Kansas City Chiefs, 30 Houston Texans, 0
The NFL Playoffs started with a bang. A manic Houston stadium was deflated by The Forgotten Kansas City Running Back, a Mr. Knile Davis. Davis returned the Opening Kickoff 102 yards and it would be all the points the Chiefs needed to win the game.
Of course, nobody knew that so they played the rest of the game anyway. QB Brian Hoyer turned in an awful performance, 136 yards, 4 INTs and a fumble lost. In the 2nd half, the crowd was changing for Wee-den, Wee-den, but there's an age old saying in fantasy football once you starting chanting for Brandon Weeden to come into your Playoff Game, you have already lost.
MVP: TE Travis Kelce stood out on the stat sheet. 8 receptions for 128 yards. Though the entire Kansas City Team dominated the game front-to-back. Kelce was the statistical benefactor and had some brutal, rumbling yards after the catch. The Offensive Line deserves Honorable Mention as well, rotating positions and covering for injuries, they still dominated the vaunted Texans front.
KEY PLAY: It's easy to forget now that Kansas City was only ahead 13-0 when RB Alfred Blue broke lose for a 49 yard run into the Red Zone. After a converted 3rd down at the 2 by Blue, Coach Bill O'Brien rolled out DE J.J Watt in the Wildcat, with none other than DT Vince Wilfork in a Power Formation. The crowd was ready to explode with excitement, jubilation in the air just based off the formation. But LB Derrick Johnson made an cold, calculated, excellent slice into the backfield and J.J Watt had nowhere to run. The next play Brian Hoyer threw an inexplicable interception on 2nd-and-Goal. If J.J Watt scores there, I gotta think this would have been a different game.
Pittsburgh Steelers, 18 Cincinnati Bengals, 16
The first 5/8ths of the game was a defensive struggle. Despite the fact that the Steelers were moving the ball on the ground (they finished with a total of 167 yards), QB Ben Rothlisberger and the Steelers could not capitalize and led only 9-0. WR Antonio Brown broke open the game with a beautiful 60 yard catch-and-run and WR Martavis Bryant put on the finish with a highlight reel butt-flip catch TD. 15-0 and nobody thought QB A.J McCarron had it in him to come back.
The following Bengal drive was promising but was derailed in the red zone when RB Giovoni Bernard was knocked out, fumbled and the Steelers retained control. Many felt the hit was dirty, it absolutely should have been penalized as Unnecessary Roughness based on the way the referees called the a Rothlisberger-to-Wheaton play late in the 2nd Quarter. But consistency was nowhere to be found this wild and angry Saturday Night. Cincinnati and the Bengals Bench were livid, and this Divisional Game took a dark turn.
3 plays later, LB Vontaze Burfict broke free and made a legal sack on Rothlisberger that clearly injured Big Ben's shoulder. Momentum swung, the Bengals drove for a Jeremy Hill punch-in TD. Steelers back-up QB Landry Jones was ineffective, and the Bengals got the ball back a few times for a Field Goal and a leap and back-in A.J Green TD. The game looked to be over when Burfict himself cut in front and intercepted a weak Landry Jones lob with under 2 minutes remaining.
The Fall Of Cincinatti in 5 Steps.
1) Jeremy Hill fumbles on 1st down of a run-out-the-clock situation.
2) Big Ben returns to the field after being carted off, and drives through dinks and dunks.
3) Vontaze Burfict hits Antonio Brown in the head and is called for a 15-yard personal foul into Field Goal range.
4) Pacman Jones shoves a ref trying to get Steelers Assistant Coach Joey Porter off the field for another 15-yard penalty,
5) The Steelers make said FG.
Why Joey Porter was on the field has never been explained as Assistants don't come on the field for injuries, and certainly don't stay on the field after the injured player has walked back to the sidelines. There should have been off-setting penatlies but there was not, and the Steelers move on.
KEY PLAY: RB Jeremy Hill's fumble was crucial, and a brutal blow to a promising young RB's early career. However heartbreaking it give credit where credit is due- Hill didn't just drop the ball- it was ripped away by LB Ryan Shazier.
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