Atlanta Falcons, 36 Seattle Seahawks, 20
QB Russell Wilson and the Seahawks put some fear into Atlanta fans when they took the opening drive 90 yards in 14 plays culminating in a pylon TD to former Saint and Falcon-killer TE Jimmy Graham. QB Matt Ryan and that Falcons offense shed the "regular-season-only" asterisk on the responding drive, a 13-play 90-yard drive finishing with a pick-play screen to WR Julio Jones.
Twin 90-yard drives to start the Divisional round, the 3rd drive of the game started with 1 minute gone from the 2nd quarter.
Later in the 2nd, the Seahawks were holding ground 10-7 and forced a Falcons punt. KR Devin Hester appeared to play spoiler to his former team with a stunning 70-yard punt return to the 8-yard line but a back-breaking holding call on Seattle (strangely at the line scrimmage) reversed field position 85 yards. The Seahawks never recovered from that. The next play, a rookie LG stepped on Russell Wilson's foot and he fell back into the end zone for a safety. Matt Ryan took the two remaining drives of the half for 10 points and continued to pour on in the 2nd half - touchdowns to RB Tevin Coleman, RB Davonta Freeman and WR Mohamed Sanu.
The Seahawks mounted some furious scenario comebacks, including a surprisingly quick response to the final Sanu touchdown (Hester 78 yard kickoff return, next play a 31-yard dime to WR Doug Baldwin) but it was never enough. Atlanta's offense would have won this game in any scenario, they were simply unstoppable.
MVP : QB Matt Ryan (338 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT) is spreading the ball, making good decisions and crushing teams against the blitz. He wields his arsenal of dangerous WRs, versatile RBs and random TEs with incredible skill. The 2016 Falcons offense is two big games away from cementing themselves as a dark horse candidate in the conversation for Best Offense All-Time.
New England Patriots, 34 Houston Texans, 16
Tom Brady's 23rd playoff win comes at the expense of the Houston Texans. The Patriots continue to roll through the AFC on their way to their 6th-straight AFC Championship. Not only is that a record but it's not even the most successful stretch of the Belichick/Brady regime (2001-2004 three Super Bowl wins). WR Julian Edelman had 135 yards and RB Dion Lewis took the role of patented patriot patriot performer with a rushing TD, receiving TD and a kickoff return TD.
The Texans were fortunate to make this somewhat of a game in the first half. QB Brock Osweiler's incompetence was masked by two Patriot turnovers in their own territory in the 2nd quarter, one of which Osweiler managed to score. Going into half only down 13-17 and the Texans defense holding it's ground was promising, but ultimately just turnover smoke and field goal mirrors.
WR DeAndre Hopkins would have a big game with an NFL QB throwing the ball, RB Lamar Miller fought hard for yardage. The greatest irony of all is that Osweiler's best pass of the night- a majestic over the shoulder deep shot to rookie WR Will Fuller V was dropped in the end zone. Osweiler-haters will say karma for all his missed throws but that would have made the game interesting at 20-24. Instead it evolved into another blowout, the NFL playoffs now a perfect 6/6 the home team wins by 10+. We have yet to see a meaningful 4th quarter playoff drive.
MVP : RB Dion Lewis was electric and unstable, fun to watch- he sparked for a kickoff return int he 1st quarter, had an extremely large role in the offense and made Texans' miss. He also fumbled three times, one ruled down, one lost, and one recovered by an O-lineman. 3 TDs speak for themselves, bonus points for creating at least a glimmer of captivating television!
No comments:
Post a Comment