Divisional Playoff Recap!

The Divisional Playoffs provided two surprising upsets, another clinical performance by the Patriots, and an absolute classic with an incredible finish in Minnesota. It was a great weekend of football for the NFL on a weekend that didn't have a lot of high expectations heading into it. The Eagles pulled the upset over the Falcons, the Pats buried the Titans. Then, Sunday featured a stunner with the Jaguars going into Pittsburgh and upsetting the Steelers, and the Vikings won on a 61-yard walkoff TD from Case Keenum to Stephon Diggs to win it 29-24. It sets up a very surprising final four for Championship Sunday. The Jaguars head to Foxboro to take on the Patriots and the Vikings go to Philly to take on the Eagles. It will be hard to top some of the moments we saw this weekend. Here is my reaction and recap of the Divisional Playoff Weekend.....

NFC Divisional Playoff Game
Philadelphia-15 Atlanta-10

1) The Falcons are going to be sick that they lost this game. It started so ominous for Philly. Jay Ajayi fumbled on the second play of the game, they missed an extra point after taking a 6-3 lead, and they muffed a punt that led to a 10-6 lead for Atlanta. It felt like the Falcons were going to win this game, and then all of a sudden they were down 15-10 trying to win the game on the final drive.

2) Here is a key moment in the game: Nick Foles throws a ball that should have been intercepted by Atlanta near midfield right before the half, but the ball deflects into the waiting arms of an Eagles receiver and actually get a first down on the play. That set up a long pass on the sideline with only one second remaining in the half and Philly got a 53 yard field goal to make it 10-9 as time expired in the first half. Instead of Atlanta getting the ball near midfield to extend their 10-6 lead, the Eagles got a break and three points to cut the lead to one.

3) Down 10-9, the Eagles put together two key drives near the end of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter to take a 15-10 lead. Both drives were 12 and 14 plays respectively, ate up clock, and gave the Eagles the lead and the ability to hold on at the end.

4) The Falcons offense was not the same this year as it was last year. That was evident all year long. It was evident again in this game and on that last drive. Matt Ryan did hit Julio Jones for 20 yards on a 4th and 6 to keep the drive alive, but their sequence of plays when they had a 1st and goal from the Philly 9 was just puzzling. After a crappy fade that fell incomplete to Julio Jones, they tried a shovel pass that almost got picked off on 2nd and goal. On 3rd and goal, Ryan hit Jones for a 7 yard gain on a slant that set up a 4th and goal from the 2. On the next play, Ryan rolled right, looked for Jones, who slipped, had no one else open, and had to throw a prayer to Jones in the corner of the endzone and it fell incomplete. I hated the call because it was basically a two receiver route, cut off the whole field since Ryan was rolling to the right and it was just doomed from the start. It was a terrible series of plays that ended the Falcons season in disappointment.

5) Give the Eagles credit. They played up the underdog role that they heard all week long, and they played well-especially on defense and in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They won a playoff game for the first time since 2008, and they did it with Nick Foles in place of their injured star Carson Wentz.

6) The Falcons were favorites to win this game, and they will be kicking themselves all offseason once again. They had a clear path to the Super Bowl and got a break by playing the Eagles without Wentz. Steve Sarkisian was not a good fit for this offense all season long, and it came back to bite them in the most critical part of the year. It will be another long offseason for the Falcons as they try to comprehend what happened and how they didn't win this game.

AFC Divisional Playoff
New England-35 Tennessee-14

1) The Titans got off to a good start and took a 7-0 lead when Marcus Mariota hit Corey Davis for a 15-yard TD. That was about it for the Titans on this night.

2) The Pats settled in and took a 14-7 lead, and then the game turned on this sequence. After being forced to punt from their own endzone, the Pats appeared to have a false start on 4th and 5, but it was overturned and the Titans were called for a neutral zone infraction. How the refs made that call was ridiculous. The Patriots clearly moved but somehow the call went against the Titans. The Pats got the first down and Tom Brady hit Chris Hogan on a 4 yard touchdown to cap the drive right before the half to give the Patriots the 21-7 lead and that was about it for this game.

