NFL Conference Championship Sunday: My Top 10 CBS Contemplations

10. First off, stop saying the Ravens' Billy Cundiff "shanked" the potential game-tying, 32-yard field goal in Baltimore's 23-20 loss to New England. Shank is a golf term, meaning you badly mis-hit and squirted a ball well short and to the right of the target. Cundiff yanked his kick. Or pulled it. Or  hooked it. Or missed. How about missed? If you're right-footed, you can't shank a ball to the left. If you don't have the vocabulary, quit trying to show off with fancy words. And, yes, NFL writers, I'm talking to you.

9. Jay Ratliff is a beast as Cowboys' nose tackle, but God almighty the Patriots' Vince Wilfork absolutely changed the AFC title game by shutting door to the middle of the line. Right, Ray Rice?

8. Make fun of his comical, Forrest Gump facial expressions all you want, Eli Manning delivers in the clutch. He was pounded yesterday and refused to get rattled in the Giants' 20-17 overtime win over the 49ers. Any debate about Eli or Romo has long been settled.

7. Crazy, but the Patriots won despite Tom Brady, who was out of sync all day and threw 0 touchdowns. Brady's assessment: "I sucked pretty bad today." New England became the first team in NFL history to win despite being on the short end of turnovers, total yards and time-of-possession.

6. Glad the 49ers didn't win. Quarterback Alex Smith completed 12 passes, only 1 to a wide receiver. Teams that offensively impotent have no business in the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, and how about 1 of 13 on 3rd down?

5. And to think, the Giants were 7-7 on Dec. 18 after an ugly home loss to the lowly Redskins.

4. I picked Patriots and Giants to win, but I think it's a shame the almost-touchdown catch by the Ravens' Lee Evans and the almost-fumble by the Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw weren't called/reviewed. Two game-changing plays, and neither got a close/second look?

3. Biggest play of the Patriots' win – the dislodging of the ball from Evans – was made by cornerback Sterling Moore, an undrafted rookie from SMU that was cut off the Raiders' practice squad earlier this year. You never know, do you?

2. Who feels worse this morning, Cundiff or Kyle Williams. Gotta be Williams. Filling in for injured returner Ted Ginn, he lets a punt carom off his knee and then fumbles in overtime. In a game in which his defense dominated the Giants, he gave New York 10 free points. And to think, San Francisco special teams had 0 turnovers during the regular season.

1. A couple of scintillating games but as often happens in championship games, it was bad mistakes losing more than great plays winning.