Broncos 20, Patriots 18
Manning was the better quarterback in this game. Brady, who feasted on horrible opponents all year, simply couldn’t do anything. It wasn’t all on him though, as his supporting cast, outside of Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, sucked big time. This includes his offensive line, which couldn’t block whatsoever. Brady was constantly under siege, as the four sacks he took weren’t nearly indicative of the amount of pressure he faced. Brady had to throw numerous passes away, and it’s astonishing that he wasn’t flagged for intentional grounding on a couple of occasions. Von Miller terrorized him, logging 2.5 sacks and an interception.
Meanwhile, Manning opened the game by throwing the ball into the dirt, which made me question what the hell I was betting on. However, Manning rebounded with some solid throws on a pair of third downs, and the opening drive culminated with a touchdown to Owen Daniels. Manning continued to play well throughout, abusing a secondary that hadn’t been tested much all year because of a ridiculously easy schedule. Manning, for the first time all season, didn’t throw an interception in a game that he started, though he did technically commit a turnover on a pass in which he threw backward. Bill Belichick successfully challenged, and it turned into New England’s sole touchdown of the afternoon until the very end.
The Broncos controlled the game throughout, never trailing, but there was some concern as the game progressed. Denver lost numerous key defenders to injury, including T.J. Ward, who was Denver’s best solution against Rob Gronkowski. Derek Wolfe and Brandon Marshall also got banged up, but were able to return to the field.
With Ward gone, Brady hit Gronkowski on a pair of miracle fourth-down throws on the final drive. The first was a big gain on a fourth-and-10 to reach the red zone, and then the second was a touchdown to bring the margin to 20-18. However, because of Stephen Gostkowski’s missed extra point earlier in the afternoon, New England had to go for two. The attempt failed, and Denver was able to hang on to a victory. Let’s take a moment to congratulate Roger Goodell for installing a new rule that allowed a conference championship to be decided by an extra point. I doubt Goodell is upset though, as he finally got his revenge on the Patriots for failing to penalize them for Deflategate.
Manning, meanwhile, barely completed half of his passes, but he didn’t really turn the ball over. He was better than Brady, but didn’t play great. He missed some throws he could’ve made in his sleep five years ago, overthrowing a couple of his targets in the end zone for easy touchdowns. However, Manning did some nifty things, including a scramble for a first down when he somehow picked up 12 yards on a third-and-10 early in the second half.
Panthers 49, Cardinals 15
The Panthers nearly posted 50 points on Arizona, dominating in all facets. The offense generated 476 net yards, compared to 287 by Arizona. The defense forced six turnovers. Even the special teams factored in; they collected a Patrick Peterson muffed punt and had a great return by Ted Ginn to set up an early touchdown.
Carson Hoyer, I mean Palmer, went 23-of-40 for 235 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions and two lost fumbles. But those horrific numbers don’t even tell the whole story. Palmer was wildly inaccurate throughout, beginning on the opening drive when he overshot Michael Floyd. Palmer was then nearly picked on a deep attempt downfield, and then proceeded to toss the ball into the ground. On the following drive, Josh Norman dropped a potential interception, leading me to wonder why in the world Palmer was targeting Norman when the rest of the Carolina secondary was the weak spot of the defense.
Palmer went on to float a short pass over Andre Ellington’s head and then was strip-sacked. Palmer, facing a 17-0 deficit, then had a stretch in which he completed 7-of-9 passes, but went on to struggle after that. He lost a fumble and then heaved a careless interception into the end zone, staring down his receiver. Much later, whatever life the Cardinals had following a touchdown was sucked out when Palmer was responsible for a dumb interception into double coverage. Further embarrassing himself, Palmer was pick-sixed by Luke Kuechly with a few minutes remaining on the clock.
People are going to say that Palmer’s finger injury was the reason for his struggles. However, that doesn’t excuse his horrible decision-making. We haven’t seen much of him in the playoffs, but he’s now 1-3, and it’s safe to say that he’s a choke artist. The Cardinals need to think about using a day-two selection on a quarterback to groom behind Palmer, who will turn 37 during the 2016 campaign.
For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.
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