Recap of Wild Card Weekend

Tebow’s Playoff Debut

He’s back. All the questions and opinions were focused on who would finish the game as Denver’s quarterback. Well, my thought process was simple. If the game was close, Tim Tebow would be the quarterback. Of course if Tebow played like he was during the end of the season I wouldn’t hesitate in yanking him. But he ended up playing the best game of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now I was wondering why the Steelers kept putting 9 guys in the box on defense when Tebow was converting on the deep passes. It was basically the same scheme the New York Jets tried on the Broncos earlier in the season and it failed miserably. Pittsburgh’s defense is better than that. They had a lot of injuries on defense as well. Both before and during the game. But that’s no excuse for not changing your gameplan on the fly. To their credit Denver was keeping the Steelers honest by trying to run the ball, but they weren’t going to abandon throwing the ball down the field. After all it was working. The last play to end the game in overtime will make Tim Tebow the talk of the town for the rest of these playoffs and into next year.

A Dangerous Giants Team

Aside from the boneheaded decision making from the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff, the New York Giants needed no help in dismantling them. It was a one sided affair the entire game. What made the Giants win even more lopsided was the fact that they were able to run the ball effectively for the entire game. RB Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw were unstoppable. And the blocks in front of them were setup perfectly. This is what makes the Giants the best team in football. They control the game at the line of scrimmage. While the offense was running the ball, the defensive line was getting after Falcons QB Matt Ryan and RB Michael Turner the entire game. Atlanta had no answer in stopping the pass rush and couldn’t create holes for Turner. This will be a good first test for the defending champion Green Bay Packers. If the Giants dethrone them it will come as no surprise to me.

Everything is Big in Texas

You better believe that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t like seeing the Houston Texans winning their first playoff game when his team has only two playoff victories since 1996. Houston had the perfect gameplan. Rookie QB T.J Yates wasn’t the first, second or third option on offense. It was RB Arian Foster who was the first, second and third option on offense. The Cincinnati Bengals defense knew they had to stop Foster, but had no answer for him. The Texans defense was superb in thwarting Bengals rookie QB Andy Dalton. The game could have gone either way going into halftime. That is until Dalton was intercepted at the line of scrimmage by Texans rookie DE J.J. Watt who returned it for a go-ahead touchdown. That was essentially the ball game for Houston as the Bengals were shutout the entire second half. Going forward the Texans have all the confidence in the world. Aside from the Denver Broncos they are the true underdogs in the entire NFL playoff picture. Baltimore had better not give them an inch of life next weekend.

‘Who Dat’

This game was closer than the score indicates. The Detroit Lions had all the momentum going into halftime. But their defense realized that they couldn’t keep it up for an entire game and let the Saints walk all over them by scoring 35 points in the second half. It wasn’t fair. Saints QB Drew Brees picked them apart. For the second consecutive game the Lions pass defense couldn’t put any pressure on the quarterback and were torched through the air. Remember Green Bay Packers backup QB Matt Flynn threw for 6 TD passes during the last game of the season. Brees could have done the same, but he settled for 3 TD and 466 yards passing. Detroit didn’t commit a lot of penalties, but the life was taken out of them when they came out of the locker room for the second half. New Orleans would like to have a repeat performance on offense in San Francisco, but they should expect a tougher matchup with the 49ers defense causing the most turnovers during the regular season.

2012 NFL Wild Card Preview

Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) vs. Houston Texans (10-6)

Ranks

Offense

Bengals – 20th

Texans – 13th

Defense

Bengals – 7th

Texans – 2nd

You have to love a good underdog story. You have two with the Bengals and the Texans. Cincinnati has a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton and a rookie wide receiver in A.J. Green leading the way on offense. RB Cedric Benson isn’t a terrible option as a runner, but the Bengals bread and butter this year has been through Dalton and Green. The Bengals have also had one of the leagues best defenses this season. They are a stellar run defense and have been above average against the pass. They will have to stop the Texans rushing attack to have any chance of moving on.

