Pittsburgh Steelers, 30 Miami Dolphins, 12
The promising pieces of Pittsburgh have clicked. The offense thrived by getting the ball into the hands of RB Le'Veon Bell and WR Antonio Brown behind a healthy offensive line.
On defense, while this is no Steel Curtain, strong linebacker play in Pittsburgh continues to be a tradition- LB Bud Dupree, LB Ryan Shazier and the ageless warrior LB James Harrison turned in strong performances. Dolphins QB Matt Moore gave a tough, valiant effort but was never equipped for this type of beat-down, or this type of shoot-out.
The spark of Bell and Brown was just too much. Brown turned two short passes into 100+ yards and 2 TDS in the first quarter and after Bell's touchdown put them up 21-3, the sideline started to feel awful cold for poor Miami who practice all week in Florida. After Brown's early touchdowns, the game never felt in doubt.
The Dolphins never quite got their stars going. WR Jarvis Landry was fed the ball but couldn't break the big play and RB Jay Ajayi, who torched Pittsburgh for 203 yards in Week 7, ran for only 33 yards before being injured in the 4th quarter.
The Dolphins never quite got their stars going. WR Jarvis Landry was fed the ball but couldn't break the big play and RB Jay Ajayi, who torched Pittsburgh for 203 yards in Week 7, ran for only 33 yards before being injured in the 4th quarter.
MVP: RB Le'Veon Bell. With Rothlisberger still groggy, the Steelers turned to defense and the graceful patience/explosive decisiveness of Le'Veon Bell. The highlight was a 10-play, 83 yard drive ending in 1 yard TD for Bell to go up 21-3. All 10 plays were handoffs to LeVeon Bell, that's simply amazing. He finished with 167 yards on 29 carries.
Green Bay Packers, 38 New York Giants, 13
The Giants dominated the first quarter but because of drops by WR Odell Beckham Jr and rookie WR Sterling Shepard, they were only up 6-0. The Giants D held the red-hot Aaron Rodgers offense to 7 yards. Unfortunately for New York, the Giants D looked shakier and shakier with some tough injuries. It culminated in a disastrous final 2 minutes of the half : A Rodgers touchdown to WR DaVante Adams, an Eli Manning fumble forced by LB Clay Matthews, and the Rodgers Hail Mary with 0:00 to play. The highlight of the weekend: An amazing, high arcing throw that landed comfortably to WR Randall Cobb at the very back line of the end zone.
Some may recall Eli's hail mary to end the half against Green Bay in the 2011 playoffs. In 2017, Rodgers finally got his revenge. After a solid half of play, how could the Giants have went into the locker room down 14-6?
Mid-3rd quarter, Packers coach Mike McCarthy appeared to hand the momentum back to New York. On 4th-and-1 at their own 42 the Packers handed off RB/WR Ty Montgomery who was stopped by S Landon Collins (who also made the key 3rd down stop). Two plays later, Eli Manning put an exclamation point with a 41 yard pass to WR Tavarres King. 14-13
Ok, after a weekend of wildcard duds- we are finally getting a GAME - two Super Bowl winning QBs dueling in the wildcard round - let's do this!
Well, to the disappointment and befuddlement of the NFL audience, Eli Manning and the Giants offense hardly threatened to cross mid-field for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Rodgers & the Packers responded directly with another touchdown to Randall Cobb, added a field goal, then a 3rd touchdown to Randall Cobb. Only 7 minutes of game-play after the Manning-to-King game-maker, it was 31-13 with 9 minutes in the 4th. Another dud in a weekend of duds.
MVP : QB Aaron Rodgers shook off a 7-yard 1st quarter to finish 362 yards and 4 TDs with 0 INTs. With Rodgers playing like that, the Giants never had a chance. Even with WR Jordy Nelson out with a rib injury in the 1st half, Rodgers continued to prove why he is one of the best players in the league. Special shout-outs to the LT David Bakhtiari and RT Brian Beluga who helped provide some surreal pockets for Rodgers all game.
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