Senser81
VSN Poster of the Year
Bears-Seahawks
*I shut this one off in the 2nd half, so I don’t really have much to add. The slow, physical Seahawk WRs played into the Bears hands, and losing Carlson so early hurt because the TE is usually a featured target against the Cover 2. That said, the Seahawks couldn’t catch anything for most of the game.
*The key play, if there was one, was Babineaux’s drop of Cutler’s ridiculously bad pass on the goal-line. After that, the Seahawks got down by a couple scores and things just slipped away.
Jets-Pats
*Mystified at how flat the Patriots looked. The Jets got pressure on Brady early on, and the rest of the game Brady was ducking and dodging pressure that wasn’t really there. The Patriots dropped a lot of passes, which didn’t help Brady.
*The Jets offense did just enough to win. Sanchez threw some 50/50 balls that his WRs came down with, and his throw to Holmes was perfect.
*Belichick made some interesting decisions. He tried that fake punt midway through the game, and I thought he should have attempted a FG down by 10 near the end of the game, and instead they went for it on 4th and long.
Steelers-Ravens
*I thought this was the Ravens year to win, but they self-destructed in the 2nd half. Too many turnovers, and their secondary has been a weak link all year. The Steelers were smart to attack the Ravens deep…you aren’t going to get that many 10-play, 70-yard drives against the Ravens D.
*Harbaugh messed up by allowing the Steelers to bleed the clock at the end of the 1st half. If the Ravens use their timeouts, then they get a shot for a FG at worst. Harbaugh also spazzed out the entire 2nd half, which probably didn’t help calm his team.
*Polamalu still seemed 75%...he missed a few tackles and wasn’t really a difference maker.
*The Ravens dropped a number of passes. I liked how Houshmanzadeh tried to celebrate his first down catch, but he got head-butted by Clark. The officiating was very passive, but that’s what you get from Jeff Tripalette.
Packers-Falcons
*The Falcons played with the lead all year, and their defense would just sit back and wait for their opponent to make mistakes. The Packers didn’t make many mistakes, and the Falcons were eventually made to play from behind.
*The Falcons offense never seemed to have the ball, but when they did Matt Ryan looked pretty bad. I’ve never viewed him as a top QB, and this game just confirmed it.
*The Falcons defense was too inflexible. They played a zone in which the LBs defended the short pass, but it also left a big gap in the middle of the field behind them. Rodgers seemed to complete pass after pass in the 15-20 yard range, and the Falcons never had their LBs deepen their drops. The few times they got pressure on Rodgers, he was able to scramble away.
*I shut this one off in the 2nd half, so I don’t really have much to add. The slow, physical Seahawk WRs played into the Bears hands, and losing Carlson so early hurt because the TE is usually a featured target against the Cover 2. That said, the Seahawks couldn’t catch anything for most of the game.
*The key play, if there was one, was Babineaux’s drop of Cutler’s ridiculously bad pass on the goal-line. After that, the Seahawks got down by a couple scores and things just slipped away.
Jets-Pats
*Mystified at how flat the Patriots looked. The Jets got pressure on Brady early on, and the rest of the game Brady was ducking and dodging pressure that wasn’t really there. The Patriots dropped a lot of passes, which didn’t help Brady.
*The Jets offense did just enough to win. Sanchez threw some 50/50 balls that his WRs came down with, and his throw to Holmes was perfect.
*Belichick made some interesting decisions. He tried that fake punt midway through the game, and I thought he should have attempted a FG down by 10 near the end of the game, and instead they went for it on 4th and long.
Steelers-Ravens
*I thought this was the Ravens year to win, but they self-destructed in the 2nd half. Too many turnovers, and their secondary has been a weak link all year. The Steelers were smart to attack the Ravens deep…you aren’t going to get that many 10-play, 70-yard drives against the Ravens D.
*Harbaugh messed up by allowing the Steelers to bleed the clock at the end of the 1st half. If the Ravens use their timeouts, then they get a shot for a FG at worst. Harbaugh also spazzed out the entire 2nd half, which probably didn’t help calm his team.
*Polamalu still seemed 75%...he missed a few tackles and wasn’t really a difference maker.
*The Ravens dropped a number of passes. I liked how Houshmanzadeh tried to celebrate his first down catch, but he got head-butted by Clark. The officiating was very passive, but that’s what you get from Jeff Tripalette.
Packers-Falcons
*The Falcons played with the lead all year, and their defense would just sit back and wait for their opponent to make mistakes. The Packers didn’t make many mistakes, and the Falcons were eventually made to play from behind.
*The Falcons offense never seemed to have the ball, but when they did Matt Ryan looked pretty bad. I’ve never viewed him as a top QB, and this game just confirmed it.
*The Falcons defense was too inflexible. They played a zone in which the LBs defended the short pass, but it also left a big gap in the middle of the field behind them. Rodgers seemed to complete pass after pass in the 15-20 yard range, and the Falcons never had their LBs deepen their drops. The few times they got pressure on Rodgers, he was able to scramble away.