3) The Titans had a terrible moment of mismanaging this game when they went for it on 4th and 1 near midfield right before the half, and they got stopped. Luckily for them, the Patriots missed the field goal and the game was still only 21-7 at the half.

4) The second half was all Patriots as expected, their defense stifled Mariota and the Titans offense and they added two more touchdowns for the convincing 35-14 win. It is the seventh straight AFC Championship Game appearance for the Patriots. That is absolutely amazing for a team to accomplish that in this era of the NFL.

AFC Divisional Playoff
Jacksonville-45 Pittsburgh 42

1) Great start for Jacksonville and a horrible start for Pitt. First drive, Jax goes right down and caps it off with a Leonard Fournette 1 yard TD run on 4th and goal to make it 7-0. Big Ben gets picked off by Myles Jack two series later, and Fournette rumbles in to make it 14-0. It was a shocking start for the Jags on the road.

2) You knew the Steelers were going to come back and get back in it. They were moving the ball but faced a 4th and 1 at midfield, and they decided to go for it but they ran the ball with Le'veon Bell and Jacksonville snuffed it out. The Jags converted that into another touchdown, this time by T.J. Yeldon on a 4-yard run to make it 21-0 with 11 minutes to go in the second quarter.

3) The Steelers and Big Ben finally started to make the comeback. He hit Antonio Brown on a 23 yard TD pass to cut it to 21-7. Brown made a sensational one-handed catch in the endzone and the Steelers looked like they had some life.

4) After forcing a Jacksonville punt, the Steelers were moving once again, but at the Jax 47, Big Ben got sacked and stripped, and Telvin Smith scooped it up and raced 50 yards for a score to make it 28-7. It felt like every time Pitt had some momentum and the Jags came up with a play to break the momentum. Unfortunately, Smith got called for taunting and it gave the Steelers good field position with the short kickoff by Jacksonville.

5) What a throw by Big Ben on 4th and 11 from the Jags 36 to Martavis Bryant to make it 28-14. It was a huge play for them to get that score with only 28 seconds left in the half.

6) The Steelers got the ball to start the third quarter and they go right down the field and cut it to 28-21 on a 19 yard hookup from Big Ben to Bell. It was another incredible throw and catch and the Steelers got two TDs on two straight possessions before and after the half.

7) The next big sequence was when the Steelers faced another 4th and 1 at the Jax 39 with 12:50 left in the fourth quarter. They attempt a pass and the ball fell incomplete and they turned the ball over on downs once again.

8) After a big pass play by Blake Bortles, Fournette punched it in again to make it 35-21 with 10:34 left in the game. Once again, the Jags made the Steelers pay on another missed opportunity.

9) The Steelers responded once again on the next drive when Big Ben hit Antonio Brown on a 43 yard TD which featured another incredible catch by Brown while he was completely covered. It cut the lead to 35-28 with 9:05 left. The Steelers weren't dead yet, and I felt that the Steelers were going to come back and win this game at that moment.

10) Naturally, the Jags go right down the field on this Pittsburgh defense and they capped it off on a sweet Bortles to Tommy Bohanon 14 yard TD pass to make it 42-28.

11) The Steelers scored a touchdown to make it 42-35 with 2:18 seconds left. Now, they have two timeouts and the two minute warning. Instead of kicking deep, pinning the Jags deep, and then using timeouts to get the ball back down seven, Mike Tomlin decides to go for the onside kick. It made no sense at that time. The onside kick was terrible and the Jags recovered. That whole sequence was terrible for the Steelers.

12) After a Jax field goal to make it 45-35, the Steelers got it down to the Jax five yard line with 47 seconds left. Tomlin had to go for the field goal on 1st and goal to make it 45-38 and then try the onside kick to give them a chance. Instead, they kept playing and went for the touchdown and scored a touchdown with only 1 second left. It gave them no chance to win the game, and it was a mistake to not figure this out.

