I guess it’s a little
late for a Wild Card Weekend Recap… but I don’t care! For those of you still
looking to revel in your team’s victory or dwell on your team’s crushing loss,
here is an EXCITING late recap for what was an objectively great weekend of
football.
Every matchup was close,
and every matchup was exciting. Well, Seattle vs. Philadelphia ended up being
somewhat of a garbage game, but at least it was competitive to the end! I got
off to a hot start, nailing both Saturday AFC games. However I quickly
regressed to the mean, missing both Sunday NFC games. So, after four playoff
games, I am a mediocre 2-2 Straight Up and 2-2 ATS (Against the Spread). But enough
about me. Let’s delve into what happened in each of the four thrilling Wild
Card games from last weekend.
Houston Texans (10-6)
defeat Buffalo Bills (10-6), 22-19 (OT)
The Bills led 16-0 late
in the third quarter before a catastrophic collapse saw them fall in overtime,
22-19. Buffalo was doing everything they could to make the most out of every
possession in the first half. They started the game off with an impressive
opening drive, culminating on a Touchdown pass to Josh Allen on a wonderfully designed
and executed trick play. They steadily maintained their lead thanks to a heavy
dose of suffocating defense, which prevented the Texans from scoring until late
in the third quarter. As the game wore on, I realized that I had forgotten that
this was a Houston home game, as the travelling Bills fans were louder than the
home fans. But then, everything changed in a flash.
Buffalo failed to keep
the pressure on, allowing the Texans to creep back into the game. Houston
scored on three straight drives and converted both of their post-touchdown
two-point conversions, as they flipped the scoreboard on its head. With their
first lead of the game, O’Brien did what all stupid coaches do and dropped into
a deep Prevent defense on the final possession of regulation. This gave Allen
the breathing room to make big plays, allowing him to move his offense into
field goal range in a well-executed, 71 second, game-tying drive. It really
baffles me that coaches continue to play this Prevent Defense. Hosuton’s
defense hadn’t allowed a point in over 20 minutes of game time, then they drop
back into this dopey defense, and give up a field goal to send the game into
overtime.
Anyways, the eventual
overtime period was a bit of a mess. Houston got the ball first and went three-and-out.
Buffalo got the ball back and easily moved into Houston territory. However a
brutal 15-yard blindside block penalty took them out of Houston territory and
effectively ended their drive. The Texans got the ball back. They drove down
the field. Watson made an insane escape move. And the Texans won in dramatic
fashion. Who would have guessed that it would be the only home victory of the
weekend…
Tennessee Titans (9-7)
defeat New England Patriots (12-4), 20-13
What a weird game. The
Titans basically dared the Patriots to beat them with their offense, and New
England simply couldn’t. Both teams got off to hot starts, as the first three
drives of the game all ended in scores. We didn’t know it at the time, but the
first half would provide all of the offensive points for the entire game.
Tannehill only threw the ball 15 times for 74 yards and Brady posted an abysmal
line of 20/37 for 209 yards, as the quarterbacks were simply not the story of
the day. That honor belonged to Derrick Henry.
Henry ran the ball 34
times for 182 yards, averaging an impressive 5.4 yards per carry. The vaunted
New England defense simply did not have an answer for him. And while all the
typical pundits will point to the fact that New England’s inability to stop the
run is what led to their downfall, that’s simply not true! The Titans defense
is what truly led to this victory. If anything, this game served as just
another example of how the running game is not nearly as effective as a good
passing game in the modern era of football. Even with one of the best running
performances in playoff history, Tennessee was unable to score an offensive
point in the second half. If the Titans defense hadn’t been 100% lockdown in
the second half, Tennessee would have needed to actually score points,
something that they were completely unable to do in the second half.
And even with all that
being said, sometimes a game can come down to just a couple of key decisions,
which brings me to my last point. Was it really the right decision for New
England to punt on 4th and 4 from their own 37 with 3:10 left in the game? Just
seems like the Patriots of old would have gone for it. Instead they punted the
ball to arguably the best running back in football, and he delivered the
knockout blow. I know Brady and the offense have not been nearly as effective
this season as in years past, but you gotta think that going for it would have
been the right call there. If you can’t trust your offense to get 4 yards, then
maybe you don’t deserve to win anyways.
Minnesota Vikings (10-6)
defeat New Orleans Saints (13-3), 26-20 (OT)
In the biggest upset of
the weekend, the Vikings defeated the Saints in overtime, as Minnesota was
barely able to hold off a furious New Orleans comeback attempt. This one was a
bit hard to explain. You could say that the Saints just fell short when it
counted most, but that would imply that they were the better team and just got
unlucky. I’m not sure that’s true! The Saints looked second best all day, and
in the end the final result seemed just. Brees was efficient but ineffective,
thanks in part to the Vikings defense pressuring him into two uncharacteristic
turnovers. Kamara and Murray were held to a total of 42 yards on 12 carries,
which makes you wonder whether or not they should have been more involved. And
Lutz missed a kick that he usually makes, as his 43-yard attempt to end the
first half sailed wide right.
But of course, the
narrative of this recap may have been quite different had New Orleans got the
ball first in overtime. The Saints were on a wild comeback tear and had all the
momentum on their side. However, the offense never touched the ball in
overtime, as Cousins led Minnesota on maybe his most impressive (and most
important) drive of the season, culminating in a memorable touchdown pass to
Kyle Rudolph.
Seattle Seahawks (11-5)
defeat Philadelphia Eagles (9-7), 17-9
In the cruelest twist of
fate, Wentz suffered a game-ending (and ultimately season-ending) concussion in
the first quarter of his first ever playoff game. Two seasons removed from
watching from the sidelines while his Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl, it
seemed that Wentz was finally going to get his opportunity to prove he can win
in the playoffs, too. Instead, on Wentz’s fourth snap of the game, he was hit
in the head as he went to the ground, trying to escape a sack. Three plays
later he was removed from the game, as the effects of the concussion took hold
of him. Enter Josh McCown, who coincidentally was also playing in his first
playoff game of his journeyman career. On the surface, McCown’s game looked
bad, as he was unable to lead a single touchdown drive. However, maybe it was
just a bit of bad luck, as he was able to move the Eagles to within Seattle’s
30-yard line five times. Could Wentz have finished the job had he still been in
the game? I guess we’ll never know.
On the other side of the
ball, Seattle’s offense was barely passable. Wilson had a good but not great
game. The run game was non-existent, as Lynch and Homer combined for 19 pitiful
yards (though Beast Mode did find the end zone for the second straight week).
And DK Metcalf… was crazy good. Metcalf was Wilson’s go-to receiver throughout
the game, including on the game-clinching play when Wilson found Metcalf deep
for the final fist down. At only 22 years old, Metcalf is quickly becoming one
of the strongest NFL prospects in the league. Ultimately the game finished
17-9, which was the exact same score as the previous meeting between these two
teams in Week 12. Seems like I should have been able to predict that...
Speaking of predictions,
all of my Divisional Round picks will be coming later this week. It’s already
Thursday… I should hurry up! Stay tuned…
No comments:
Post a Comment