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Bengals v. Texans
*I was surprised that the Bengals even made the playoffs, to be honest. Dalton is a decent QB, and AJ Green is a very good WR, but other than that the team has no players. The Bengals were able to hang in for awhile, but once the big break went against Cincy (Watt INT return) the game was over.
*Arian Foster ran well. It should be a good matchup against the Ravens next week to see if Foster can have success again. John Harbaugh usually loses his shit in the playoffs and will have Flacco throwing the ball all over the field, which could be disasterous against the tough Texans secondary.
Lions v. Saints
*Lions got screwed by a terrible whistle on Brees' fumble, but I don't think they would have won, anyways. Their defense simply could not stop the Saints when they ran or passed.
*Pierre Thomas looked really good. He has always been nicked up come playoff time, but this year he is healthy and ready to go.
*The Lions seemed to be in control early on, and they got lucky on some turnovers, but they couldn't match New Orleans score for score. Not a bad showing, but just not there yet.
Giants v. Falcons
*Mike Smith is a terrible coach, and he proved it once again. I don't know how many times this year he's taken Turner out of the game in short-yardage situations and allowed Ryan to mess things up. He did it TWICE against the Giants.
*Not that it would have mattered, because the Falcons defense is very overrated. They got run over, passed over, and you have problems when Hakeem Nicks can outrun your entire team for a TD.
*I'm not a Matt Ryan fan to begin with, but he was pretty "blah" against the Giants. I was expecting more firepower with White and Jones getting a lot of passes against New York's depleted secondary.
*The Giants appear to be getting healthy and playing well at the right time. They are always hard to figure out, and sometimes Coughlin will make a baffling decision or the team will play flat (like against Seattle). But it would not surprise me if they went to Green Bay and won. They have the pass rush and the balanced offense to do it.
Broncos v. Steelers
*I was surprised at all the "easy win for Pittsburgh" talk. Pittsburgh has done it with smoke and mirrors all year, and with so many people out for this game it was going to be tight.
*Offense was kind of bittersweet for Pittsburgh. I think they scored enough points to win, but they failed in their last drive when they had the chance to seal the game. They mis-used their timeouts, Roethlisberger's fumble was a big play, and the decision not to even attempt the game-winning FG made no sense to me.
*Tebow made some very good throws. They also had him throwing some simple vertical patterns like he did at Florida, which Pittsburgh could not defend with only 1 safety back. Don't know why Denver waited so long to do this.
*Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are a horrid announcing crew. A big part of the game was when LT Max Starks went down early for Pittsburgh, so they had to throw Scott in at LT. Simms/Nantz didn't make any reference to this huge change taking place until at the end of regulation. What were they watching for the previous 3 periods? Also, Simms' explanation for the phantom PI call on Taylor when Tebow threw the ball way over Thomas' head was laughable.
*Pittsburgh showed its age this game. Guys already hurt, guys getting hurt in the game (both Keisel and Hampton were victims of cut blocks early on), veterans on the sideline not contributing (Hines Ward).
*I was surprised that the Bengals even made the playoffs, to be honest. Dalton is a decent QB, and AJ Green is a very good WR, but other than that the team has no players. The Bengals were able to hang in for awhile, but once the big break went against Cincy (Watt INT return) the game was over.
*Arian Foster ran well. It should be a good matchup against the Ravens next week to see if Foster can have success again. John Harbaugh usually loses his shit in the playoffs and will have Flacco throwing the ball all over the field, which could be disasterous against the tough Texans secondary.
Lions v. Saints
*Lions got screwed by a terrible whistle on Brees' fumble, but I don't think they would have won, anyways. Their defense simply could not stop the Saints when they ran or passed.
*Pierre Thomas looked really good. He has always been nicked up come playoff time, but this year he is healthy and ready to go.
*The Lions seemed to be in control early on, and they got lucky on some turnovers, but they couldn't match New Orleans score for score. Not a bad showing, but just not there yet.
Giants v. Falcons
*Mike Smith is a terrible coach, and he proved it once again. I don't know how many times this year he's taken Turner out of the game in short-yardage situations and allowed Ryan to mess things up. He did it TWICE against the Giants.
*Not that it would have mattered, because the Falcons defense is very overrated. They got run over, passed over, and you have problems when Hakeem Nicks can outrun your entire team for a TD.
*I'm not a Matt Ryan fan to begin with, but he was pretty "blah" against the Giants. I was expecting more firepower with White and Jones getting a lot of passes against New York's depleted secondary.
*The Giants appear to be getting healthy and playing well at the right time. They are always hard to figure out, and sometimes Coughlin will make a baffling decision or the team will play flat (like against Seattle). But it would not surprise me if they went to Green Bay and won. They have the pass rush and the balanced offense to do it.
Broncos v. Steelers
*I was surprised at all the "easy win for Pittsburgh" talk. Pittsburgh has done it with smoke and mirrors all year, and with so many people out for this game it was going to be tight.
*Offense was kind of bittersweet for Pittsburgh. I think they scored enough points to win, but they failed in their last drive when they had the chance to seal the game. They mis-used their timeouts, Roethlisberger's fumble was a big play, and the decision not to even attempt the game-winning FG made no sense to me.
*Tebow made some very good throws. They also had him throwing some simple vertical patterns like he did at Florida, which Pittsburgh could not defend with only 1 safety back. Don't know why Denver waited so long to do this.
*Jim Nantz and Phil Simms are a horrid announcing crew. A big part of the game was when LT Max Starks went down early for Pittsburgh, so they had to throw Scott in at LT. Simms/Nantz didn't make any reference to this huge change taking place until at the end of regulation. What were they watching for the previous 3 periods? Also, Simms' explanation for the phantom PI call on Taylor when Tebow threw the ball way over Thomas' head was laughable.
*Pittsburgh showed its age this game. Guys already hurt, guys getting hurt in the game (both Keisel and Hampton were victims of cut blocks early on), veterans on the sideline not contributing (Hines Ward).
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