Divisional Round Recap and Reactions!

The final four in the NFL is all set. This past weekend saw all four of the top seeds advance. No road team was able to pull the upset and we have the #1 seeded Chiefs hosting the #2 seed Patriots in the AFC Championship and the #1 seeded Saints hosting the #2 seed Rams in the NFC Championship. Here is a recap of what went down on Divisional Weekend....

AFC Divisional Playoff
(1) Kansas City-31 (6) Indianapolis-13

1) The Chiefs dominated from the start. On cold, snowy day in Arrowhead Stadium, KC scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. They never really let Indy back into the game. Indy just got punched in the mouth early on and couldn't recover.

2) The Colts had trouble protecting Andrew Luck. All year they did a great job of protecting him, but this game was different. Luck also did not look good in this game. Maybe it was the cold weather, but he definitely didn't look like the Andrew Luck we saw during the season.

3) The Colts gave themselves some life in the first half. They were down 17-0 when they blocked a KC punt and recovered it for a touchdown to make it 17-7. All that momentum went away when Pat Mahomes drove KC right back down the field and he scrambled for a TD to make it 24-7. Adam Vinatieri then missed a 23 yard field goal at the end of the half after the Colts finally put a drive together. Instead of being down 24-10 at the half, they were still down 24-7.

4) The other key sequence was when the Colts were trailing 24-7 late in the third quarter. After a Sammy Watkins fumble deep in KC territory, the Colts had a chance to cut into the lead, but Andrew Luck was strip sacked and the Chiefs recovered to basically put the game away.

5) This was a statement game by the Chiefs. All week a lot of people were picking the Colts. The Colts had become the trendy pick to pull off the upset in Arrowhead, but the Chiefs just buried them right off the bat. KC heads to their first AFC Championship Game since 1993, and they host their first AFC Championship Game next week.

NFC Divisional Playoff
(2) Los Angeles Rams-30 (4) Dallas-22

1) The Cowboys started fast. They held the Rams to only two field goals and Dak Prescott hit Amari Cooper for a TD to give Dallas a 7-6 lead in the first quarter. It looked like it might be Dallas' night after that start.

2) The Rams took control of the game from that point on. The story in this game is the the Rams running attack. They ran the ball down the Cowboys throats. Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson both had over 100 yards rushing. Gurley had one touchdown and Anderson had two. They dominated the game in that aspect and that was the big difference.

3) The Rams took a 23-7 lead, and you had a feeling that Dallas couldn't recover. Ezekiel Elliot's one yard rushing TD and two-point conversion made it 23-15 with 5:20 left in the third. After they forced a Rams punt, Dallas got the ball back and faced a 4th and 1 at the Rams 35 to start the fourth quarter. Elliot got stuffed up the middle for no gain and the Rams took possession. I hated the play call. You had to go for it there but running Elliot up the middle was just not going to work and it didn't. Naturally, the Rams came right down the field and put the game away with an Anderson 1 yard TD and took a 30-15 lead on their way to the 30-22 win.

4) The Rams advance to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 2001. It is quite an accomplishment for Sean McVay in his second year as head coach of this team. Just two years ago, the Rams were considered one of the worst teams in all of the NFL and now they are one win away from the Super Bowl.

AFC Divisional Playoff
(2) New England-41 (5) Los Angeles Chargers-28

1) The Patriots won the toss, elected to receive, and came right down the field and went 83 yard in 14 plays and capped off the drive with a 1 yard TD run to give NE the 7-0 lead. That set the tone for the game right there.

2) Phillip Rivers hit Keenan Allen on a 43 yard TD to tie at 7 on the next drive. Right there I thought that this might be a great shootout. Boy, was I wrong.

3) NE answered with a 7 play 67 yard drive and Sony Michel 14 yard TD run gave the Pats a 14-7 lead and they never looked back.

4) A Tom Brady to Phillip Dorsett 15 yard TD made it 21-7, and a Rex Burkhead 6 yard run made it 28-7. The Chargers fumbled a punt at their own 35 and the Pats converted it into another touchdown to make it 35-7 at the half, and that was it for the game.

5) Give the Pats credit. A lot of people were picking against them this week, and they haven't look like the vintage Patriots all season long, but they were phenomenal on Sunday. They completely dominated the game, their offense looked the best it has all season, and they are playing in their 8th straight AFC Championship Game.

NFC Divisional Playoff
(1) New Orleans-20 (6) Philadelphia-14

1) You knew this was going to be a close game because the first three games weren't too surprising or dramatic. It had the feel of something crazy happening, and it almost did.

2) You can't ask for a better start than the Eagles got. They intercepted Drew Brees on the first play of the game. They scored on their first drive on a TD pass from Nick Foles to Jordan Matthews, and they forced a punt on the Saints next drive and scored again on a Foles 1 yard TD run to make it 14-0. Everything was going their way.

3) The game changed on a pair of plays in the second quarter. Foles got intercepted down the sideline attempting a deep throw with the Eagles up 14-0. Then, it looked like the Saints had to punt it away but Sean Payton dialed up a fake punt on 4th and 1 and Taysom Hill got the first down. Drew Brees finished off that drive with a touchdown pass on 4th and goal from the the two yard line and the Saints were back in it at 14-7. The Eagles never scored another point in the game.

4) The Saints took the lead for good after a 18 play 92 yard drive that Brees capped off with a 2 yard TD pass to Michael Thomas to give them a 17-14 lead with only 1:40 to go in the third quarter. It was amazing how often Brees found Thomas wide open during this game. Thomas is the best receiver on the Saints, yet he is open again and again on these big third down plays.

5) The Saints had a 20-14 lead late in the 4th quarter and went for a 52 yard field goal with 3:03 left to give them a nine point lead. Will Lutz pushed it wide right, and the Eagles had life. At that moment, I thought the Eagles were going to pull this game out.

6) Foles had the Eagles driving and with the help of a roughing the passer penalty, Philly had a 2nd and 10 at the NO 27 with just under two minutes to go. The Eagles had their dreams dashed after a Foles to Alshon Jeffrey pass went right through his hands and into the arms of New Orleans defender Marshon Lattimore for the game-clinching interception and the game was over. It was an abrupt and shocking ending for the Eagles and rough way to end their season. Everyone was expecting to see Foles come through down the stretch and win the game 21-20 for Philly.

7) The Saints advance to the NFC Championship for the first time since 2009 and will host the Rams in the Superdome next Sunday.