Homefield advantage. That was the name of the game heading into Sunday’s action. With two more home team victories to start the weekend, home teams had extended their playoff win streak to a dominant 12 straight games over the last two postseasons. However, homefield advantage finally caved on Sunday, as both the Packers and Steelers were victorious on the road, starting a road team playoff win streak of two games. Now, both the Steelers and Packers will look to continue the new road team trend, along with extending their own respective 8 and 9 game win streaks, heading into Conference Championship Weekend. As for my predictions for the Divisional Round, I went an expected 4-0 straight up and 4-0 ATS. That brings my total to 7-1 straight up and 5-3 ATS. That’s pretty good. I mean, it’s far from the perfect record that I know I am capable of, but I guess it’s still acceptable.
Atlanta Falcons (11-5) defeat Seattle Seahawks (10-5-1), 36-20
While I got my prediction correct, I did say that this game would be a bit closer. Seattle came out looking great, scoring on their first drive in convincing fashion. However, just as I said they would, Atlanta responded immediately with an impressive touchdown drive of their own. From the beginning, it looked like this game would produce plenty of points; however, things slowed down a bit after the quick offensive starts, as both defenses showed some life. Wilson was harassed all game, getting little help from his offensive line. By no coincidence, the turning point of the game was when Wilson tripped on his own lineman at the goal line, resulting in a safety. The safety was the start of a 19-0 run for Atlanta. That moment was huge with regards to the momentum of the game. Two plays earlier, Hester had made a big punt return, setting up the Seattle offense with first and goal. However, a holding penalty was enforced at Seattle’s own 13 yard line on the return, pinning the Seahawks down inside their own ten yard line. From then until the end of the game, Atlanta kept up the pressure, blowing out the Seahawks.
Freeman and Coleman were awesome, accounting for a combined 204 all-purpose yards. Ryan was his usual brilliant self, going for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson had a solid game, but he was mostly kept in check. His stat line was hurt by a couple of interceptions, one of which was the result of him forcing the ball due to the large deficit, and the other was the unlucky result of a wild tipped ball. The Seahawks were able to show that they were a strong side, but they also displayed their many weaknesses en route to the defeat. The offensive line needs work, the defense is banged up, and the run game was non-existent. Of course, this dismantling may have been more of a symptom of Atlanta’s talent, rather than Seattle’s weakness. And if that’s the case, the three remaining playoff teams better watch out.
New England Patriots (14-2) defeat Houston Texans (9-7), 34-16
This game was ugly for both sides. While I fully expected the Texan offense to struggle, I did not expect such a poor game from Brady and the New England offense. In retrospect, I should have been able to predict some of the offensive struggles for the Patriots, considering the fact that Houston had the top defense in the NFL this season. Either way, the game got off to the expected start, as a Dion Lewis kick return touchdown gave the Patriots an early 14-3 lead. At this point, it didn’t seem like the game would be worth watching. However, Houston came storming back (as stormingly as their lethargic offense can be), forcing Brady into only his third interception of the season. Houston came within one point of the Patriots in the first half, and they were able to come up with a huge goal line stand at the end of the second quarter, heading into halftime with a manageable 17-13 deficit. At the start of the second half, Houston kept the pressure on, unlucky not to come up with another interception on the first play of the third quarter. The Texans suddenly believed they could win this one. With Houston’s defense in top form, they were able to force Brady into a second interception. However, the Texan offense began to show its true colors, as they were only able to tack on another field goal in the second half, getting outscored 17-3.
New England definitely showed some vulnerabilities in this game, but those vulnerabilities were largely a result of how impressive the Houston secondary was. The scariest part of all of this was that New England was still able to put up 34 points in a game where their offense looked bad. Brady finished 18/38 for 287 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. That’s quite mediocre. Of course, Osweiler was able to outdo Brady’s level of poor play, finishing with an even worse stat line of 198 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INTs. Dion Lewis was the star of the show, scoring three touchdowns, including a kick return touchdown in the first half (though he also fumbled the ball away on a later kick return). While this game was not as lopsided as I had predicted, the Patriots were still able to win by three scores while playing some of their worst football of the season.
