Seattle Seahawks, 41 New Orleans Saints, 36
The Seattle Seahawks brought out the 12th man and surprised the entire NFL. Down 10-0, Down 17-7, they never panicked. The crowd noise never ceased. QB Drew Brees had a great 400-yard day and RB Julius Jones (cut by the Seahawks earlier this season) took two TDs to add a certain statistical revenge but ultimately, the Saints are marching home.
The Saints lost because the secondary, particularly S Roman Harper and S Darren Sharper, gave up huge plays. QB Matt Hasselbeck was able to connect with a wide-open TE John Carlson twice, hit WR Brandon Stokley deep after both safties played the pump fake, and again deep to WR Mike Williams, another slower possession receiver, deep because the safeties showed no respect. 28 easy points for a veteran QB like the much-maligned turned hero Hasselbeck.
New Orleans did not give up, down 11, Brees drove them to a TD inside 2 minutes (failed 2pt). An onside kick recovery could have spelled historic doom for Seattle, but the kick was botched, the 12th man erupted.
KEY PLAY: RB Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard run in the 4th quarter. At the time, the Seahawks had the lead but it was dwindling. With Drew Brees' hot hand and Seattle's stagnant 4th quarter offense, the mood was bleak. Suddenly, Lynch starting shooting downfield, breaking tackle after tackle to the end zone. Some of the hardest running of the year, it seemed the Saints assumed he was down at least twice, but he kept pumping his legs. Lynch threw last year's Super Bowl hero CB Tracy Porter like a ragdoll to ensure the final 20 yards and 6 points.
MVP: QB Matt Hasselbeck made sure to take advantage and capitalize on the New Orleans' secondary mistakes, at least 21 points would be off the board if he had been more conservative and not held the ball just that fraction longer to expose each mistake.
New York Jets, 17 Indianapolis Colts, 16
K Adam Vinateri was clutch, nailing a 50-yard FG with less than 1 minute to play. Unfortunately Vinateri is the only Colts Special Teams player who showed up to play. The Colts subsequently allowed a good kickoff return and K Nick Folk took matters into his own hands, finally giving Coach Rex Ryan his revenge over QB Peyton Manning, the story of the century apparently.
The actual story was defense. The Jets defense worked hard to blanket Manning and his limited weapons (CB Darrelle Revis held major weapon WR Reggie Wayne to a single, meaningless yard) as much as they could. The Colts D focused on stopping RB Shonne Green, RB LaDanian Tomlinson and the surging Jets O-line but they could not, while QB Mark Sanchez handed off, watched from a distance, and occasionally put his finger in the air to signify the number one.
After a 7-0 first half, the Jets O-line put together two TD drives (7 minutes and 10 minutes) that kept #18 on the bench, Sanchez threw only 5 passes. Jets punted to Colts with 2:30 left... Manning and Vinateri did what living legends do, but the Colts Special Teams let them down in the final minute.
KEY PLAY: 3rd and long, the play before the Vinateri 50 yard field goal. Manning and the entire O-line make a roll to the right, WR Blair White was open for the 1st down but the coverage collapsed in on him and White couldn't hold on. If this pass is completed (assuming Vinateri makes a shorter FG as well) the clock runs down and Colts win.
MVP: RB LaDanian Tomlinson has had some hard playoff losses and this would have been a real tough one to swallow despite two drive-capping touchdowns and an overall bounce in his step. Tomlinson's triumph is deserved, but we knew he was great. Jets fans likely wish Sanchez was even in the top 10 of players lined up for this MVP award.
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