Baltimore in AFC championship game for second time in four seasons but has been in one Super Bowl, beating New York Giants 34-7 to cap 2000 season. ... Last weekend, Ravens outgained by Texans 315 yards to 227 but had four takeaways. ... Ravens 7-0 against playoff teams this season, including postseason victory over Texans. They are 4-4 on road. ... RB Ray Rice led NFL with 129.3 total yards from scrimmage per game. In three games against Patriots, his average is 145.7. ... LB Terrell Suggs' 14 sacks were most in AFC. ... Balti- more 12-4 for second consecutive season but won AFC North title for first time since 2006. ... Baltimore's perennially dominant defense led AFC with 48 sacks and has NFL-high 32 postseason interceptions since 2000. ... Ravens have won seven of last eight games, including postseason. ... Patriots win would put them in Super Bowl for seventh time and fifth in 11 years. They've won three. ... Brady tied NFL postseason record with six touchdown passes last weekend. He shares it with Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica. He also has thrown touchdown pass in 18 straight postsea- son games, two behind Brett Favre's league record. ... If Brady throws for 195 yards, he'll pass John Elway's total of 4,964 for fourth most postseason passing yards in NFL history. ... Wes Welker has 40 catches in five playoff games. He missed postseason game against Ravens after injuring knee in regular-season finale. ... Rob Gronkowski caught three touchdown passes from Brady in playoff game against Denver after setting NFL regular-season record for tight ends with 17 touchdown receptions. ... WR Deion Branch had 85 yards receiving against Broncos, setting team career postseason record of 773. Troy Brown held mark of 694. ... CB Kyle Arrington tied for NFL lead with seven interceptions on a defense that gave up second most yards in league. ... New England 3-0 at home in AFC championship games. ... Patriots have won last nine games. obviously called the run- ning play,'' he said. ''And forever more, whoever won the discus- sion, or what to do, was on the hook.'' Montana never started another game for the 49ers again, missing most of the next two sea- sons with injuries and then leaving to finish his career in Kansas City. Lott and Craig also left after that season and by the time the 49ers won their fifth Super Bowl title following the 1994 season, it was a very different roster. ''It was kind of the end of that era to a cer- Sunday Noon tain degree,'' former Niners offensive lineman Guy McIntyre said. ''Those guys were the ones that started it all when you think about it.'' The Niners had gotten the better of the Giants earlier in the rivalry, winning the first playoff game of the Bill Walsh era 38-24 following the 1981 season, one week before Dwight Clark made ''The Catch.'' The playoff run to San Francisco's second title following the 1984 sea- son also started with a win over the Giants, 21- 10. The Giants eliminated the 49ers in the wild- card round with a 17-3 win the following season and then launched their own Super Bowl run with a division-round win over San Francisco the next year. With Jim Burt knock- ing out Montana with a hard hit late in the first half on a pass that Taylor intercepted and ran back 34 yards for a score, New York won 49-3 on the way to its first Super Bowl win. Rice made the most memorable gaffe of his career in that game when he dropped the ball for a fumble on the way to what seemed like an early touchdown. The 49ers also beat the Giants 44-3 follow- ing the 1993 season in what proved to be the final career game for Phil Simms and Taylor. ''You know there are a lot of memories,'' Simms said of the rival- ry. ''They went from maybe the greatest to the worst in lots of ways. The games were awe- some.'' The teams have met only one time in the postseason since that run of matchups ended. In January 2003, the 49ers fell behind the Giants 38-14 late in the third quarter. But Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens led San Francisco on an epic NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 26 12 5 57 125 100 Kings 23 15 9 55 105 105 Dallas 24 19 2 50 122 129 Phoenix 21 19 7 49 122 125 Ducks 16 22 7 39 119 140 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA St. Louis 28 12 6 62 117 94 Chicago 28 13 6 62 156 135 Detroit 30 15 1 61 149 105 Nashville 27 16 4 58 128 123 Columbus 13 28 5 31 110 152 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 28 15 4 60 151 117 Colorado 25 21 2 52 124 137 Minnesota 22 18 7 51 107 122 Calgary 21 20 6 48 112 133 Edmonton 17 25 4 38 116 132 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA N.Y.Rangers 29 12 4 62 126 94 Philadelphia27 14 4 58 150 133 Pittsburgh 25 17 4 54 140 118 New Jersey 26 18 2 54 127 130 N.Y. Islanders18 21 6 42 110 135 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 30 13 1 61 160 89 Ottawa 26 16 6 58 149 150 Toronto 23 18 5 51 143 141 Buffalo 19 22 5 43 114 140 Montreal 17 21 8 42 116 126 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Washington 25 18 2 52 128 127 Florida 21 14 10 52 115 127 Winnipeg 21 20 5 47 116 133 Tampa Bay 18 23 4 40 126 159 Carolina 16 24 8 40 124 156 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Thursday's results Ottawa at San Jose, late Boston 4, New Jersey 1 Nashville 3, Columbus 0 N.Y. Islanders 4, Philadelphia 1 Pittsburgh 4, N.Y. Rangers 1 St. Louis 1, Edmonton 0 Toronto 4, Minnesota 1 Buffalo at Winnipeg, late Calgary at Los Angeles, late Detroit at Phoenix, late Today's games Montreal at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Washington at Carolina, 4 p.m. Florida at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games redbluffdailynews.com/jobs San Jose at Vancouver, 1 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Boston, 10 a.