There
will be a CU football alum playing in Super Bowl XLVII next month in New
Orleans. Whether it is Jimmy Smith
or Nate Solder will be determined
this Sunday as Baltimore and New England will face off for the AFC Championship
(4:30 p.m. MST, CBS).
Smith
and Solder are the only former Buffaloes still alive in the 2013 addition of
the NFL playoffs as three other Colorado alums were eliminated in the
divisional round this past weekend.
In
order for Baltimore to advance to the AFC Championship game, they had to defeat
Justin Bannan and the No. 1 seed
Denver Broncos. To do so, it took two overtimes and one huge tackle from Jimmy
Smith.
Denver's
Trindon Holliday became the first player in NFL playoff history to return a
punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game, and Baltimore had to punt
to him one more time with 3:59 remaining in the first overtime period.
Holliday
fielded the punt with seemingly no Raven defenders in sight and the end zone on
his mind. However, Jimmy Smith was only thinking about bringing Holliday down,
and he delivered with one of the most important tackles of his NFL career.
The
Broncos ensuing drive would end with an interception, which the Ravens took
advantage of and kicked the game-winning field goal early in the second
overtime.
Bannan
had been working hard in the trenches all game to prevent the end of his 11th
season in the NFL. He recorded five tackles in the game and finished the season
with 47 total tackles.
Also
playing on Saturday was the Green Bay Packers, featuring former Buffs Mason Crosby and Brad Jones. Unfortunately for Crosby and Jones, their season would
come to end as well, but both put forth impressive performances in the final
game.
Jones
capped off his best NFL season thus far in his career by racking up 10 total
tackles, nine of which were unassisted during the Packers' 45-31 loss at San
Francisco. Crosby connected on his only field goal attempt of the day, coming
from 31 yards out.
On
Sunday, New England continued its offensive dominance that it has displayed all
season as they rolled over Houston, 41-28, and setting up a rematch of last
year's AFC Championship game.
With
the win, Nate Solder now helps protect the winningest quarterback in postseason
play as Tom Brady won his 17th NFL playoff game versus the Texans.
Solder
and Smith will meet for the third time during their NFL careers after they played
together at CU from 2007-2010 and were drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft. The first
time the two former teammates ever faced each other in the professional ranks was
during last year's AFC Championship game.
That
meeting saw Smith intercept Tom Brady and return the pick 39 yards before being
brought down. Yet, it would be Solder and New England that scrapped out a hard-fought
23-20 win to advance to Super Bowl XLVI.
Now
a trip to Super Bowl XLVII is on the line, and both Smith and Solder know that
only one Buff can move on.
