Giants vs. 49ers: 10 Key Matchups to Watch in NFC Championship Game

Matchups as described in the NFL do not include quarterbacks going up against one another. Rather, it is all about offensive players going up against star-studded defensive personnel. 

This is important to understand, because these matchups are truly what decides the victor come Sundays. 

There are some really incredible matchups in the 2012 NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants. The trash talking might have started via Twitter and other media outlets, but as Donte Whitner says, "Here in San Francisco we do our talking on the field with our shoulder pads."

I am pretty sure the New York Giants agree with this assessment and plan to do some talking of their own this afternoon. 

This morning, I am going to focus on 10 vital matchups in determining who will be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl. 

10. Dashon Goldson Against Jake Ballard

Dashon Goldson isn't the greatest cover safety in the league, but he continually makes plays each and every week.

The Pro Bowl player rebounded from a horrible 2010 season with the best year of his career in 2011. 

He finished the regular season with seven takeaways, among the top of the league in that category.

Goldson's Twitter name, "The Hawk," is a prime example of how he plays on the football field. 

He will be going up against an emerging tight end in Jake Ballard. The second-year player had more than 600 yards receiving this season for the New York Giants.

Despite this, he was held to only 35 receiving yards in the teams' first matchup this season. 

If Goldson is able to take away what many would call Eli Manning's "safety valve," it will put much more pressure on the Pro Bowl quarterback and force him to go to the outside, where the 49ers' coverage is elite. 

Advantage Goldson 

9. Ray McDonald Against David Diehl

Ray McDonald is second to only his teammate, Justin Smith, in quarterback pressures from a 3-4 defense over the last two seasons.

His sacks total might not dictate it, but McDonald is what I would call an elite defensive end. 

He will have the "honor" of going up against a self-anointed "mutter" in David Diehl. 

Tackle isn't Diehl's natural position, and he can be beaten by the bull rush. This is an individual that has been much maligned during his New York Giants career.

If Ray McDonald can provide pressure opposite of Justin Smith along the defensive line, it is going to cause some major problems for Eli Manning in the passing game. 

Advantage McDonald

8. Corey Webster Against Michael Crabtree

Michael Crabtree struggled a great deal last week in his first career playoff game.

The third-year receiver dropped at least two passes and struggled getting open against a relatively weak New Orleans Saints secondary. 

This came off the heels of a breakout season for the former first-round pick.

He had 80 yards or more receiving in four of the 49ers' final seven games.

I do understand that Crabtree will not be Alex Smith's primary target in the passing game, but he will be extremely important on the outside. 

Crabtree was held to just one catch for 21 yards in the regular season game between these two teams.

Watching video of that game, I noticed that Corey Webster did a great job in coverage against both Crabtree and Ted Ginn, Jr. In fact, he made a rare interception of an Alex Smith pass. However, it did come on a Ginn drop. 

If Webster is able to shut down Crabtree when he is covering the talented receiver, San Francisco is going to have some issues in the passing game.

That said, Crabtree will see a lot of one-one coverage with the Giants defense focusing more on Vernon Davis between the hashes. 

Advantage Crabtree

7. Linval Joseph Against Jonathan Goodwin

Linval Joseph has been a pleasant surprise for the New York Giants this season.

Not only did the second-year player from East Carolina rack up more than 40 tackles and two sacks, he was extremely stout in the running game. 

The Giants are going to need him to continue this surprising play if they expect to stop one of the best running games in the league, led by Frank Gore. 

This is also where Jonathan Goodwin comes in. He was a great under-the-radar free agent signing for the 49ers, replacing current Giant David Baas at center. This is a player that spearheaded the interior of the New Orleans Saints offensive line in their Super Bowl run of 2009. 

This matchup wont get a whole lot of play, but make no mistake about it, these two players may go a long way in determining the outcome of this afternoon's game. 

Advantage Joseph 

6. Carlos Rogers Against Victor Cruz

New York loves to mix and match their receiving unit, which means that Carlos Rogers will not be matched up against Victor Cruz on every play.

However, he will be going up against the talented receiver most of the time. 

If the first game and Rogers' Pro Bowl season is any indicator, he will be up for the challenge. 

Cruz was held to six receptions for less than 100 yards, while Carlos Rogers picked off two Eli Manning passes that went in his direction. 

Confidence is something that Carlos Rogers has picked up throughout the 2011 season. He is now, by all accounts, a true shutdown corner.

Just look at his play against top-tier receivers last week in the Saints game. Rogers went up one-on-one against Marques Colston and Devery Henderson on the outside, breaking up a lot of passes. 

Stopping Victor Cruz is a whole other game. He had seven 100-yard receiving games this season and has been one of the most electrifying playmakers in the entire league.

That said, Cruz has combined for just a little over 100 yards and zero touchdowns in the Giants' first two playoff games this season. 

This matchup doesn't get any better. 

Advantage Rogers 

5. Mathias Kiwanuka Against Bruce Miller

Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul are going to get their quarterback pressures this afternoon—that really isn't in question.

When the two are healthy, the Giants are averaging one sack per 17 quarterback drops, which is an amazing stat by itself. 

