Week #1: Who to root for this weekend

By
in Sports

tagged journalism, sports

For the next 10 weeks I'll be posting sports content related to Bay Area teams. I'm currently taking an intro to features writing class, and we're required to keep a blog that focuses on a specific topic. I enjoy sports a lot, so I'll be covering Bay Area sports teams (Sharks, Earthquakes, Raiders, 49ers, Warriors, etc.). I'll also be trialing using Reddit for comments. If it works well, I'll continue using it for the rest of my blog as well. And with that, here goes:

This week the Green Bay Packers will be facing the Atlanta Falcons in the very last NFL game at the Georgia Dome for the NFC Championship. A few hours later, the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet the New England Patriots in Foxboro competing for the AFC Championship - and this will be only the third playoff game in NFL history featuring two quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowl victories.

Neither Bay Area football team has a direct stake in this game, but Raiders and 49ers fans have a lot to root for this weekend.

49ers: If you're a 49ers fan, you want to root for the Falcons to lose. This might sound a little weird, but currently the 49ers are looking to hire Falcons offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, as their new head coach. However, until the Falcons' season ends, they cannnot officially hire him. And since 49ers general manager search depends upon having a head coach, they can get a head start by two weeks if the Falcons lose this weekend.

Raiders: Do you remember the Tuck Rule Game? If so, you'll still probably be rooting for anyone but Tom Brady, quarterback for the Patriots. If not, well, you'll probably want to root for the Steelers, who eliminated Raiders' division rival Kansas City Chiefs last weekend in one of the most bizarre playoff games. Even though the Steelers could not score a single touchdown, they topped the Chiefs two touchdowns with a record six field goals. Raiders fans who had to endure two losses to the Chiefs this season surely appreciated how the Steelers embarrassed the Chiefs on prime time television.

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