NFL Wild Card Round Wrap Up

Wild Card Week Full of Intrigue

The NFL wild card weekend is often the most exciting week of the playoffs because the teams that play are often better stories than actual teams. It's the weekend of the underdog trying to show that they belong, when in reality they often do not. That was definitely the case this weekend, as all of the favorites in the games won by pretty convincing margins except for Houston. 

Houston largely outplayed Cincinnati in their game, but were unable to capitalize on many of their scoring opportunities. They often settled for field goals after easily marching down the field. With that being said, Arian Foster and the offensive line looked great in this game. The defense played at a championship caliber level at times during this game, and if this team can get some consistency on offense out of Schaub and Andre Johnson, they could be primed to make a Super Bowl run. However, the offense did sputter on most of their drives, and this doesn't bode well for them if they can't take advantage of their opportunities in the next round versus the New England Patriots.  If they settle for field goals against the high powered New England offense, it will be a very one-sided game and Houston will be heading home for a long offseason after falling short of their playoff goals for the second season in a row. 

Green Bay pretty much handled business and took care of an ailing team in Minnesota. The Vikings found out shortly before the game that Christian Ponder would not be able to participate in the game, but had been using Joe Webb in practice during the week to prepare for this. It did not show. Joe Webb looked horrendous and lost in this offensive scheme. Dom Capers was dialing up blitzes to keep Webb confused and constantly under pressure. This pretty much neutralized any mobility advantages that Webb had by keeping him in the pocket and looking for receivers down the field. Once they got Webb uncomfortable, they immediately started stacking the defensive line and putting eight men in the box to take away the threat of Adrian Peterson. Aaron Rodgers was able to do what he does, although in a much less stat heavy way, and the Pack glided to an easy win. This game pretty much amounted to a warm up for the looming match-up against San Francisco in the Bay.

Indianapolis played surprisingly well minus their offensive coordinator. Bruce Arians was hospitalized the night before the game, and it was decided that he would not be calling the plays for the game. I'm not sure if that played much of a role in the Indy loss, but it probably had some affect on the outcome. Baltimore's defense looked like the defense of old that has carried them to playoff success in the past. Granted it was against an offense ran by a rookie signal caller. The Colts defense did keep them in this game until the fourth quarter when the Ravens finally took over and put the game out of reach. Baltimore faces a tough task in the divisional round against a stacked Broncos offense, but if there's a defense that can contain it, it will be Baltimore's in Ray Lewis's last run. 

In what turned out to be the most intriguing game for most people, Washington's dream season finally came to an end. The red hot Seattle team was able to overcome some early struggles and take over the game after a sloppy first quarter. The Redskins jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and Seattle looked lost on offense and defense. Eventually they remembered that they have one of the most dominant rushing attacks in the NFL, and they started feeding the ball to Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin. By halftime they had erased the lead to one point, and the defense just took over. Robert Griffin III had been slowed by a re-aggravation of an injury sustained a few weeks earlier against Baltimore, and it was really showing in his play. In the third quarter he was noticeably limping and unable to make cuts on his runs. He would break for the sideline every rushing opportunity he took. With Seattle scoring the go-ahead touchdown and two point conversion, and thus a seven point lead, RGIII came back out on the field for a fourth quarter comeback. He had been making magic all season long, and the crowd was just ready to explode if he could make some more on this night. Unfortunately for him, the Seattle defense reared up a blitz and took him down for a loss of twelve yards. Visibly hurt and shaken, he made his way slowly back to the huddle. At this point I was sure that Shanahan would call a timeout and pull him from the game. He didn't. Next play was a botched snap that rolled on the ground, Griffin bent down to grab it before the defense could recover it, and his knee buckled. Unable to move, he fell to the ground and immediately grabbed for his injured knee. Seattle recovered the ball and three short plays later added three more points to the board to give them a ten point lead with under four minutes to go. Kirk Cousins came in to try and make a miracle comeback, but Seattle's defense was dialed in now, and after a couple of first downs, the drive stalled and the Seahawks were victorious. 

Since documenting picks in week 17 and the wild card round, I'm sitting at a solid 9-2 record for those games. Look for the trend to continue in the upcoming days when the Divisional Round Preview is up!

Thanks for reading,

Bill