Steelers 31, Ravens 24
This one was probably the toughest for Roethlisberger. Baltimore held a 21-7 lead, but self-destructed in the third quarter. In four drives, the team went fumble, three-and-out, interception and fumble. Pittsburgh was up by a field goal in the blink of an eye.
Flacco had a chance at the very end, however. In the team’s penultimate drive, Anquan Boldin dropped a touchdown after a bogus holding call wiped out a punt return for a score. On the ensuing possession, T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped a first-down conversion on what would be the final play of the game for the visitor.
As Adam Schefter cleverly tweeted, “Newly-acquired WRs Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh were supposed to be the difference for the Ravens. They were.”
Packers 48, Falcons 21
The Packers outgained the Falcons, 442-194. All of Atlanta’s touchdowns were bogus; the first came off a Greg Jennings fumble. The second was a kickoff returned for a touchdown. And the third came in garbage time. As great as Aaron Rodgers was, the defense was a major part of why this was a massive blowout.
And that includes Tony Gonzalez. He’s done. The one bad thing about watching Green Bay win was witnessing the end of Tony Gonzalez’s career. Gonzalez, a complete shell of his former self, caught just one pass for seven yards. Though he’ll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Gonzalez has never won a playoff game.
Rodgers converted third downs all night, showcasing his trademark ability to elude pass-rushers in the pocket and extend plays. Troy Aikman said that Rodgers would be his first choice at quarterback if he were starting a franchise from scratch.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Not the punt pass and kick winners AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH GOD MAKE IT STOP MAAKEEEEEEEEEEEE ITTTTTTTTT STOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPP
Bears 35, Seahawks 24
The Chicago Bears will live for another week, thanks to the Seahawks completely beating themselves in every facet of this game. Seattle dropped a whopping seven passes in the first half (Mike Williams 3, Cameron Morrah 1, Golden Tate 1, Brandon Stokley 1, Ben Obomanu 1). Make it eight drops if you count Jordan Babineaux’s failed attempt at an interception in the first quarter.
Jay Cutler tossed the ball right to Babineaux, who couldn’t come up with the turnover and perhaps subsequent touchdown. That was the turning point of the game – well, one of the two – because Chicago scored a touchdown a couple of plays later to make it 14-0.
The other turning point was John Carlson’s concussion on the second drive of the game. Carlson was a major part of the offensive game plan, and his absence was huge for the Seahawks, who couldn’t move the chains whatsoever until the fourth quarter. In fact, Morrah, Carlson’s replacement, had a huge drop later on that same possession.
Despite a horrendous regular season, Hasselbeck has stepped up and performed well in the playoffs. The Seahawks should bring him back while they groom Charlie Whitehurst or another young signal-caller.
The line thrived in both pass protection and run blocking. The Seahawks couldn’t stop Matt Forte (25-80) or Chester Taylor (11-44, TD), negating opportunities for Cutler to screw up. Seattle consequently also had problems containing Greg Olsen (3-113, TD), as the athletic tight end beat Lawyer Milloy for the game’s opening score.
Jets 28, Patriots 21
But this is why the NFL playoffs are great. You never really know what to expect. I’d go off on a tangent about how great a college football playoff system would be, but I’m really not in the mood. Blame Pete Carroll and those stupid Seattle receivers, but I digress.
Still though, I’m a bit surprised that Tom Brady played so stoically. A week ago, Rex Ryan called Brady “overrated” and a product of Bill Belichick’s system. I thought we’d see a furious Brady against the Jets. In fact, this is why I didn’t make the Jets a multi-unit selection. Brady generally plays with a big chip on his shoulder, but he just looked like he didn’t care.
Note that I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all on Brady. He went 29-of-45 for 299 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He took five sacks and had to hurry a lot of his throws. The play-calling was abysmal as well. But Brady just seemed off.
Fortunately for Brady, he’ll get over this one pretty quickly. As Ted Berg tweeted, “Tom Brady’s going to be thinking about this one tonight, when he’s sleeping with a supermodel atop piles of money.”
For more, check out my updated 2010 NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Monday morning.
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