Divsional Round Review!

The Divisional Round featured all the top seeds winning for the first time since 2004. All four games finished with one score games, and it featured one classic finish in Arizona. Here is my breakdown of the three games in sequential order....

New England-27 Kansas City-20

1) The Patriots came down and scored a touchdown on a Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski 8-yard touchdown on the first drive, and you knew it was going to be the Patriots afternoon. This game never felt like it was going to go against the Pats.

2) The Pats offense looked really good once again with Julian Edelman back, and Brady wasn't even touched the entire game from the pocket. Edelman had a big day, and Gronk was great as usual, and as the Pats were scoring touchdowns, the Chiefs were kicking field goals.

3) It was 14-6 when Brady hit Gronk for another touchdown to make it 21-6. At that point, I really thought the game was over. I never felt like the game was in danger for the Pats, and after that score, it was over in my opinion.

4) The Chiefs held on for long enough and they were down 27-13 and driving when Andy Reid went back to his bag of tricks. Alex Smith, who played gutty all game long, completed a pass down to the 1-yard line with 2:57 left, and the Chiefs had three timeouts left and ran one play there before the two-minute warning. Of course, the Chiefs ran a run play that was stopped for no gain. Then, they threw a pass that was complete after a false start, the clock was still running, and the Chiefs didn't call a timeout once again. They finally scored with only 1:13 left, and they still had three timeouts left! The Chiefs then went for an onside kick, it was recovered by the Pats, and New England was able to get a first down off a deflection to secure the win. Andy Reid is a good coach and he has done a nice job with the Chiefs, but these game situations with him on the sideline are just awful. He makes you scratch your head at times, and it cost him once again.

Arizona-26 Green Bay-20 (OT)

1) This was the most memorable game of the weekend. This game will be remembered as the "Double Hail Mary" game which featured Aaron Rodgers completing another Hail Mary to tie the game at 20 with no time left in regulation. We will get to that in a bit.

2) The game can be summed up pretty easily until the 4th quarter. Carson Palmer was pretty bad and struggled throwing two crucial interceptions. The Packers got their running game going again, and Aaron Rodgers was making some big plays with basically no receivers after Randall Cobb went down with a chest injury in the second quarter. He was throwing to Jeff Janis and Jarred Abberdaris for God's sake. They battled enough to take a 13-7 lead after Rodgers hit Janis midway through the third quarter to take a 13-7 lead. You had the feeling that the Packers were going to pull this one out.

3) The Cardinals took a 17-13 lead when the Palmer hit Michael Floyd with a 9-yard pass with 3:44 left in the game. From there, the Packers went for it on a 4th and 5 at their own 25 and 2:42 left. Rodgers one-hopped a pass to James Jones and looked like the Packers were done. The Packers only had one timeout left, and after a run by Arizona, the Packers had to burn their last timeout. The Cards and Bruce Arians called for a pass that was incomplete and gave Green Bay a much needed timeout. After an Arizona run, the Cards settled for a field goal and a 20-13 lead. I really have no problem with Arians being aggressive in that spot because if it is a complete pass, then the game is over. You can't fault being aggressive there in my opinion.

4) What happened next was about as remarkable as you can get in a game. The Packers got the ball with no timeouts and 1:50 left from their own 14. Rodgers hits a 4th and 20 bomb to Janis for a gain of 60 in his first Hail Mary attempt to keep their hopes alive. Instead, of spiking it, the Packers tried to run a play, and the play was incomplete and the Packers had a penalty in there as well for illegal motion. With 4 seconds left, Rodgers drops back and hits Janis with a 41-yard bomb on his second Hail Mary of the game, and somehow they tie the game at 20 with no time left. It was unbelievable to watch, and I can't believe that Rodgers was able to complete that pass. Janis caught the ball with two Cardinals, including Patrick Peterson, covering him. It was a surreal moment.

5) On the first play of overtime, Palmer scrambled around and somehow found Larry Fitzgerald all the way across the field, and Fitz caught it and broke free and got down to the 5 yard line for a 75 yard gain. Two plays later, Palmer ran a shovel pass and Fitzgerald caught it and won the game on a 5-yard pass and the Cards advance 26-20 in overtime.

6) This game will be remembered for Aaron Rodgers amazing Hail Mary throws. Forget about what Arizona did in overtime won't be remembered. It is kind of a shame that Rodgers and the Packers lost, and Arizona really was lucky to advance but they are headed to their first NFC Championship Game since 2008.

Carolina-31 Seattle-24

1) I thought this was the least exciting game of the weekend, and I was surprised because I thought this had the potential to be the best game of the weekend. This game can be summed up on the first two series of the game. Jonathan Stewart broke a huge run on the first play of the game for 59 yards, and they scored a few plays later to take a 7-0 lead. On Seattle's first series, Marshawn Lynch got crushed on first down, and then Russell Wilson got picked off by Luke Kuechly and returned for a 14 yard touchdown and the Panthers were up 14-0 with only 11:38 left in the first quarter. What a way for the game to start for the Panthers.

2) This game was 31-0 at the half, and the Panthers really took the foot off the gas pedal after they had that big lead. I know the Seahawks clawed their way back and cut the lead to 31-24 to make it a little interesting, but the game was over in the first half. The Panthers were just looking to get the hell out of there with the win and no injuries. I know that the Seahawks actually had an onside kick attempt, and the Panthers recovered and ran out the clock, but this game was never in doubt.

3) Give the Panthers credit. They went 15-1 this year, and they drew the Seahawks in their first playoff game and they came out and crushed Seattle and put a 31-0 lead at the half. I thought the Panthers were going to win, and my feeling was that the Seahawks would be gassed having to come across the country for the second straight week and they had to play another early game on Sunday after doing it last week in Minnesota. My gut was right because Carolina punched Seattle in the mouth from the very first play and never looked back. Carolina gets back to the NFC Championship for the first time since 2005, and you have to think that they are the favorites to win Super Bowl 50 at this point.