Houston would be favorites to go farther if QB Matt Schaub was healthy. Also WR Andre Johnson has been limited by hamstring injuries. Either way their identity is through their running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate. They will need both of them to play up to their capabilities to win a playoff game. Rookie QB T.J. Yates has a banged up shoulder, but the good thing is that it’s his non-throwing shoulder. He has been adequate for Houston, but the Texans need to rely on their backs and defense to win this game. They also need Yates to stay in the game because if QB Jake Delhomme has to appear in the game they will most likely lose.

Matchup to watch for: Bengals D vs. Texans RB Arian Foster and RB Ben Tate

Detroit Lions (10-6) vs. New Orleans Saints (13-3)

Ranks

Offense

Lions – 5th

Saints – 1st

Defense

Lions – 23rd

Saints – 24th

The most exciting matchup had better not disappoint. The Lions were on a roll to finish the season. QB Matthew Stafford was nearly perfect throwing the ball. And why wouldn’t he when he has WR Calvin Johnson to throw the ball to. The one major flaw with the Lions offense though is their lack of a running game. I don’t know who their main running back is. Jahvid Best went down with a concussion early in the season and they haven’t had any rushing attack since. The Lions also have no secondary either to help stop the Saints passing attack. They will have to outscore the Saints to win this game.

New Orleans has Drew Brees and a slew of weapons at his disposal. It won’t be an easy task for any team to stop the Saints this year, but if you can pressure Drew Brees you might have a chance. The Saints know that and they will try to run the ball more to help keep the Lions defense honest. Defensively the Saints will do their best to contain Calvin Johnson, but it will be hard to keep him out of the endzone. New Orleans hasn’t lost a game at home this season and they will look to keep it that way.

Matchup to watch for: Lions WR Calvin Johnson vs. Saints secondary

Atlanta Falcons (10-6) vs. New York Giants (9-7)

Ranks

Offense

Falcons – 10th

Giants – 8th

Defense

Falcons – 12th

Giants – 27th

Atlanta is in a new position this year. They are flying under the radar. Last year they were the favorites and were beaten by the eventual Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers. They hope it works this time as they take on the sneaky New York Giants. One thing the Falcons must do is establish their running game with Michael Turner. If they can involve him early then they can open up their passing game with QB Matt Ryan throwing to Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez.

With New York it all comes down to their pass rush. If they can disrupt Falcons QB Matt Ryan for most of the game, then they will win easily no matter how badly the may play on offense. That’s the x-factor for the Giants. QB Eli Manning has a not so secret weapon in WR Victor Cruz who has been the toast of New York. The Giants would welcome a consistent rushing attack from Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs.

Matchup to watch for: Falcons QB Matt Ryan vs. Giants pass rush

Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) vs. Denver Broncos (8-8)

Ranks

Offense

Steelers – 12th

Broncos – 23rd

Defense

Steelers – 1st

Broncos – 20th

This is setting up to be a defensive struggle. The Steelers will be without their best running back Rashard Mendenhall for the entire playoffs. QB Ben Roethlisberger is still limping around in the pocket. Their offense has become stagnant to end the season. They won’t need to score a lot of points to win this game, but they will need to put it away early. Pittsburgh doesn’t need to keep the Broncos in this game for another Tim Tebow come from behind victory.

Denver needs to have a short leash for Tebow. I’m not downgrading Tebow so much as I’m being honest. If he continues to struggle like he was at the end of the season Denver needs to think about replacing him. But their only other option is Brady Quinn. What the Broncos will need to do is shutdown the Steelers offense and do just enough on offense to get Matt Prater in position to win it for them with a field goal.

Matchup to watch for: Steelers D vs. Broncos QB Tim Tebow

Predictions

Texans over Bengals

Saints over Lions

Giants over Falcons

Steelers over Broncos

Week 17 Review of the NFL

The 2011 season might not have been. Thankfully we were able to see some amazing moments and record breaking quarterback play. For the final weekly review in the NFL, I’m going to look back at the previous weeks of the season. You can say it’s a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly moments of the 2011 season.

Week 1

Carolina Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton arrived with a 400 yard passing performance in his first NFL game. The New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers opened the season with what many believed to be a preview of this years NFC Championship game. The Dallas Cowboys showed us right from the start that they were destined to miss the playoffs.

