Wild Card Weekend Review!

This weekend's Wild Card matchups featured two really boring games, a rivalry renewed, and an instant classic filled with a whole lot of controversy. It sets up a very interesting Divisional Round this weekend. Here are my thoughts and review of the Wild Card games from this past weekend. 

Carolina-27 Arizona-16

1)    This game was pretty tough to watch. Carolina played sloppy, and the Cardinals had nothing to offer considering they had Ryan Lindley starting at QB. It was a bad game, and not the game you wanted to see to kick off Wild Card Weekend.

2)    The fact that Carolina led 10-0, then was down 14-13 showed how bad they played. Cam Newton was not sharp early on and his interception in the 2^nd quarter gave the Cards hope.

3)    After settling down, the Panthers took control of the second half. The key moment was after taking the lead on Fozzy Whitaker’s 39 yard score on a screen pass, the Panthers forced a Ted Ginn fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Mike Tolbert scored on a 1 yard pass from Newton to make it 27-14 late in the 3^rd quarter. Once, the Panthers took that lead, the game was over.

4)    The Panthers defense did their job against Lindley. They limited the Cards to 78 total yards, sacked Lindley four times and picked him off twice. Luke Kuechly intercepted Lindley after a Cam Newton fumble deep in Carolina territory. With the score 27-14, Arizona had a chance to cut into the lead, but Lindley was intercepted on the goal line.

5)    This was probably one of the least memorable playoff games in a while. The Panthers didn’t play well, and Cam Newton looked beat up and tired, but they were able to do their thing and advance to face the Seahawks next Saturday in Seattle.

Baltimore-30 Pittsburgh-17

1)    It wasn’t the classic Ravens-Steelers game that we are used to, but this game was a good one. The setting was perfect and it was a game between two teams with some high level players on it. You have to give credit to Baltimore because they always seem to play their best on the road in the playoffs-especially Joe Flacco.

2)    The loss of Le’Veon Bell really hurt the Steelers. Plus, their inability to just spread the field and go after the Ravens secondary hurt them early in the game.

3)    Joe Flacco plays big in the playoffs. That is all you need to know about him. He outplayed Ben Rothelisberger, and Flacco has won five straight playoff games and hasn’t thrown an interception in each one.

4)    The Ravens were winning 10-9 at the half, and you felt like this was Baltimore’s game. After getting a field goal to extend their lead to 13-9, they forced a punt and after getting a huge pass play to Steve Smith, they added a Flacco to Torrey Smith touchdown to make it 20-9. You knew the Steelers were in trouble at that point.

5)    The key part of this game was after Baltimore went for a 4^th and 1 at the Pitt 49 early in the 4^th quarter, Justin Forsett fumbled the next play and the Steelers recovered. Big Ben throws a touchdown two plays later and now it is 20-15 after the Steelers missed the 2 point conversion. The Ravens answered right back and on a 3^rd and 13 from their own 34, Flacco hit Owen Daniels for a first down. It set up a Justin Tucker field goal and a huge 23-15 lead.

6)    Roethlisberger got picked off by a diving Terrell Suggs a few plays later, and in typical Gary Kubiak fashion (Baltimore’s OC) the Ravens went for the kill with a perfectly timed bootleg and touchdown pass from Flacco to Crockett Gilmore and the Ravens went up 30-15 and that was basically the game.

7)    You know the Ravens are dangerous on the road in the playoffs, and give John Harbaugh credit for getting his defense ready to play. Elvis Dumervil had 2 sacks and the Ravens sacked Big Ben a total of five times. They actually were able to keep it under control in their secondary, and they now set up a trip to Foxborough to take on the Pats next Saturday afternoon it what will be a very interesting matchup.

Indianapolis-26 Cincinnati-10

1)    If you thought Carolina-Arizona was bad, then this game was pretty damn close. This game had nothing to it, and it was so boring I was searching other channels at points because I was going to fall asleep watching this game.

2)    The Bengals were screwed when they had to deactivate A.J. Green and Jermanine Gresham. That left Andy Dalton without two of his biggest weapons, and there was no way he was pulling this game out by himself. It wasn’t his fault they lost the game, but Dalton didn’t make the big time throws that he needed to make on third downs to give his team a chance to win.

3)    Andrew Luck was the story of this game for the Colts. He had tremendous time in the pocket and picked the Bengals apart. If it wasn’t for three T.Y. Hilton drops, this game could have easily been 41-10. Luck’s touchdown throw on the run to Donte Moncrief in the 3^rd quarter made it 20-10 and put the game away.

4)    The crowd seemed dead, and the whole game was pretty nondescript. The Bengals are now 0-4 in the last four playoff games under Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton, and it seems as if they have reached their ceiling with those two.