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey, 10 a.m. Ottawa at Anaheim, 1 p.m. Carolina at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Columbus at Detroit, 4 p.m. Florida at Winnipeg, 4 p.m. Montreal at Toronto, 4 p.m. Buffalo at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 5 p.m. Tampa Bay at Phoenix, 5 p.m. Dallas at Minnesota, 6 p.m. Calgary at Edmonton, 7 p.m. Colorado at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Through Jan. 18 NHL Scoring Leaders GP G A PTS D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY Evgeni Malkin, Pit 38 22 30 52 Henrik Sedin, Van 47 11 41 52 Steven Stamkos, TB 45 31 20 51 Daniel Sedin, Van 46 20 30 50 Claude Giroux, Phi 40 18 32 50 Phil Kessel, Tor 45 24 25 49 Marian Hossa, Chi 46 18 31 49 Pavel Datsyuk, Det 45 13 36 49 Jonathan Toews, Chi 47 26 22 48 Joffrey Lupul, Tor 45 20 28 48 Jason Spezza, Ott 48 20 28 48 Jason Pominville, Buf46 17 29 46 comeback with the 49ers taking a 39-38 lead on Garcia's 13-yard TD pass to Tai Streets with 1 minute remaining. ''It was just one of those games where once one thing went wrong, they all went wrong,'' said former defensive end Michael Strahan, who will be on hand Sunday as an analyst on Fox's pregame show. It only got worse. The Giants were in prime position to win the game, driving to the San Francisco 23 with just 6 seconds remaining. But Trey Junkin, signed earlier that week, made his second bad snap of the game and holder Matt Allen could- n't handle it. Allen then threw the ball down field to offensive lineman Rich Seubert, who was an eligible receiver on the play. Defensive end Chike Okeafor pulled Seubert down on the play, but the officials did not call pass interference because they apparently forgot Seubert was an eligible receiver. So instead of having a second shot at the field goal, the game ended with the Niners winning. The league later admit- ted its error, but it came too late for the Giants. ''What good did that do,'' Strahan said. ''That's one of those games that's infamous for the drama in it.'' NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Clippers Lakers Phoenix WL Pct GB 8 4 .667 — 10 6 .625 — 5 9 .357 4 WARRIORS 59 .357 4 KINGS 510 .333 4.5 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 10 5 .667 — Memphis Dallas Houston 7 6 .538 2 8 7 .533 2 8 7 .533 2 New Orleans 3 12 .200 7 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Oklahoma City 12 3 .800 — Utah Denver Portland Minnesota 9 4 .692 2 10 5 .667 2 8 6 .571 3.5 6 8 .429 5.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia 10 4 .714 — New York Boston WL Pct GB 6 8 .429 4 New Jersey 4 11 .267 6.5 Toronto 5 8 .385 4.5 4 11 .267 6.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 11 4 .733 — 10 4 .714 .5 10 4 .714 .5 3 12 .200 8 Atlanta Orlando Miami Charlotte Washington 2 12 .143 8.5 Central Division Chicago Indiana Cleveland WL Pct GB 13 3 .813 — 9 4 .692 2.5 6 7 .462 5.5 Milwaukee 4 9 .308 7.5 Detroit 3 12 .200 9.5 —————————————————— Thursday's results Houston 90, New Orleans 88, OT Miami 98, L.A. Lakers 87 Dallas at Utah, late Today's games Sacramento at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Indiana at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. Atlanta at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Denver at Washington, 4 p.m. Portland at Toronto, 4 p.m. Chicago at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. Memphis at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Milwaukee at New York, 4:30 p.m. Phoenix at Boston, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Orlando, 5 p.m. Minnesota at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Saturday's games Sacramento at Memphis, 5 p.m. Cleveland at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Denver at New York, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Miami, 4:30 p.m. Portland at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Charlotte at Chicago, 5 p.m. Dallas at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at New Jersey, 5 p.m. San Antonio at Houston, 5 p.m. Minnesota at Utah, 6 p.m. NBA LEADERS Through Jan. 18 Scoring GFG FT PTS AVG Bryant, LAL 15 170 106 462 30.8 James, MIA 12 131 89 358 29.8 Durant, OKC 15 138 95 397 26.5 Love, MIN 14 111 105 353 25.2 Anthony, NYK 13 108 89 325 25.0 Ellis, GOL 13 108 70 301 23.2 Aldridge, POR 14 130 54 315 22.5 Griffin, LAC 12 105 44 255 21.3 Westbrook, OK 15 117 65 308 20.5 Howard, ORL 14 105 72 282 20.1 Bosh, MIA 13 104 49 260 20.0 Lee, GOL 13 105 41 251 19.3 J. Johnson, ATL15 101 49 283 18.9 Jennings, MIL 13 94 32 243 18.7 D. Williams, NJ 14 81 67 258 18.4 Stoudemire, NY12 78 60 220 18.3 Jefferson, UTA 12 95 26 216 18.0 Nowitzki, DAL 15 98 64 268 17.9 Gay, MEM 13 98 28 232 17.8 Anderson, ORL 14 82 39 249 17.8 Rebounds G OFFDEF TOT AVG Howard, ORL 14 58 161 219 15.6 Love, MIN 14 67 136 203 14.5 Bynum, LAL 11 43 110 153 13.9 Griffin, LAC 12 45 97 142 11.8 Varejao, CLE 13 60 88 148 11.4 Gasol, MEM 13 30 112 142 10.9 Cousins, SAC 14 68 78 146 10.4 Lee, GOL 13 44 91 135 10.4 Humphries, NJ 13 49 83 132 10.2 McGee, WAS 14 47 95 142 10.1 Assists G ASTAVG Nash, PHX 13 131 10.1 Rondo, BOS 13 122 9.4 Calderon, TOR 15 131 8.7 Rose, CHI 13 113 8.7 Lowry, HOU 12 104 8.7 Paul, LAC 9 76 8.4 D. Williams, NJ 14 117 8.4 Rubio, MIN 14 116 8.3 James, MIA 12 91 7.6 Jack, NOR 13 96 7.4 C F O X B S