Week 2

It was starting to look like the Buffalo Bills were destined for a magical season. I was wrong about that one. Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick showed that he is the highest risk quarterback in the NFL suffering a concussion in Atlanta. Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo breaks a rib and plays his best game of his career.

Week 3

The Buffalo Bills are riding high. Once again, I was wrong. The Oakland Raiders looked like a dangerous team. That’s when RB Darren McFadden was healthy though. Just like the Bills, the Detroit Lions were also on a winning streak to start the season.

Week 4

Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan opens his big mouth and actually said Lions WR Calvin Johnson wasn’t good enough to be the 3rd receiver in Dallas. Try telling that to Tony Romo. Besides the Bills, the Washington Redskins were also 3-1 at this point in the season. Shocking I know. We begin to wonder who will be the first head coach to be fired. Quite a few of them were.

Week 5

Raiders owner Al Davis passed away. His team lived up to his motto. Tim Tebow was given an opportunity and almost lead the Broncos to victory. Looking back it was too early to panic for Eagles and Jets fans.

Week 6

Instead of the actual game everyone was talking about the little spat between Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh. Saints head coach Sean Payton was taken out on the sidelines. Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett in one of his many peculiar decision making moments late in a game.

Week 7

Perhaps the worst football weekend ever. Sorry to remind you. Tim Tebow made his triumphant return to Florida in a victory in Miami. The fight to get Stanford QB Andrew Luck begins.

Week 8

At this point the elite teams were beginning to run away from the pack. Aside from the Buffalo Bills all the good teams went on to make the playoffs. Most of the other teams did not elevate themselves from their bad or ugly status.

Week 9

An almost exact replica of Super Bowl XLII between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots took place. The Packers and Chargers had a shootout at Qualcomm Stadium. The Ravens and Steelers had a good old fashion football game that went down to the last second.

Week 10

It was time to consider the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans as legitimate contenders going into the stretch run. The Lions and Bills began to cool off after such great starts to the season.

Week 11

I participated in the ‘Tebowing’ craze. ‘Da Bears’ were on a roll until QB Jay Cutler broke his thumb. I was having trouble figuring out the NFC East. I still am.

Week 12

Saints QB Drew Brees began to put his name into the MVP conversation with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. Lions DT Ndamukong Suh crosses the line. Jacksonville makes a change as they fired their head coach Jack Del Rio

Week 13

The playoff picture starts to take shape as the 49ers and Packers clinch playoff spots. The Lions as a whole couldn’t shake the ‘dirty’ label. Trouble was brewing in Chicago.

Week 14

The Texans and Saints clinch playoff spots. It was more impressive for the Texans as they lost their top 2 quarterbacks to injury and were led by a rookie to the playoffs. I finally figured out why the Cowboys struggle so much. The Broncos success was not all because of Tim Tebow.

Week 15

The AFC was up for grabs this late in the season. The Green Bay Packers lost their first game. I still think it was a good thing for them. Calvin Johnson takes the top spot among the best wide receivers in the NFL.

Week 16

A front flip into the endzone for a touchdown. What a surprise. The NFC East will be decided during the last game of the season. Move over Dan Marino. Drew Brees is new record holder.

Week 16 Review of the NFL

The most amazing play ever

There have been amazing catches. Long touchdown runs. And bone jarring hits. But there hasn’t been a play like the one in Cincinnati made by Bengals WR Jerome Simpson. My mind was blown. I had never seen a more spectacular play. I’m not going to say that this was the greatest play of all time. It wasn’t in a playoff game or the Super Bowl, but it’s now in my top 10. Simpson caught a pass from QB Andy Dalton over the middle of the field. He proceeded towards the endzone where he decided the only way to get into the endzone was to leap over the defender. He made it into the endzone but he was going to be in for a rough landing, or so I thought. All of a sudden he begins to turn himself upright in the middle of the air and sticks the landing in the endzone. Touchdown Bengals. I’m sure it’s all over youtube right now. Either way you have to see it again and again. It was a once in a lifetime kind of a play.