13) This was a huge upset for Jacksonville, and it is their first trip to the AFC Championship since 1999. It reminded me of the 1996 Divisional Playoff upset the Jags pulled off in Denver over the Broncos. It was a stunning win, but well deserved because the Jags used the motivation that no one thought they would win, and they pulled it off.

14) This was a terrible loss by the Steelers. They were big favorites at home, and they got beat by Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mike Tomlin was terrible in this game, and I really think the Steelers were looking ahead to playing the Pats in the AFC Championship next week.

NFC Divisional Playoff
Minnesota-29 New Orleans-24

1) Many people, myself included, felt like this was going to be the game of the weekend, and it was. What a game and what finish in a game that is now being dubbed, "The Minnesota Miracle."

2) You can fast forward through about three quarters of this game. The Vikings had built a 17-0 lead, and looked like they were in control of the game until late in the third quarter on the heels of two interceptions and a missed field goal by New Orleans. The game changed when Drew Brees hit Michael Thomas for a 14-yard TD pass with only 1:18 left in the third quarter to cut the Minnesota lead to 17-7. The next play, Case Keenum got picked off and the game completely turned around. It was that moment that a lot of critics of Keenum had been waiting for.

3) Drew Brees made the Vikings pay when he hit Michael Thomas on a three-yard TD to cut the game to 17-14. It was a great play design and great call by Sean Payton and the game was about to get really, really good.

4) After the Vikings kicked a field goal to make it 20-14, the teams traded punts. After partially blocking the Vikings punt attempt, the Saints took over at the Minnesota 40, and Brees took them down in four plays and took the lead on a sweet 14-yard throw to Alvin Kamara to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 3:01 left to go in the game.

5) The Vikings drove the ball into New Orleans territory with the aid of a 24 yard throw from Keenum to Adam Thelien. The drive stalled, and the Vikings settled for a field goal, which Kai Forbath nailed from 53 yards to take a 23-21 lead with only 1:29 left. At the time, I said that they left too much time on the board for Drew Brees, and I was right.

6) Brees calmly drove the Saints down the field and put them into field goal position. The big play was the throw he made on 4th and 10 to Willie Snead down to the Minnesota 33. The Saints had to settle for a field goal after a key 3rd and 1 stop by the Vikings. Will Lutz nailed the 43 yarder with only 25 seconds left, and the Saints had taken the lead back at 24-23.

7) It set the stage for one of the all-time great endings in the NFL Playoff history. After getting the ball to their own 39 yard line with only 14 seconds left and no timeouts, Case Keenum threw a deep sideline route that Stephon Diggs jumped up, caught, and then raced all the way untouched into the endzone for the walk-off game-winning touchdown to send the Vikings to the NFC Championship. It was about as incredible of an ending as you can imagine. New Orleans safety Marcus Williams completely misplayed the ball, ducked underneath Diggs and then fell and took out his own player as Diggs raced down the sideline for the game-winning touchdown. What finish and what a moment.

8) I feel bad for Drew Brees because this might be one of his last shots at getting back to another Super Bowl. He just turned 39, and if they hold on after he drives them down to win the game, then he has a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl this year. Unfortunately, that won't happen. It will be very tough for the Saints to get over this loss this offseason.

9) Rahim Moore finally got off the hook after his misplay led to the Ravens defeating the Broncos in the 2012 AFC Divisional Playoff. Marcus Williams takes his place in the annals of playoff game blunders, and I think Williams' play might have been worse.

10) I'm happy for the Vikings and their fans. They finally had a playoff moment go their way. They had to deal with Roger Staubach's Hail Mary, the Gary Anderson miss in 1998, getting knocked out on the last play by the Cardinals in 2003 in Week 17, the Brett Favre interception in New Orleans in 2009, and the missed chip-shot by Blair Walsh two years ago against Seattle. It was finally their moment, and it just might propel them to the Super Bowl.