NFL Playoffs: Conference Championships
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NFL Playoffs: Conference Championships
The road to the Super Bowl ends in Glendale, Arizona. But for one team in the AFC and one team in the NFC, they’d have to make one more stop before they reached the end of the road. Sunday saw the AFC Conference Championship take place in Foxborough, MA as the New England Patriots paid host to the Indianapolis Colts while the Green Bay Packers traveled west to Seattle as they faced the Seahawks for the NFC crown.
AFC
Indianapolis Colts 7 — New England Patriots 45
Going into this game, I was hoping that the Colts could keep the game close and pull off the upset. After the first five minutes, I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case. After the first ten minutes, that feeling was upgraded to a strong gut feeling that it wouldn’t be the case. At halftime, I was looking forward to watching Bob’s Burgers later on that night. The Colts just never seemed to get going against the Patriots in the first half, while the Patriots were able to build a nice ten point lead that grew to a 31-point lead by the end of the third quarter. The weather was miserable and that played right into that scrappy team that New England is. I’ll never understand how this Patriots team always makes themselves out to be the underdog when they’ve made the playoffs 12 times since the year 2000. No trick plays were needed here, just good old fashion running the football and throwing it down the field. LeGarrette Blount ran all over the Colts’ defense for 148 yards on 30 (!!!) carries. Oh, he also scored three touchdowns. Quarterback Tom Brady threw for 226 yards on 26 completions and had only one interception while Julian Edelman caught nine of those passes for 98 yards. Brady’s best bud, Rob Gronkowski, caught only three passes for 28 yards, but one of them put six points up on the board. Andrew Luck was just 12/33 for 126 yards in the sloppy weather and he could never connect with a receiver in the end zone, but twice connected with the Patriot’s defense. With New England’s ability to run the ball, they were in control on the offensive side for over 37 minutes while the Colts were only on the field looking to score for 22 minutes. The Colts had played from behind before, but not when the game mattered as much as it did here, and not against a team as good as the Patriots are. The most exciting part of this game (unless you are a Patriots fan) came much later in the night when word leaked that the NFL was going to be testing a couple of footballs that were taken from the game after suspicion that the balls were purposefully deflated to lower levels than they should be at, making the ball easier to grip. Deflate-gate, as it has now been dubbed, wouldn’t change who the AFC champ is, but could cost the Patriots some draft picks and a hefty sum. But the Patriots will look to put this “distraction” behind them as they prepare to face one of the best defenses the NFL has seen. They’ll need to run with Blount, they’ll need Gronk to catch in the end zone, and they’ll need Brady to add one more win to his record as the all time winningest quarterback in post season history.
NFC
Green Bay Packers 22 — Seattle Seahawks 28 (OT)
One of my favorite Saturday Night Live bits was Bill Hader’s character of Stefon on Weekend Update. If you haven’t seen it before, you truly are missing out. Stefon will tell host, in most cases Seth Meyers, about new clubs that are opening up and all of the weird, unbelievable attractions that they have. The bit reminded me of this NFC Championship game because it had everything: Injured players, goal yard stands, onside kicks, interceptions, overtime, expletives, and players riding around on bikes. My recap will do this game no justice on just how insane it was, so do yourself a favor and lower this screen, find the game, watch, and then come back. Got that? Break.
Ok, glad to have you back. HOW INSANE WAS THAT? You knew that this game was going to be something when the Packers drove against the Seahawks only to have Richard Sherman intercept the ball in the end zone on drive number one. The Seahawks then turn it over themselves as Russell Wilson threw an interception (first of his four) to Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. The Packers working with a short field found themselves on the goal line and full back John Kuhn just couldn’t make it the extra couple inches it needed to be a touchdown. The Packers settled to take the points against the NFL’s most feared defense. They were faced with the same decision again just minutes later after the Packers forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and recovered for great field position once again. They found themselves for the second time at the goal line but couldn’t make it into the end zone and coach Mike McCarthy decided to take the three points and not risk a fourth-down try. The Packers finally made it into the end zone on their next possession when Aaron Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb for the first TD of the day. The Packers, a very good team, had just put up 13 points on the Seahawks in the first quarter. The Seahawks had only allowed double digit points once (14 to the Eagles) since mid-November. Fast forward to the 3rd quarter when the Seahawks lined up for a field goal after marching from their own 22-yard line all the way to the Green Bay 19. The snap was made, but holder/punter Jon Ryan ran with the ball to the left side of the field to see former tight end, now converted lineman, Garry Gilliam wide open. Ryan lofted the ball and connected with Gilliam for the Seahawks first score of the game. Please check out this article from Robert Klemko over at the Monday Morning Quarterback (MMBQ) to find out just how this play unfolded and why.
The fake field goal got the Seattle momentum going and the defense turned up the heat on Rodgers and the Packers. They held the Packers to just one field goal between the third quarter and the start of the fourth. While the defense and special teams were doing their job, Russell Wilson and the offense just couldn’t get the ball going. Wilson was just 14/29 for the game and struggled mightily until the very end. With just over five minutes left in the game, Wilson was intercepted for the fourth time on the first play of their new drive by Morgan Burnett. The Packers put the ball in Eddy Lacy’s hands but he was stuffed each time he ran. The Seahawks spaced out their time outs and ended up with the ball once again with just under four minutes left. Wilson would lead the Seahawks on a 69-yard drive in just a minute and forty-three seconds with a highlight being a Marshawn Lynch catch and run down the sideline which was originally ruled a touchdown but then called back to the nine yard line after review. Lynch and then Wilson would each run the ball with Wilson finally sneaking in from the one yard line to bring the Seawhawks to within five. The Seahawks would then go with the onside kick which worked! Packers tight end Brandon Bostick jumped for the ball after its awkward bounce and it rattled around his torso and fell to the ground to be recovered by Seahawk Chris Matthews. The Seawhawks got the ball back with great field position and in just a few short plays, Marshawn Lynch broke off a 24-yard run into the end zone. The stadium went nuts and Packer fans across the nation couldn’t believe what had just happened to their team in four short minutes. But as a Bears fan, I have learned to never count out Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and the Packers got the ball back on their own 22-yard line with just a minute and twenty-five seconds left. Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson, then Randall Cobb, then ran it himself to all of a sudden find the Packers on the Seahawk 36. But from there, nada. The Packers settled for a game tying field goal and this once thought over game was now headed to over time.
The Seahawks received and put the ball and their faith in Wilson “he of four interceptions” hands. On a third-and-seven at their own 30-yard line, Wilson aired it out to Doug Baldwin who caught the ball along the sidelines for the huge first down at the Green Bay 35. Before anyone could really recover from that big third down play, Wilson took the ball and threw it right down the middle of the field to a sprinting Jermaine Kearse who made a spectacular catch over Tramon Williams to win the game. The Seahawks were headed to the Super Bowl. This game…ok the last half hour… was one for the ages.
Up Ahead
- The NFL ProBowl will take place on Sunday January 25th in Glendale at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.
- The Super Bowl will take place the following Sunday on February 1st at 6:30 p.m. EST on NBC.
