Indianapolis Colts, 21 Houston Texans, 7
Andrew Luck and the efficient Colts offense put on a clinic to start the game with back-to-back 75 and 74 yard drives, eating almost the entire 1st quarter and putting 14 on the scoreboard (6-yard TD from Luck to TE Eric Ebron, and a 2-yard burst from RB Marlon Mack).
On the other hand, the Texans offense had the wobbly feel of a tight-rope walker trying to get in the groove. They appeared to get a big break when DE J.J Watt bull-rushed and tipped the ball for a Texans interception. Unfortunately, they fell yet again just one of four 3-and-outs in this game. The ball returned to Luck who added another TD drive, 65 yards ending in an 18-yard fake-post-to-the-corner-pylon strike to WR Dontrelle Inman.
This was pretty much the game. Because of QB DeShaun Watson's inaccuracy and the surging Colts running game, we devolved into 35 minutes of garbage time, live on ESPN. Watson did miss a throw at the end of the half, a 4th-1 end zone target to Hopkins, that could have brought the score to 21-7 before half. They did not manage that 7 until the 4th quarter, after four other 2nd half drives led to no points. The Colts defense put the pressure led by rookie LB Darius Leonard.
MVP : RB Marlon Mack looked impressive all game, ending with 148 rushing yards on 24 attempts. The exclamation point was on the final drive with 3:55 remaining in the game, the Texans using their 3 timeouts for one final gasp. Mack converted a hard-fought 3rd-and-2, jumped right up and rattled two more 1st downs (runs of 15 and 26 yards) to close the game without incident.
Dallas Cowboys, 24 Seattle Seahawks, 22
Both the Cowboys and Seahawks thumped their way back and forth, trading punts, and each achieving field goals in the 1st half. With 1:47 in the half, K Sebastian Janikowski added a second field goal for the Seahawks. The Cowboys, faced with a limited clock, handed the reigns to their efficient young QB who promptly drove them 65 yards for a 11-yard TD to rookie WR Michael Gallup. This was a lessen that Seahawks did not learn from until far too late.
In the 2nd half, both teams added touchdowns. Dallas led 17-14 and KR Tavon Austin returned a punt to the Seahawks 38 yard line, Prescott hit new weapon WR Amari Cooper for another 17-yards. With the Seahawks conservative run-first-no-matter-what gameplay and lack of a kicker (Janikowski injured on a long miss), the Cowboys appeared poised to go ahead a damning 10 points late in the 3rd quarter. The Ghost of the Legion Of Boom glory days returned, and LB K.J Wright intercepted Prescott in the end zone.
With 7 minutes remaining, down 3 points, the Seahawks went 3-and-out. Dallas' impressive defense has come on strong in the 2nd half of 2018, it is a formidable combo with the engine RB Ezekiel Elliot who led a 5+ minute time crunching drive culminating in Prescott's helicopter 3rd-and-14 conversation to the 1-yard line (topped with a 1-yard TD run one play later).
At this point the Seahawks finally declined to run the ball up the middle and handed the game to Russell Wilson. He drove them 65 yards in less than a minute for the TD and 2-point conversion. The onside kicker by All-Pro P Michael Dickson was just a pop-up to a downfield player, and Dallas receives their first playoff victory in the Dak/Zeke/Cooper era.
MVP : RB Ezekiel Elliot remains the engine of the Cowboys, 26 carries for 137 yards but also 5 targets, 4 receptions and 32 yards- something Dallas would have politely declined to do two years ago. QB Dak Prescott was fiery and looked crisp in his reads and decisions to run, but Elliot and the Dallas D are a match made in heaven.
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