Green Bay Packers (10-6) defeat Dallas Cowboys (13-3), 34-31
Finally, a good game. Not just a good game, a phenomenal game. I got this one pretty close to right on, predicting the following:
“As the end of the game looms closer, the Cowboys tie it up on a Dan Bailey 46-yard field goal, 27-27. With 1 minute left and no timeouts, Rodgers leads the Packers down the field, setting up Crosby for a game winning field goal attempt from 53 yards out. He nails it. Packers win, 30-27.”
Unfortunately, I was off on some of the finer details. Dan Bailey’s game-tying field goal was 52 yards, not 46 (Stupid me). I was right that Rodgers had less than a minute remaining to orchestrate the game-winning drive, but it was with two timeouts, not zero (Duh!). Crosby’s game-winner was 51 yards, not 53 (Oops). And, the final score was 34-31, not 30-27 (Way off). I guess I was pleased with my prediction, even though I strive for perfection, not adequacy.
Also as I predicted, the Packers got out to the early lead, up 14-3 at the beginning of the second quarter. From there, the game seesawed back and forth around a two score lead for Green Bay. However, the Cowboys made an incredible 4th quarter comeback, as Prescott was at his most impressive in the clutch. Bryant came up with some big catches, and Dak made some big plays, including a huge 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28. However, this game was all about Rodgers, who was at his absolute best, making perfect passes over and over again, including some especially difficult throws on the run. Even though his stat line was good, the numbers do not do Rodgers justice, as he finished 28/43 for 355 yards. Dallas’s rookies had great games as well, as Zeke finished with an impressive 125 yards, and Dak eclipsed 300 yards through the air. However, Green Bay was just too good. If this is the Rodgers that shows up in the rest of the playoffs, Green Bay will be nearly impossible to beat. Of course, if there is one quarterback in the league who can outduel Rodgers, it is Matt Ryan. How convenient that they will face off against each other in the Conference Championship Game next weekend...
Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5) defeat Kansas City Chiefs (12-4), 18-16
Our final game of the weekend was also a close one, though not nearly as exciting as the game that preceded it. Led by six Boswell field goals, the Steelers capped off a perfect weekend of predictions for me. Had Pittsburgh been able to convert a single touchdown on any of their many possessions that ended in Kansas City territory, this game would not have been nearly as close as it ended up being. The scoreboard did not reflect Pittsburgh’s dominance. It would appear as though scoring field goals instead of touchdowns was the main difference in the result of this game versus the contest from earlier in the regular season, where the Steelers dominated, 43-14. I guess you could say that the Steelers were not dominant and that the Chiefs simply did a great job of “buckling down when it counted most”; however, I saw a team get completely dominated, only lucky to have a chance to win late in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs had no answer for Le’Veon Bell, who finished with 170 yards on the ground on an insane 30 carries. Roethlisberger was adequate, finishing with 224 yards passing, unable to put the finishing touch on a single drive. Similarly, Alex Smith put in his usual game-managing performance, finishing with a lackluster 172 yards through the air. Perhaps even worse for the Chiefs, the ground game was only able to gain 61 total yards against Pittsburgh’s stout defense.
Still, the Chiefs kept within striking distance for the entire game, taking on that “bend but don’t break” mentality. As the game drew closer to the end, I felt some deja vu, as Alex Smith and Andy Reid worked together to once again demonstrate how to run the slowest hurry up offense in the NFL, taking over seven minutes off the clock on their final possession. Even though they scored, Reid and Smith did not leave enough time on the clock for the scenario in which they did not convert the 2 point conversion. Of course, that is exactly what happened. Had it not been for Eric Fisher’s ill-timed holding penalty on Kansas City’s 2 point conversion attempt, I might not be talking about another one of Andy Reid’s time-wasting drives. I would probably be talking about a beautifully orchestrated drive by Alex Smith in the waning moments of the game, en route to their Divisional Round victory. Of course, that’s not how it worked out, as the Steelers came up with the all important first down on their next possession after Andy Reid elected not to attempt an onside kick, allowing the Steelers to kneel the ball and win the game.
Eight games down, three to go. The playoffs are down to the final four, with an exciting Conference Championship Weekend ahead of us. In less than three weeks, a Super Bowl Champion will be crowned. Fortunately for all the fans of the NFL, all four teams are certainly deserving of the Lombardi Trophy. The only question that now remains is who will step up when it matters most. Predictions for Conference Championship Weekend will be coming later this week. Stay tuned for more Brosh Knows Football!
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