Divisional Round Review

The Divisional Playoffs didn’t produce the quality of games that the Wild Card round produced, but it did create a classic setup for Championship Sunday. The four favorites won outright, and the best four teams in the NFL are set to play in the conference championship games. Both #1 seeds (Seattle and Denver) advanced, and basically the four teams that were supposed to win ended up winning. In the NFC, you have the Seahawks and the Niners. This is the new version of the NFL's best rivalry. These two teams are the best in the NFC, so it is fitting that they meet for the right to go to the Super Bowl. In the AFC, it is what everyone wanted: Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. The Broncos and Patriots go at it for the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. What a Sunday this is going to be. Like I said earlier, the Divisional games weren't the most compelling games ever, but there were some interesting issues and storylines wrapped around them. Here are my random thoughts and observations on the games…

Seattle-23 New Orleans-15

-Seattle just dominated the first part of the game. The game just started and the next thing you know it was 13-0 in the first half. It just seemed like New Orleans was just trying to hang on early and not get blown out.

-I give Drew Brees and company credit for getting back into the game early in the 4^th quarter. The Saints were able to cut the lead to 16-8, and there was a sense that the Saints could actually steal this game.

-After Marshawn Lynch scored a late touchdown to take a 23-8 lead, I thought the Saints did an absolute terrible job towards the end of the game. Their play calling was suspect, they burned two timeouts, and for some reason Sean Payton tried a 49 yard field goal down 16-8 late in the 4^th quarter. It was atrocious. Even the last play of the game was a disaster. Brees hit Marcus Colston with a pass down to the Seattle 36 yard line with about two seconds left. If Colston goes out of bounds, then at least the Saints have one shot to throw a pass in the end zone to win the game. Instead, Colston catches the pass and tries to throw a lateral across the field in an absolute desperation play. The pass was thrown forward, which was a penalty, and the game ended. It was such a bad play at the end, and it wrapped up a terrible finish for the Saints.

-Seattle advanced with a great running game, great defense, and the home crowd. They will have to do that again next week to beat the 49ers. There was a moment that I thought the Saints could steal the game, but Seattle was able to put it away.

New England-43 Indy-22

-The Pats set the tone early by picking off Andrew Luck on the second play of the game. The next thing you knew the Pats were up 14-0. It was an uphill battle from that point on for the Colts.

-If you are a Colts fan, then you are bummed out that they lost the game, but you are very hopeful and excited about the future with Andrew Luck. Put it this way: The Colts will be playing on Divisional Weekend many times in the next 10-12 years.

-Give credit to Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels. They really know how to reinvent their team. The Patriots absolutely ran the ball down the throats of the Colts defense. LeGarrette Blount ran for 166 yards on 24 carries with 4 touchdowns. Stevan Ridley added 52 yards on 17 carries. The Pats rushed 46 times for 234 yards and 6 touchdowns. Brilliant job by the Pats coaching staff with this group.

-Luck did make a few incredible throws once again. He rallied them to get the game to 29-22 going into the 4^th quarter. You thought maybe that Luck would be able to find a way to steal this game. The Patriots ended that hope on a huge 73 yard run by Blount with 12:55 left in the 4^th quarter. It put the Pats up 36-22, and at that point there was no way that the Pats were going to lose this game. On the next series, Luck got picked off by Jaime Collins, a Ridley 1 yard run really finished off the Colts.

-It is truly amazing how much of a shell this Patriots team is since the beginning of the season. Belichick has gotten this team to their third straight AFC Championship in a year where it seemed that they would struggle to win one game in the playoffs.

San Francisco-23 Carolina-10

-This game was so much more intense than the two games played on Saturday. It was also a very chippy game, and it got nasty early on.

-You can’t kill Ron Rivera for going for a touchdown inside the 1 early in the 2^nd quarter on 4^th down. He has done it all year, and this wasn’t going to be any different. Cam Newton didn’t get the touchdown on the QB sneak, but I liked the idea of going for it there.

-I thought the Niners dodged a bullet when they gave up a field goal and fell down 10-6. They drove down before the half, and they got a touchdown pass from Colin Kaepernick to Vernon Davis. It was a huge play that gave SF the lead, and it turned the game back into their favor. Once they got that lead, then I had a feeling that the Panthers were done.

-It seemed like the moment of the playoffs was a bit too much for the Panthers. I think they will be back in the playoffs soon, but this just seemed too big for them this year-especially going against a team like the Niners.

-Kapernick essentially ended the game on his 4 yard touchdown run midway through the 3^rd quarter. There was no way the Panthers were going to come back from a two score hole. Credit the Niners. They are tough, resilient, and battle-tested and they are heading to their third straight NFC Championship.