Ranking the Top 10 Players of Conference Championship Weekend

Two top-10 offenses will face off in the Super Bowl, but the Conference Championship games were dominated by defense.

In a season where offenses grabbed the headlines, yardage was hard to find for all the teams who made it to the NFL's final four.

Even the special teams was more of a story than the offenses, with big plays and big mistakes, and the kicking unit deciding both games.

Both games featured smash-mouth football, and the players who stood out left everything they had out on the field.

Here are the top 10 performances from Conference Championship Weekend.

10. Navarro Bowman

Playing with a heavy heart, Navarro Bowman led the San Francisco 49ers with 14 tackles in the NFC Championship game. 

Joe Paterno, Bowman's college coach, died on Sunday from lung cancer.

The First Team All Pro had a breakout season and is part of the most formidable inside linebacker tandem in the league with Patrick Willis (also a First Team All Pro).

Against the Giants, the San Francisco rush defense played up to the standard it had set for itself in the regular season. New York gained only 85 yards on the ground and did not have a rushing touchdown.

The 49ers did not allow a team to run in a touchdown for the first 14 games of the season, which no team had ever done before.

This success is owed largely to Bowman and Willis who swarm ball carriers with startling quickness and power.

Bowman, the postseason's leading tackler, did just that on Sunday, but the 49ers defense could not cause a turnover and lost the game.

9. Devin Thomas

The 49ers special teams had been the best in the league in the regular season, but in the NFC Championship Game, the New York Giants punt coverage team made two game-changing plays. On both plays, Devin Thomas ended up with the ball.

Thomas was picked in the second round of the 2008 draft by the Redskins, but struggled during his first few years in the league. He was cut by Washington, had a short stint with Carolina and then was forced to make a roster the hard way: through special teams.

Thomas was in the right place at the right time twice on Sunday. He recovered a muffed punt by Kyle Williams early in the fourth quarter that led to a go-ahead touchdown for New York.

In overtime, Jacquian Williams forced the San Francisco return-man to put the ball on the ground again, and Thomas was there to snatch it up one more time. 

The second recovery led to the game-winning field goal for the NFC Champions.

8. Bernard Pollard

Bernard Pollard proved on Sunday why his teammates refer to him as "The Angry Man."

Pollard tied with Ray Lewis for a game-high of 12 tackles and had one pass defended.

He helped lead the hard-hitting Ravens to an excellent performance that limited the potent Patriots' offense to 23 points.

The Baltimore defense lived up to expectations and forced Tom Brady into two interceptions and the future Hall of Famer had no passing touchdowns and a quarterback rating of just 57.5.

On Brady's second interception, Pollard made an incredible play by reaching high over his head to tip the ball to teammate Jimmy Smith.

The Ravens defense played well enough to win the game, even if an inexplicable miss by Billy Cundiff cost the team a trip to the Super Bowl.

7. Vernon Davis

Vernon Davis continued an inspired performance in the playoffs by catching the only two 49er touchdowns.

Davis only caught three passes in the NFC title game, but averaged 37.3 yards per catch and finished with 112 yards receiving.

The San Francisco offense struggled to move the ball against the Giants, who limited Frank Gore and the rushing game.

The 49ers had to make big plays to stay in the game, and Davis delivered.

The tight end caught touchdown passes of 73 and 28 yards after catching two touchdowns against New Orleans in the Divisional Round.

If not for late mistakes on special teams, Davis could possibly be playing for a third consecutive two-touchdown performance in Indianapolis.

6. Lawrence Tynes

The raw stats do not show a special performance from New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes, who attempted and made two field goals, both from 31 yards.

However, the second 31-yard kick was in sudden-death overtime and sent his team to the Super Bowl.

This is the second time in five seasons that Tynes has given the Giants a chance to play for a title by making an overtime field goal.

Fans often scoff when kickers are made into heroes for converting easy field goals at the end of games, but the AFC championship game showed how much pressure is on players who have to make a game-winning kick.

In both games on Sunday, a hard-fought battle came down to the kickers. Billy Cundiff did not make a play, but Lawrence Tynes did, and his team is in the Super Bowl.

5. Bill Belichik

Bill Belichick is headed to his fifth Super Bowl in 11 years. He has also led the New England Patriots to the playoffs in nine of his 12 seasons as head coach.

Belichick is known as a defensive guru, although his team had been atrocious on defense throughout the regular season due to injuries and inconsistency. 

In the playoffs, the unit has made an unexpected turnaround, and allowed just 10 points to Denver and 20 to Baltimore. 

In the AFC Championship Game, the overlooked defense won the game for New England.

Belichick, one of three NFL coaches who also acts as his team's general manager, has made smart decisions in the draft and free agency to put together a unit that made enough plays to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.

A win in two weeks will give him six championships in his career and four as a head coach. His amazing run over the past decade arguably makes him the greatest coach in football history.

4. Victor Cruz

The surprise of the 2011 NFL season has been New York Giants wideout Victor Cruz.

Cruz had just three receptions in 2010, but finished this year with 82 catches, 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns.

The second-year player was not voted to the Pro Bowl, and made only the league minimum $405,000 this season. Both of those statements are unlikely to be true next season.

After being contained in the Wild Card Round and overshadowed by Hakeem Nicks in the Divisional Round, Cruz returned to center stage in the Giants' passing attack and caught 10 passes for 142 yards against the 49ers.

His quickness and speed combined with his fearless attitude give him the ability to beat a defense from anywhere on the field, and he will be a major factor in Super Bowl XLVI.

3. Jason Pierre-Paul

Jason Pierre-Paul is another New York Giant in the midst of a breakout year during his second season in the NFL.

The First Team All Pro is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate after leading all defensive lineman with 86 tackles and finishing fourth in the league with 16.5 sacks.

Against the 49ers, JPP had six tackles, one for a loss, along with half a sack and one pass defended.

He made the game difficult for the San Francisco offense as the heralded Giants defensive line disrupted the timing and rhythm of the passing game and did not allow a rushing touchdown.

Super Bowl XLVI will be a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in 2007, where the Giants defensive line dominated the record setting Patriots' offense.

If New York hopes to beat New England again, Pierre-Paul will have to be as disruptive to Tom Brady as he was to Alex Smith.

2. Vince Wilfork

The Patriots defense was one of the worst in the league during the regular season, and many fans forgot that the unit still has a few Pro Bowl-caliber players.

Vince Wilfork is one of the top defensive tackles in the NFL, and proved so against the Ravens.

Wilfork dragged down a Baltimore ball-carrier behind for a loss three times in the AFC title game, finishing with six total tackles.

The big man in the middle abused the Ravens offensive line and regularly collapsed Joe Flacco's pocket.

The Patriots defense also held Ray Rice to just 3.2 yards per carry and no touchdowns, largely due to Wilfork's performance.

The New England defense will need to make plays to beat the Giants in the Super Bowl, and the group will look to Wilfork to deliver.

1. Eli Manning

Eli Manning turned heads this offseason by proclaiming that he was a top-five quarterback, and has done nothing since then but prove that statement true.

The Giants coaching staff put the game in Manning's hands and asked him to throw the ball 58 times against the NFL's best defense.

He finished with 32 completions for 316 yards and two touchdowns, while throwing zero interceptions.

His stats were not great, but he did not give the ball away against the defense that led the league in creating turnovers.

When the Giants were able to move the ball, it was because of Manning. New York had 20 first downs in the game, and 17 of them came from passes.

The last time the Giants and Patriots met in the Super Bowl, Manning won the game on a late touchdown pass and was named the game's MVP. Few would be surprised if he did so again in Super Bowl XLVI.