Philadelphia Eagles, 15 Atlanta Falcons, 10
How do you win a playoff game when you have to play a subpar back-up QB Nick Foles playing for your injured MVP candidate? The answer is simple - have his worst throws somehow turn out to be his best plays. A ridiculous duck of a deep bomb that resulted in 42-yard pass interference simply because the ball was so off-target. An incompetent over-throw bounce off a safety (who was rightly unprepared) into WR Torrey Smith in stride for a the biggest gain of the day. Whether it be a rabbit's foot or some other lucky charm, Foles may want to hang onto it.
RBs Jay Ajayi and LaGarrette Blount turned in solid 1st and 2nd half performances, respectively. The Eagles struggled to move the ball against the Falcons. Luckily, their defense highlighted by DT Fletcher Cox suffocated the shell of the Falcons. The Eagles' defense held the Falcons to a piddling 281 total yards, 4/13 on 3rd down.
QB Matt Ryan and his arsenal that got him named MVP in 2016 were on the field. Same names, but a drastic drop in productivity. When the Eagles kicked the 15-10 field goal with 5:57 remaining it was finally time to fuel up the Julio Express, they drove to the 2-yard line with 1 minute remaining, Julio Jones had 4 catches for 56 yards on the drive.
When it came to 4th down, Matt Ryan rolled to his right but the Eagles were all over Julio Jones. It was a curious play call to have only three receiving options (Jones, Sanu, and FB Derrick Coleman) because the Eagles were able to essentially double and triple team Sanu and Jones. The roll-out away from Coleman made him irrelevant. The perfect encapsulation of a poorly coordinated 2017 season by O-Co Steve Sarkisan.
MVP : Give the honor officially to K Jake Elliot? Why not? Even though he missed an XP, in a game of two offenses struggling, the Eagles converted every precious field goal attempt in a stadium known for swirling winds and grass conditions. Julio Jones really deserved the award but needed only to have made that final catch. He still finished with 100 yards and 2 prevented interceptions.
New England Patriots, 35 Tennessee Titans, 14
Commence boilerplate Patriot Divisional blowout paragraphs.
Tom Brady's 26th playoff win comes at the expense of the Tennessee Titans. The Patriots continue to roll through the AFC on their way to their 7th-straight AFC Championship. Not only is that a record but it's not even the most successful stretch of the Belichick/Brady regime unless they win two more games and tie their previous 3-Super Bowl stretch of 2001-2004. RB Dion Lewis had 141 yards and WR Danny Amendola took the role of patented patriot patriot performer with 11 receptions for 112 yards.
The Titans were fortunate to make this somewhat of a game in the first half. QB Marcus Mariota hit WR Corey Davis for his first career touchdown for a 7-0 lead. Ultimately this was just smoke and field goal mirrors. The Patriots scored 35 straight points until Corey Davis got his 2nd career touchdown in complete and total garbage time late in the 4th quarter.
Be it TE Rob Gronkowski, WR Brandin Cooks, WR Chris Hogan, RB James White (with 2 TDs) the Patriots' offense was unpredictable. The defense, a liability at times this season, was effective- particularly CB Stephen Gillmore and S Devin McCourty shoring up the secondary.
Why can the AFC not muster up a challenging Divisional opponent for New England? In 7 years, the only competitive game was the 2014 Ravens.
MVP : QB Tom Brady surged back into form with 337 yards and 3 TDs in a game entirely controlled by the Patriot offense.
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