Playoffs

Hi All,


As promised here is my take on the NFL playoffs this weekend. First off let's get to the point I know everyone is wondering. How did the Seahawks, a 7-9 team get into the playoffs to begin with? Well they answered that question this Saturday by beating up on the defending Super Bowl Champs: the Saints. It seemed to me the Seahawks came to play and the score proved it. The running game for the Seahawks was unstoppable; Lynch on one single play broke 8 tackles on his way for a big time touchdown run of over 67 yards. If the Seahawks can control the clock like they did against the Saints, they can go far into the playoffs. I know that might be shocking to most, but hey it could happen. They need to just focus on the running game and get Lynch involved into the offense early and often. He is a big, physical, tough, runner and doesn't go down on wimpy arm tackles. Also, the throwing game will open up down field if they have a successful running game. They can start running more and more play action will fall into place. I'm very excited for next weeks Seahawks game against the Chicago Bears who have a tough run defense. They will be looking to shut down all the weapons that the Seahawks have at the running back position.



Now for the second game: the Ravens at the Chiefs. This game looked good for the Chiefs in the first half. They had a great plan ahead of them and seemed to be following it to a T. The running game was there and Charles had a great run to put the only points on the board with a great 40+yard run for a touchdown. This was the one of the first times since the beginning of the season where the Ravens had allowed a 30+ yard run for a touchdown. After half time the defense for the Chiefs seemed to loosen up on the pass defense, and the Ravens with Flacco and Heap seemed to figure out what KC was doing. The Ravens ended up crushing the Chiefs 30-7. I'm really excited for this game, being a Steelers fan, Ravens at Steelers. This is a great rivalry game in the AFC North with two hard hitting teams with great defenses. The offense can get it done for both teams and I look for a great close game with the Steelers on top due to their great defense.


The Green Bay Packers pulled out a great win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams had a great game plan, but when it came down to it the Packers made less mistakes in the end. It looked like at the end of the game that Philadelphia was going to drive down the field and score a game winner. On the last play for the Eagles, Mike Vick made a critical error late in the game with only 53 seconds left. Vick hurried them all to the line and called all goes, when he should have just spiked the ball and regrouped the offense. The Eagles had just gotten a first down so there was plenty of time, and they were on the Packers 25 yard line going in to score. Vick threw a poor ball to his wide receiver. The ball was under thrown and made it very easy for the Packers corner to pick it off and end the game. The Packers move on to play the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta where the Falcons and Matt Ryan on QB have not lost many games.



For the last game of the weekend it was the New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts. This game had all the excitement of all three of the previous games mentioned. The game was controlled by the defenses all game. The score ended up 17-16, Jets with a game winning field goal made by Nick Folk. It was a first for Rex Ryan to beat Payton Manning. This game winner would not have been possible if it wasn't for an amazing catch made by Braylon Edwards on the sidelines. The only problem was he didn't get out of bounds and the clock ticked away. The Jets did the smart thing and didn't kill the clock to try and run a big play to the end zone and risk an interception. They ran the clock down to 2 seconds left and set it up for their kicker. He put it right down the middle to win the game. The Jets don't have an easy road ahead of them going to New England with Tom Brady and the Patriots. This is another big rivalry game with two teams that hate each other. I look for a big hitting, hard nosed game and expect fireworks to go off during this game. We'll see if Rex Ryan has was it takes to pull of yet other big upset and move on further into the playoffs.