The Front Row with MARK NELKE Jan. 22, 2012

To help get you ready for today's conference championship games, here's an equal and in-depth look at both the AFC and NFC title matchups.

Well, maybe not equal. And one of them won't be quite as in-depth as the other.

But aside than that ...

Baltimore at New England: Let's see ... Earlier this week, Baltimore safety Ed Reed threw his own quarterback under the bus, saying Joe Flacco was "rattled" by Houston's defense in last week's divisional playoff.

Gee, how nice to have teammates like that? Perhaps Flacco can keep that in mind next time Reed gambles on an interception and gets burned for a touchdown.

Maybe Reed should be more worried about New England quarterback Tom Brady, who seems to have all day to throw. If that happens today, the Patriots will win big, like they did last week against Denver. If the Ravens can show Brady what the turf feels like, they have a chance.

But enough on that game.

New York Giants at San Francisco: At the beginning of the season, no way 49ers fans could have imagined their team playing in an NFC title game, much less hosting one. The 49ers hadn't even made the playoffs since the 2002 season, and have had some miserable seasons since.

On the other side of the field, since everything that happens in New York gets overblown, when the Giants went through their four-game losing streak earlier this season, the team was considered finished and it was time to fire coach Tom Coughlin - again.

Now, the Giants have won four straight, including two in the postseason, and suddenly everything is hunky-dory in the Big Apple.

This week, I found my mind drifting back to previous meetings between the 49ers and Giants in the playoffs. Unfortunately, most of those memories weren't pretty for the 49ers.

Joe Montana — the GREAT Joe Montana — was knocked out in not one, but two, of those games. I thought Jim Burt might have killed him when he put a helmet to Montana’s chin at the old Meadowlands in a divisional playoff. It was the second straight year the Giants beat the 49ers in the playoffs. I hated Jim Burt for years after that. Naturally, a few years later, he signed with the 49ers and helped them win a Super Bowl, so I liked him a little bit more then.

Then, years later, Leonard Marshall nearly broke Montana in half when he chased him down and slammed into his back in the NFC title game following the 1990 season. Montana missed most of the next two seasons with injuries, and never started another game with the 49ers.

Still, the 49ers had a chance to win that game, leading 13-12 late and trying to run out the clock, when Roger Craig, who hardly ever fumbled, was hit by former Washington State defensive lineman Erik Howard and, of course, fumbled. The Giants recovered, and drove to a game-winning field goal on the game’s final play.

If San Francisco had won, the 49ers would have been going for their third straight Super Bowl victory. As it was, the Giants went on to beat Buffalo 20-19 in a game most remembered for the Bills missing wide right on that field goal at the end that would have won the game. Buffalo then went on to lose the next three Super Bowls as well.

In four of those first six meetings between the 49ers and Giants, the winner went on to win the Super Bowl.

The last time the 49ers and Giants met in the playoffs was in the 2002 season. By that time, both teams had slipped a notch. San Francisco rallied from 38-14 down to win 39-38, surviving a wild finish where the Giants botched the snap on a game-winning field goal, and the 49ers got away with pass interference when the holder made a desperation heave down by the goal line.

That was also the last time, before this season, that San Francisco won a playoff game.

Funny, the 49ers have won four of the seven playoff meetings with the Giants since the 1981 season, but it’s the three losses that stick out the most with me.

As for today’s game, the 49ers might think they caught a break when the Giants beat the Packers last week so that this game would be played in San Francisco, not Green Bay. But on the other hand, the Giants are a more well-rounded team than the Packers, and if they can win in Green Bay, they can certainly win in San Francisco.

And Sports Illustrated didn’t do the 49ers any favors, putting four of their players on the cover this week. Hopefully S.F. can overcome that jinx.

San Francisco beat the Giants 27-20 at Candlestick Park earlier this season. The 49ers had to hold off a late comeback by the Giants, and fortunately Justin Smith raised his hands at just the right time and in just the right spot to knock down Eli Manning’s potential game-tying touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter.

The 49ers might need similar timing today to advance to their first Super Bowl in 17 seasons.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.