The increased concentration of the 49ers' blocking scheme on these two individuals is going to enable their outside linebackers to have massive holes to run through into San Francisco's backfield. 

This is where Mathias Kiwanuka and Bruce Miller come into play. 

The sixth-year linebacker from Boston College only acquired 3.5 sacks this season, the second-lowest output of his career. If San Francisco is able to utilize overload blocking against Tuck and Pierre-Paul, Kiwanuka needs to step up in order for the Giants to put pressure on Alex Smith. 

It wont be an easy task, because Bruce Miller, a seventh-round pick in the 2011 NFL draft that is a converted defensive end, has been amazing his rookie season. In fact, I feel it is a travesty that Michael Robinson was named to the Pro Bowl over Miller. 

If the rookie fullback is able to protect Alex as the last line of defense, the New York Giants are going to be in trouble.

However, if they are able to get pressure with just four or by sending Mathias on rare blitzes, the 49ers offense is going to have issues. 

Advantage: Kiwanuka

4. Justin Smith Against Kareem McKenzie

Justin Smith absolutely destroyed the New Orleans Saints last week.

By destroy, I mean that he threw them to the ground, picked them back up and threw them back down again.

It was one of the most dominating performances that I have ever seen from a defensive end, bringing up memories of Reggie White—may he rest in peace. 

Smith did this against two Pro Bowl guards and a stellar offensive tackle. 

This week, he will have the honor of going up against Kareem McKenzie, a solid but not a great offensive tackle by any means.

Smith will also be going up against the interior of the Giants offensive line when he moves inside on nickel packages. 

This is most definitely a matchup to watch. If the Giants have to double- or even triple-team Justin Smith, the likes of Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis and Ahmad Brooks will cause major problems when Vic Fangio and Co. decide to send the blitz. 

If McKenzie can somehow neutralize Smith—an unlikely scenario—Eli Manning will have much more time in the pocket to hit his stellar wide receiver group on the outside. 

Advantage Smith 

3. Patrick Willis Against Chris Snee

There are certain matchups that don't look like they really exist—this is one of those.

Patrick Willis has been sent on blitzes more as the season has progressed.

In doing so, opposing offenses have had to utilize a different type of blocking scheme.

More often than not, you have seen them pull a guard outside to block Justin Smith or Ray McDonald while leaving a tackle to "max protect" against the Willis onslaught. 

The amazing play of All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman has created a situation in which the 49ers are able to send Willis on more blitzes. Considering his speed and ability, Willis has been up to the task despite only acquiring two sacks.

Chris Snee, the son-in-law of Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, will be extremely important in regard to picking up these blitzes. This is something that he hasn't been asked to do too much in the past, so it should be interesting to see how he handles it.

If Willis has a sack on Sunday, it will indicate that the 49ers were successful in bringing opportunistic blitzes.

Advantage Willis 

2. Antrel Rolle Against Vernon Davis

Vernon Davis runs a 4.3 40-yard dash, a faster time than Trent Richardson, Chris Polk and even LaMichael James.

To say that he is the most physically gifted tight end in the entire NFL isn't too much of a stretch. Speaking of stretches, he can do that to the field this afternoon: stretch it. 

His performance against the New Orleans Saints last Saturday is a thing of folklore.

Not only did No. 85 dominate when the game was on the line, he dominated all game long. In short, Davis came up big on a huge stage. 

This week, he will have the pleasure of going up against Antrel Rolle, who doesn't seem to awestruck by the talented tight end. 

Should he be so confident? 

Well, he has limited Vernon Davis to 15 catches in their four previous matchups. However, that was a completely different San Francisco 49ers team.

I fully expect the Giants to double Vernon Davis up the middle. No one is going to be able to guard the talented tight end one on one.

Additionally, there is absolutely no way that the Giants are going to put a linebacker in man coverage against Davis. This means that you will see a lot of Rolle being lined up in a double-team against Vernon Davis. 

Taking the 49ers' biggest playmaker away would go a long way in helping the Giants reach the Super Bowl. However, if Davis gets off again like what we saw last week, the 49ers will be looking at a sixth Super Bowl appearance. 

Advantage Davis 

1. Jason Pierre-Paul Against Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis has improved his game a great deal over the last half of the 2011 season.

In fact, it could be concluded that he is now a star in the making. 

This doesn't mean that Davis will be allowed to block one on one against Jason Pierre-Paul, a player who has made the best offensive linemen in the league look foolish.

He recorded seven sacks in four games against teams like the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, all of whom have elite tackles. 

I fully expect the 49ers to utilize a max-protection scheme against the stellar New York Giants pass-rush.

Even then, this doesn't mean that the second-year player from South Florida won't get his hits on Alex Smith. 

The biggest part of this matchup is San Francisco being able to protect Smith against a four-man pass-rush, which would force the Giants to send blitzes. If this happens, you will see a lot of one-on-one coverage against Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. 

It is up to Anthony Davis to make this a reality on the 49ers side. It is also up to Jason Pierre-Paul to prevent this from happening on the Giants side. 

Advantage Pierre-Paul