Wild Card Weekend Thoughts

This Wild Card Weekend was not exactly the greatest weekend in NFL playoff history. Although three out of the four games were within one possession of a score in the fourth quarter, none of these games could be considered instant classics. There were real no surprises as all four favorites won. Here is my look back at Wild Card Weekend….

Houston-19 Cincinnati-13

1)    The Texans completely dominated this game throughout, but they played very tight-especially Matt Schaub. If the Texans could have converted some of their early scoring chances instead of kicking field goals, then this game would have been over at the half.

2)    When Schaub threw the interception to Leon Hall, who returned it for a touchdown and a 7-6 Cincy lead, you could hear the crowd get nervous and everyone else get tense in that building.

3)    As badly as they were outplayed, the Bengals still had a chance to win this game late. Andy Dalton had A.J. Green open deep late in the fourth quarter, but he over threw him. That pass will bother Dalton all offseason. On a 4^th and 11, Dalton threw the ball underneath and the Bengals were not even close to converting. It was a bad sequence for Dalton and the Bengals offense. Just throw the ball where you have a chance to convert the first down please!

4)    The Texans got the first down they needed and they ran out the clock. You could see the relief in Schaub’s eyes after they got that first down. The whole Texans team looked very happy just to get by this one game. We shall see how they fare next week as they head to New England and the Divisional Playoff game next Sunday.

5)    Andy Dalton really needs take the next step in this type of games. This was a big game for him and he failed to deliver. You give him a pass for last year’s loss because he was a rookie, but this year this was no excuse.

Green Bay-24 Minnesota-3

1)    In this age of technology and Twitter, how did the Vikings hide Christian Ponder’s elbow injury until gameday? I was shocked to find out that Ponder was in danger of missing the game when I found out on Saturday afternoon. Even if Ponder did play, there was no way he was changing the outcome.

2)    Joe Webb was put into a tough spot, but I thought it was funny how pumped up he was on the Vikings first drive. Webb led the team down the field with some key runs and he celebrated a first down run like he won the Super Bowl. He led them to an early field goal and an early 3-0 lead, but that was it for the Vikings the rest of the way.

3)    The Packers did a much better job on Adrian Peterson this time around, and their defense harassed Webb all night long. They were prepared for what Webb could do, and they got after Peterson in the run game.

4)    Aaron Rodgers didn’t have to be sensational because he knew his defense would get the best of Webb, but he did what he had to do in this game. He threw for a couple of scores and moved the ball when they needed it.

Baltimore-24 Indianapolis-9

1) Joe Flacco's numbers weren't great, but he was able to hit the big play to Anquan Boldin and that was the big difference in the game. Flacco's throws to Boldin killed the Colts and their chances.

2) Andrew Luck played well enough to win, but his receivers didn't really help him out. I felt like the receivers-especially Donnie Avery- just killed their chances all day long. If they had converted some more of those plays, then maybe this game would have come down to last few minutes.

3) The Ravens are playing a lot better the last month, and Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce might be a reason for that. Rice has two costly fumbles, but his catch and run near the end of the half was a huge play to set up a touchdown to give them 10-3. Pierce added over 100 yards rushing and played a major role in this win.

4) Ray Lewis return from injury was inspiring and I thought he played well. He did drop a really easy interception, but overall his play was solid.

5) Adam Vinatieri's missed field goal was a huge play in this game. Down 17-9 in the fourth quarter, Vinatieri missed a 40 yard field goal. I thought it took the momentum away from the Colts, and Flacco hit Boldin with a touchdown pass to make it 24-9 to take control the game.

6) Although the Colts moved the ball pretty well all game long, it seemed that the Ravens defense smelled blood at that point in the fourth quarter and shut the door on the Colts and their season.

7) The Ravens head to Denver to take on the Broncos in the Divisional Playoffs next Saturday, and they will try to keep the Ray Lewis Retirement Show to last at least one more round.

Seattle-24 Washington-14

1) Mike Shanahan always comes out with a great game plan in these big games, and this game was no different. The Redskins were flawless on their first two drives. Robert Griffin III was making great throws, Alfred Morris was just chewing up yardage, and the Skins jumped out to a 14-0 lead.

2) From that point, the Seahawks settled in and completely dominated the game. Russell Wilson started to make plays, Marshawn Lynch started to get it going on the ground, and the defense started to take the game over.

3) The key to this game was definitely the injury to RG III. Once he was hobbled by that knee injury, the Redskins were done. They didn't do anything the rest of the way, and the game was a formality.

4) You can't kill Mike Shanahan for keeping RG III in the game. RG III said he could play, the doctors said he could play, so Shanny keep him in the game because he is their franchise player. The discussion should end right there.

5) It must have killed the Skins fan to watch RG III on the ground and failing to pick up a bad shotgun snap as the Seahawks recovered the fumble deep in Washington territory. A field goal put Seattle up 24-14 and the game was pretty much over at that point.

6) The Seahawks will head to Atlanta to take on the Falcons next week, and Seattle will become a very trendy upset pick this weekend.