Sunday 1/15/17 (Divisional)

Green Bay Packers, 34 Dallas Cowboys, 31

It was inevitable that after six straight playoff blow-outs, we would be treated to a proverbial "instant classic". It's almost getting redundant at this point to use 'red-hot' to describe Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, but the red-hot Rodgers & Packers delivered their hardest punches early and often. They flustered the Cowboys with a 34-yard Rodgers-to-Richard Rodgers TD on their opening drive and then poured on with two more long drives, culminating in a pair of RB Ty Montgomery touchdowns. The Packers had the #1 seed Cowboys' reeling, down 21-3 with 7:37 to-go in the half.

Twitter was calling for Tony Romo, maybe he would be better suited for a comeback? But the Cowboys responded with a very important 40-yard TD dart from rookie QB Dak Prescott to WR Dez Bryant and another field goal before half, 21-13

Aaron Rodgers started the 2nd half with six straight completions for 72 yards and a 3-yard TD to TE Jared Cooks but somehow the Cowboys were able to stop Rodgers from scoring a touchdown on his next two drives so that Dak could do what he needed to do. Dak & the Cowboys' line took over the game and made it look easy while driving for a 6-yard touchdown to TE Jason Witten (amazingly, his first postseason TD) and a 7-yard lob to Dez Bryant and a gutsy run for the 2-pt conversion to tie the game 28-28 with 4:12 remaining.

Left with 4:12 on the clock, Rodgers drove the ball to the Dallas 35 and Mike McCarthy got conservative, rushing with Ty Montgomery for a combined -3 yards instead of giving Rodgers the green light to throw. The Packers were forced to attempt a 56-yard field goal on a 4th-and-13. K Mason Crosby lined up, and nailed it.

Left with 1:33 on the clock, Dak drove the ball to the Green Bay 33 and Jason Garrett got bold, throwing on a 3rd-and-3 instead of utilizing the dominating O-line and rookie RB Ezekiel Elliot  (125yds) with a timeout left. It was incomplete and the Cowboys were forced to attempt a 52-yard field goal on a 4th-and 3. K Dan Bailey lined up, and nailed it.

Left with 0:35 on the clock, Rodgers drove the ball to the Dallas 32. The two plays that will live in Aaron Rodgers infamy; a free blitz by S Jeff Heath that Rodgers somehow did not fumble and a legendary roll to his left, on the run, perfect 36-yard throw on the sideline to TE Jared Cook who had dropped two passes on that drive alone. K Mason Crosby lined up for a 51-yard field, and nailed it!

MVP : I think it's clear that QB Aaron Rodgers is the default MVP for the Packers until otherwise noted.

Pittsburgh Steelers, 18 Kansas City Chiefs, 16

Behind Ben, Brown, Bell and Boswell the Steelers stunned the Chiefs at Arrowhead stadium. The Chiefs defense made this a game providing the 'bend-but-not-break' model for all of time, allowing almost 400 yards of offense but not a single Steeler to step into the end zone. K Chris Boswell was 6/6 in the frigid weather, the Chiefs were able to bookend the game with touchdowns but unfortunately for them could not covert the 2-pt conversion after a holding penalty.

QB Alex Smith knows who he is, and he's no 'make-it-happen' improviser. The Steelers focused on TE Travis Kelce and shut down the Chiefs' shiny new car, WR Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs were simply unable to consistently move the ball. Their only two drives of note were the two touchdown drives. Down 8pts with 9:49 left in the 4th quarter, the Chiefs still took 7 minutes to score. When they missed the 2-pt conversion it took only a 3rd-down conversion to WR Antonio Brown for the Steelers to advance to the AFC Championship.

The defense for the Chiefs was truly impressive when push came to shove, the talent of LB Justin Houston, DT Dontari Poe, LB Dee Ford and rookie DE Chris Jones (who had a great game) was on display. However, Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger was not rattled, content to push his way to field goals. Yes it was ugly but ugly is what Ben does best. Pittsburgh was 7/15 on 3rd downs. Six of those failed 3rd downs resulted in field goals. This is the story of a field position victory, the seven converted 3rd downs were all important to field position and Big Ben and Co were routinely converting them on their way to Chiefs territory.

MVP: Okay, let's talk about RB Le'Veon Bell. This man has set the Steelers postseason rushing recording two weeks in a row! Last week's 161 is this week's 170. For a franchise routinely in the AFC playoffs and six Super Bowl titles, that's a rich history to be writing over. Bell's patience, vision and hidden explosiveness continue to dazzle. Some credit should go the completely healthy Steelers' O-line. They have finally gelled together at the right time.