NFL RECAP – WILD CARD ROUND
Overall the first round of
the NFL playoffs were a bit of a dud.
Three of the games were not well played.
The Redskins/Seahawks game had the potential to be special until Mike Shanahan
failed to see what the rest of us saw.
Texans/Bengals - The amazing thing in this game was that the Bengals had the ball late
in the fourth quarter and could take the lead with a touchdown. The other amazing thing was that we knew they
were never going to score an offensive touchdown. The Texans kept the Bengals close by bogging
down in the red zone time and again. The
Bengals scored their only TD courtesy a pick six from Schaub. So, instead of leading something like 27-6,
The Texans were nursing a 19-13 edge. No
worries, though. Andy Dalton was so
inept that Houston was never really in peril.
- Grade D
Vikes/Packers - I was in the dark that Christian Ponder was not going to play for
Minnesota. I started the game up and
there was Joe Webb doing his thing -- making a good scramble now and then and a
terrible throw more often than not. The
Packers secured a business-like win by spreading the ball around on offense and
taking away the big run from Adrian Peterson.
I don't think the Vikings win this game with Ponder, but it would have
been more entertaining. Grade - C+
Colts/Ravens - Ray
Rice fumbles twice and the Colts run almost 90 plays. That sounds like a pretty good scenario for
the Colts, right? Not so much. The Colts showed flashes on offense but time
and again the Ravens shut the door when the Colts got close. Meanwhile, Joe the elite Flaccowent all Tim Tebow
and averaged nearly 23 yards per each of his twelve completions. The big play offense took the Ravens to a
lead that the Colts never really threatened.
Indy probably feels they let an opportunity pass by. Grade - C
Redskins/Seahawks - The Redskins jumped to an early 14-0 lead and you start to sense that
the Seahawks will never get their legs under them. Russell Wilson and the Hawks steady
themselves and we have a 14-13 game at halftime. Should be an epic second half, but.......
RG3 suffers further injury to
his knee late in the first quarter on the second Redskin scoring drive. The Skins do nothing in the second quarter
and I am waiting for Mike Shanahan to do the smart thing: Put Cousins in the game - not just to protect
RG3 from further injury, but to give his team the best chance to win. Meanwhile, the Hawks control the game on
defense and with big runs from Lynch and Wilson.
Even after Lynch fumbles away a goal to goal situation, the Hawks take a
21-14 lead on a fourth quarter Lynch TD run.
With half a quarter to play
RG3 stays in the game and suffers a gruesome injury while trying to corral a
bad snap deep in his own territory. The
miscue leads to a Hawks field goal and at 24-14, the game is pretty much
over. Enter Cousins too late.
I know there are two sides to
the RG3 discussion. Players play hurt,
he is a leader, blah, blah, blah. Those
arguments do not convince me. I excuse
RG3 for wanting to give it a go. Whether
from ego or sincere belief that he could get the job done, I get why he wanted
to stay in the game. I would have pulled
him midway through the second quarter when it was clear he could not be effective and was hurting the team. Surely after intermission Shanahan would make
the change -- because he is the coach and that was the thing he needed to do to
give the team a chance to win.
RG3 played 2.5 agonizing
quarters where he clearly could not run or set to throw. The Redskins did nothing on offense and had
no weapons to counter a formidable Hawks defense and running game. A coach needs to make tough calls. Shanahan made his and it was the wrong one.
An interesting game that
could have been so much more -- but I like a little controversy - Grade B+
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