Showdown for the NFC East

It has come down to the final game of the season for the NFC East. Who could have seen this coming? The New York Giants weren’t going to let the New York Jets beat them. But the Dallas Cowboys laid a goose egg in their stadium against the Philadelphia Eagles. Nearly being shutout. Now with Cowboys QB Tony Romo nursing a bruised throwing hand, the question all week will be about his health. I would expect the New York Giants to win this game since it is being played in New York. The Giants did beat the Cowboys a few weeks ago in Dallas. But I don’t trust either one of these teams. Just when you think they’ve figured it out, they fall flat on their faces. Which Eli Manning will show up? Will the Giants pass rush live up to their potential. Will the Dallas Cowboys actually play defense for an entire game? Can the Cowboys run the ball consistently? Those are the most important questions for both teams. Whichever team can successfully quell those questions they will have a NFC East title and host a playoff game.

A new record

Probably the one thing that most people love about football is that you don’t have to know a lot about it. And that’s okay. Some folks could care less about the historical records and statistical achievements of the games greats. What Saints QB Drew Brees did on Monday Night Football was one for the ages though. Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts held the record for most passing yards in a single season with 4,802 yards. That record lasted for only 3 years until another Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino shattered that record with 5,084 yards. That record has stood for 27 years. No one has come close to getting 5,000 yards passing since. That is until QB Drew Brees arrived in New Orleans. He came close to breaking it in 2008 when on the last pass play of the season it was an incomplete pass. This year though he broke the record with one game to spare. Chances are that this record will never be broken, but with the way the league is heading towards an offensive explosion. It might not last as long as Marino’s record. Either way it is quite an accomplishment. To be only the second person to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season and do it twice is something to be proud of.

Week 15 Review of the NFL

The AFC is up for grabs

The New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers all clinched playoff spots this past week. The Patriots clinched their division with their victory over the Denver Broncos. Baltimore and Pittsburgh had playoff spots without even playing their games. But they both lost. Thus creating a debate about the AFC’s top team. I don’t want to crown the Patriots just yet. When you have Tom Brady the sky is the limit. I don’t like their defense at all. If Brady doesn’t get them 30+ points, they will lose. The Ravens don’t seem to want to play their best game when it matters. And Pittsburgh can only go as far as Ben Roethlisberger’s ankle can take them. It should be mentioned that I didn’t consider the Houston Texans as a top team once their QB Matt Schaub went down. They will host a playoff game, but rookie QB T.J. Yates does have his limits. Then there’s the AFC West. All four teams have a chance at the playoffs. Honestly I think it’s down to the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos, but those pesky San Diego Chargers figured out that it was December. Now they’re on a roll. It figures that they revert back to their old ways. After seeing how the AFC is panning out you can see why I’m not going to rush to any decision on who will be atop this conference once the playoffs start.

Perfect no more

Did I think the Green Bay Packers could finish the season 16-0? Yes. Would it have been a good thing going into the playoffs? No. Not in the sense that they were going to run the table. The New England Patriots went down this path before and didn’t win the one game that mattered. The Packers could have ended up in a similar scenario. Now I don’t believe for a second that they wanted to lose a game. No team wants that. But I bet you that on the plane ride back home they were all breathing a collective sigh of relief. Now they can focus on getting that one victory to clinch home field on Christmas day against the Chicago Bears. But they will need to protect Aaron Rodgers with a banged up offensive line. It’s a tough task, but if any team can do it, the Green Bay Packers can.

They call him ‘Megatron’

No running game, no problem if you’re the Detroit Lions. When you have a guy in Calvin Johnson to throw the ball to, QB Matthew Stafford’s job is a lot easier. Now I don’t know how you could lose Calvin Johnson on the football field, but the Oakland Raiders showed you exactly how to do it. Calvin had a career game with 9 catches, 214 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game winner. This was a must win game for both teams, but it was made even worse for the Raiders who could have tied with their division rivals, the Denver Broncos for the division lead. Detroit showed that they are the comeback kids as they have done it before. Remember their Week 4 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys? They were down 24-3 when Cowboys QB Tony Romo threw back to back interceptions for touchdowns. Then the Lions scored 17 points in the 4th quarter to complete their come from behind victory. Calvin Johnson caught two touchdowns in that game as well. They occurred in the 4th quarter. Obviously the Oakland Raiders didn’t read or bother to write that in their scouting report for this game. Maybe now the rest of the league will grow wise to this guy nicknamed ‘Megatron’.