NATIONAL EXPERT PICKS
Peter King, Sports Illustrated: 36-27, 49ers.
“I can’t see after Russell Wilson’s 445-total-yard dynamism last week how Atlanta can shut down an equally difficult weapon behind center.”
Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk.com: 27-17, 49ers.
“Though the Falcons pulled out a stirring win over Seattle, the victory came in the wake of a historic defensive collapse.“
Pete Prisco, CBSSports.com: 24-21, Falcons.
“This will be about (Matt) Ryan seizing the moment.”
Mike Sando, ESPN.com NFC West blogger: 30-17, 49ers.
“San Francisco has the better offensive and defensive lines, the better running backs and the better secondary, in my view.”
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: 34-27, 49ers.
“The diversity of San Francisco’s balanced offense should keep the Falcons off-balance.”
DON’T GET BULLIED
The Rams forged a 24-24 tie against the 49ers in the first meeting and beat their NFC West foes 16-13 in the rematch. Rams running back Steven Jackson offered the Falcons some advice on the NFL Network’s “Around the League” segment.
“You can’t back down from a bully,” Jackson said. “(The 49ers) are going to come out, and they are going to hit hard… . They want to set a precedent that they want to come beat you up. When you are faced with a bully, sometimes you’ve got to hit the bully first.”
THE MAYOR’S FALCONS MUSIC
The online music service Spotify released Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed’s playlist, which he hopes will “help Falcons fans get pumped.”
Reed’s list includes hits from Atlanta-based rappers Jermaine Dupri, T.I. and Ludacris. But the mayor boldly risks his street cred by including Coldplay and Journey.
TICKETS SCARCE
The supply of tickets offered by two of the major ticket resellers was dwindling by Saturday.
StubHub had about 2,300 tickets left, with a starting price of $162. The NFL’s official exchange at Ticketmaster had less than 2,000 seats for sale, with a starting price of $150.
VIEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO
Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee writes that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick “is staying calm before Sunday’s NFC Championship game even as he finds himself the center of a pop-culture storm.”
Kawahara notes that fans have taken to “Kaepernicking,” a meme in which they imitate the quarterback’s biceps-kissing celebration and post the pictures to social media. Online retailer Fanatics.com said Kapernick’s jersey is the NFL’s third-best seller this month.
Kaepernick’s marketing agent, Shawn Smith, told Kawahara that his client has received offers for books, product endorsements and a reality television show, as well as requests for dates and appearances at birthday parties.
“He’s really just about football,” Smith said. “He doesn’t know about that unless he reads any of this stuff. And I doubt he’s doing that, either.”
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