Indianapolis Colts
(10-6) defeat Houston Texans (11-5), 21-7
Well… not all of the
games were exciting. Wild Card Weekend got off to a slow start, as the Colts
absolutely dominated the Texans, just as I predicted they would. This is the
only game that I said would be decided by double digits, and I was right. Good job,
me.
As for the game itself,
Luck looked invincible, the Colts defense looked ferocious, and the entire
Texans team looked dazed and confused. It was a complete demolition, as Houston
simply had no answer to the onslaught. The final score line makes the game seem
even closer than it was, as Houston was only able to put up their first points
of the game with 10:57 left in the 4th quarter, long after the game had been
decided.
Possibly the most
impressive stat from the game was that Watson threw the ball 49 times, and only
amassed 235 yards, which is about 4.8 yards per attempt. That’s bad! Now, you
could say that Watson had a bad game, but I think the Colts defense might just
be this good. And while Luck’s 222 passing yards don’t look amazing either, he was
able to get those yards on a very efficient day, and in a game that didn’t
require the Colts to score after halftime, thanks to a 21-0 cushion.
Fortunately for all the neutral fans, every game after this first contest of
the weekend was much more exciting.
Dallas Cowboys defeat
Seattle Seahawks (10-6), (10-6), 24-22
In my only miss of the
weekend, I incorrectly predicted that the Seahawks would grab the win here. In
my defense, I clearly wasn’t that confident in Seattle, since I said they would
need overtime to get the victory. In my opinion, these were the two worst teams
in the playoffs, and they did nothing to change my mind about that.
Seattle is always an odd
to team to watch, as they simply refuse to throw the ball consistently, even
when they are trailing (and even though they have one of the best quarterbacks
in the league in Russell Wilson). Still, they had found ways to win all year,
while relying heavily on their strong running game. Unfortunately, the main
problem for the Seahawks in this matchup was getting that running game to be
effective. Carson managed only 20 yards on 13 carries, as the team totaled only
73 rushing yards, far less than their 160 yard average from the Regular Season.
Janikowski’s hamstring injury made the end of the game somewhat odd, as Seattle
was unable to kick PATs or field goals. However, this seemed to work out for
them, as they went 2 for 2 on 4th down and converted both of their 2-point
conversions. Well… it worked out for them until the end of the game, when Mike
Dickson oddly drop-kicked one of the worst Onside Kick attempts I have ever
seen.
For the Cowboys, the big
three played well, as Cooper caused problems in the secondary all day, Zeke
gashed the defense for 137 yards on the ground, and Dak played efficiently
(other than a lone red zone interception, which probably could have been called
back for defensive pass interference). Meanwhile, the Dallas defense controlled the game,
not allowing Seattle to make any big plays, until the end of the game.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, they face a much tougher test next week, against
the Rams.
Los Angeles Chargers
(12-4) defeat Baltimore Ravens (10-6), 23-17
Easily the most
intriguing game of the weekend, the Ravens and Chargers battled it out in a
contest of two somewhat unknown commodities. While Los Angeles had been good
all year (you have to be to win 12 games), they were still seemingly flying
under the radar (maybe that’s just because they have no fans). On paper, the
Chargers clearly appeared to be the stronger of the two teams. However, they
had lost to this very same Ravens team just two weeks prior. For Baltimore,
their season script has been even stranger. While they have been great with
Lamar Jackson at quarterback (6-1 to end the regular season), their success may have been
in spite of the rookie quarterback. While Jackson certainly opens up the field
with his ability to run, Harbaugh has been reluctant to allow him to throw the
ball more, not yet trusting his passing abilities. Over Jackson’s first 8 NFL
starts, he has only thrown for more than 200 passing yards once (though he has
also averaged nearly 80 rushing yards per contest as well). In retrospect, maybe they
pulled the leash on Flacco a little too early...
Either way, the main
storyline from this game, as it rightly should have been, was Anthony Lynn’s
great strategy of playing with seven defensive backs for most of the game.
While this seems counterintuitive, since Jackson’s throwing ability is of
minimal concern, it was actually a brilliant way to limit the speedy quarterback’s
running ability. Additionally, Jackson’s passing game was nearly non-existent,
as the extra defensive backs seemed to fluster him. It wasn’t until Los Angeles
dropped into a Prevent defense that Jackson was able to pad his stats on what
was nearly a historically horrible day of passing for the young quarterback. Jackson and the Raven offense had negative 2 passing yards at
one point during the fourth quarter. Fortunately, Jackson had some time to redeem himself, as he was able to put together two
impressive fourth quarter drives to make the game close. However, it ended up being all
for naught, as the Chargers held on for a somewhat easy victory.
Philadelphia Eagles
(9-7) defeat Chicago Bears (12-4), 16-15
Lucky for us, we got
to round out the weekend with the most thrilling contest (and my best
prediction) of all. I nailed my halftime score prediction for this one, as
Chicago led exactly 6-3 at the break. While the final score wasn’t exactly right,
the way the game unfolded in the final moments was fairly close to what I had
predicted. Foles indeed "[led] the Eagles on a miraculous drive down the
field.” However, it did not conclude with the heroics of a Nick Foles rushing
touchdown on 3rd and Goal. He scored with a pass to Tate instead on 4th and
Goal. Ignore the fact that Trubisky led the Bears on an even more impressive
drive immediately after (and the subsequent missed 42 yard field goal by
Parkey), and I got this prediction almost dead-on.
As for the game itself,
it will mostly be remembered for the aforementioned missed kick, which somehow
managed to bounce off the left post and crossbar before sadly falling to its final resting place on cold, hard Soldier Field. However, lots of interesting things happened before that.
The Bears won the turnover battle (2-0), thanks to an efficient, mistake-free
performance from Trubisky. Chicago outgained Philadelphia
356-300. And the Bears dominated field position all day. However, the
reason for the Eagles' victory came down to a single stat: red zone efficiency.
In three red zone trips, the Bears had to settle for three short field goals.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia was able to convert two of their three red zone trips
into touchdowns. And that was the difference. Ultimately, Chicago was unlucky
not to come away with a win in this one, but maybe that’s just the magic of
Nick Foles. This guy simply can't be beat in the playoffs.
That’s it for the first
round of the playoffs. The Divisional Round is just around the corner.
Predictions will be coming in later this week. Stay tuned!
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