5)    The Colts advanced to the Divisional Round where they have a date with Peyton Manning and the Broncos next Sunday afternoon.

Cowboys-24 Lions-20

1)    This was the last game of the weekend and it was the best game of the weekend by far. It was intense from the beginning, and the crowd and atmosphere is Dallas was just amazing. It really felt like a playoff game, and that is what added to it.

2)    The Lions came out on fire and built up a 14-0 lead in the 1^st quarter. It was like the Cowboys got knocked back on their heels right from the start. Give Detroit credit for coming out and starting fast like that, and their defense really punched Dallas’ offensive line the mouth for the first time all season.

3)    The Cowboys did battle back and Terrence Williams 76 yard touchdown catch and run gave them life and was a huge turning point in the game. It got the game to 14-7, and it gave the Cowboys a needed burst that they needed in the 2^nd quarter.

4)    At 17-7 going into the 3^rd quarter, the Cowboys needed a break to start the second half, and they got that when they intercepted Matt Stafford on a deflected pass at the Detroit 19. Unfortunately, reliable kicker Dan Bailey missed a 31 yard field goal and the score remained at 17-7. You had a feeling there that this just might not be the Cowboys day at that point.

5)    At 20-7, I loved the sequence when Dallas drove down inside the Lions 5, and went for it on 4^th and goal from the 1 yard line. Demarco Murray burst through the left end, and the Cowboys made it 20-14 with a few minutes left in the 3^rd quarter. They had to go for it there, and they did and got the touchdown.

6)    After a Detroit 3 and out, the Cowboys went to work and Cole Beasley started abusing the Lions underneath. The Cowboys were smart and they kept going after the Lions with Beasley and it moved them down into field goal range. Ndamukong Suh took care of that when he sacked Tony Romo on back-to-back plays and forced a Dallas field goal to cut it to 20-17. Suh dominated the game upfront, and he was a force throughout. If this was his last game as a Lion, then he went out with a bang and made himself a fortune in free agency next year.

7)    The next sequence produced the biggest controversy of the game. On a 3^rd and 1, Stafford’s attempted pass to Brandon Pettigrew was broken up by Anthony Hitchens. It looked like blatant pass interference as Hitchens never turned around to play the ball. It would have given Detroit a first down in Dallas territory with 8:25 to play in the game. The official threw the flag, the referee announced pass interference, and then all of a sudden he said there was no foul on the play. It was obvious pass interference, and I have no problem with the officials discussing the play and overturning the call, but you can’t announce pass interference and then say that there is no foul. It was an awful non-call by the officials, and the Lions certainly got screwed on the play. It will forever be the defining moment of this game-and maybe even the entire playoffs. I think this game will be dubbed the “No Flag” game in the annals of NFL history.

8)    I don’t think the Lions made such a mistake on punting on 4^th and 1 the next play. The problem was that the punted was shanked and it resulted in a 10 yard punt and the Cowboys took over at their own 41. It is unfortunate that the punt was so bad and Dallas had good field position, but I can’t kill Jim Caldwell for not going for it in that situation.

9)    Give Tony Romo credit for his final drive of the game. Dallas faced a 4^th and 6 at the  Detroit 42, and head coach Jason Garrett made the right call and went for it with 6:00 minutes to go in the game. Garrett’s call to go for it was right, and Romo made a great throw to Jason Witten underneath for a 21 yard gain and a huge first down. Garrett’s gamble paid off.

10) The Cowboys took their first lead of the game when Romo found Terrence Williams in the back of the end zone with an 8 yard pass to give Dallas a 24-20 lead with 2:39 left. It was a dramatic moment as Tony Romo finally delivered in the clutch. Everyone was waiting for the ill-timed Romo mistake, but he got the job done and finished the drive with the touchdown pass. I was happy for Romo that he finally came in big in that spot.

11) You really had a feeling that it wasn't meant to be for the Cowboys when on the final drive Matt Stafford fumbled and DeMarcus Lawrence picked it up but instead of kneeling down, he tried to run with the ball, and he fumbled it back to Detroit. That was an amazing sequence, and you had to believe it was going to come back and haunt the Cowboys. Naturally, Stafford, who played gutty in my opinion, started to move the Lions down the field. You could just see how this was going to end in complete pain for the Cowboys. Fortunately for Cowboy fans, Stafford got sacked and stripped by Lawrence on a 4th and 3 from the Dallas 42 with only a minute left. It was the ultimate redemption for Lawrence and added a final storyline to this classic game.

12) This game had everything: Great plays, back and forth action, controversy, and it came down to the end. It was everything you want in a playoff game. The Cowboys only won their 2nd playoff game since 1996, and now they head to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers on Sunday in what should be a really fun and interesting game in the Divisional Round of the NFC  Playoffs.