NFL predictions: Conference championship games

We’re down to three football games, and two of them come Sunday. The Super Bowl semifinals. Always a little depressing to know there’s so little football left.

49ers at Falcons: San Francisco 30-20. Is Jim Harbaugh getting enough credit for a wildly-controversial move? Benching Alex Smith in November for the unproven Colin Kaepernick was a move few coaches would have tried. The 49ers were 7-2-1 at the time, coming off an NFC finals appearance the previous season and the loss to the Giants was a special teams snafu, not the fault of Smith. Smith was 20-6-1 as Harbaugh’s quarterback, including 9-3 on the road. Smith had thrown 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the two seasons. But now Kaepernick is a national sensation. On the cover of Sports Illustrated. Give Harbaugh credit. Making an unpopular decision, or a decision that seems counter-intuitive, is what coaches sometimes have to do. And Harbaugh has the 49ers on the cusp of not only cultural change, but the Super Bowl.