Wednesday 18 January 2012

Divisional Weekend


1st Down

It's hard to believe that we are just two conference games away from knowing who will be in Superbowl XLVI.  With another week of amazing play-off action behind us it's time to reflect on the events of last weekend and look forward to the big big games this Sunday.























Welcome to the divisional round of my weekly blog.  This weekend was quite the emotional journey for all fans involved in this weeks games.  From the highs and low's of being a 49ers fan (Wolfie) to the sheer horror of being a Broncos fan and watching your team getting it's derrière handed to it on a plate!

Enough of my ramblings, let's dive straight into the action with the round up of this weeks games starting with Saturday's NFC offering between the Saints and 49ers.

Saints vs 49ers

This game had the makings of a classic struggle between the high power offence of the Saints vs the resolute defence of the 49ers.  Everyone myself included said that if it came down to a shoot out then Alex Smith would not be able to cope with the pressure and the Saints would win easily.

To me this game was all that is great about the play-offs, both experts and fans alike think they know how a game will turn out but in the play-offs anything can happen!

Zap! Pow! Kersplat! These were sounds Donte Whitner and the 49ers defence were making every time they laid a hit on someone.  From the 1st Saints drive all the way through the were playing smash mouth football.

The Saints opening drive to the 49ers goalline ended with my Bills old boy Whitner laying a sick hit on Pierre Thomas causing a fumble.  At first I honestly though it might get flagged for helmet to helmet contact especially as Thomas was knocked out on first impact but the play stood and the 49ers took over possession.  I'll let you judge for yourself if it should have been flagged:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfjzzGFy3AY

This really set the tone as the 49ers held the Saints pointless in the 1st quarter whilst managing to score two touchdowns via Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree.  The Saints managed a late rally in the 2nd quarter to take a 14-17 deficit into halftime.  This was of course after Brees was intercepted twice including this great pick from Goldson:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Rh8yFlbd4

I am sure that neither coach going in at halftime would have thought that the game would be settled with 4 changes of lead in the last 4 ½ minutes of the game but this is what happened starting with the Saints and Sproles catching a 44YD strike from Brees making the score 24-23 to the Saints.  On the ensuing drive it culminated with Alex Smith running in from 28YD'S out.  This was followed by a missed two point conversion making it 29-24 to the 49ers with just over 2 minutes left.

Act 3 of this hollywood style finish was Drew Brees completing a 66YD TD pass to Jimmy Graham with 1:37 left to play in the game.  The Saints also tried a two point conversion and were successful leaving the score 32 – 29 to the Saints.

The stage was now set for Alex Smith to put all the doubters in their place as with less than two minutes left on the clock he drove the 49ers down the field with Vernon Davis as his key receiver.  The drive finished up with two things, the game winning score with 9 seconds left and a very emotional Vernon Davis who had just caught his teams place in the conference game.  For those who haven’t seen it, here is the game winning TD for you:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge-ELqL_Rz0

Congratulations to the 49ers who made it through the high powered Saints to the big conference match-up next week.  They left an ecstatic Candlefield crowd with a 36-32 win to saver all week, the question is will they be as emotional as their great TE!!




















The second game on Sunday was the Tebow vs Brady show it seemed.  With all the hype behind him and his strong beliefs I am sure Tebow was confident going into this one!  I'm sure you’ve guessed another Tebowing pic is coming your way!!!!











































Broncos vs Patriots

OK so with the last of this seasons Tebowing pictures out the way onto the game we go.  Well I say game almost like it was competitive!  The Patriots had the benefit of seeing just what Denver can do a few short weeks ago when they got shocked in the early quarter of their regular season match-up by Tebow.

Brady, Belichick and all the New England coaches had this one well scouted as Brady tore apart the Denver defence by throwing for 5 TD'S in the first half and allowing a courtesy Willis McGahee rushing TD.  With the Patriots taking a 35 – 7 lead into halftime, all the Tebowing magic in the world could not save this game.  New England finished the game with another Brady TD making a total of 6 on the day and the final score being 45 – 10.

My apologies for keeping this review short but apart from Denver being mauled and mentioning the Brady / Gronkowski show what else is their to mention.  FYI Gronkowski finished with 3 TD'S and 145YD'S.



































2nd Down

Sundays games now and we were in for a couple of mouthwatering ties with the Ravens hosting the play-off newbies the Texans and the showdown between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.

I will be starting at the M & T bank stadium with the Ravens and Texans.

Texans vs Ravens

This was to be the battle of two great defences and also the rookie quarterback vs the self proclaimed overlooked quarterback!

True to form it was the defences who stood out in this one with the Ravens getting 4 takeaways and the Texans stopping the Ravens twice including a goalline stand and one in the dying moments of the fourth quarter allowing the Texans offence one last shot at the win.

OK so lets skip back the first quarter where as mentioned the defences where just phenomenal!  The Texans got the ball first and whilst they managed to drive the length of the field into field goal territory they did not get any further with the Ravens defence holding strong.  So Texans up 3-0 and it was time for Flacco to show just how great he is!

Thanks to some great catches from Boldin and a solid defence the Ravens then went on to score 17 unanswered points before the Texans made a brief second quarter comeback making the score at   halftime 17-13.

The second was a show of defensive power on both sides with the only score being a field goal by Baltimore.  On a positive note for the Ravens offence both Boldin and Evans showed they have quality with some great grabs including this one handed pearler from Evans, like Whitner he learnt all this at Buffalo lol:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b_fRtYhZwQ

Both Teams can hold their heads high after this game in my opinion as despite the Turnover Yates acquitted himself well I think and Foster was an animal with over 140YDS on the ground.  After all it is not every day you face two of the games greatest players in your first ever play-off match!

Thinking of those greats how well did Lewis and Reed play, Reed especially showing on the last play that even if it means putting his body on the line he wants to make a play by picking off Yates's pass headed for the endzone on the Texans penultimate drive and batting down the last pass of the game.  It is only fair I share Reeds pick below:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Z74pl-x60

I shall leave this one with one final Ravens picture from their win on Sunday:-

























Giants vs Packers

Now we move onto the final game of the weekend and what everyone except myself and a few others was just another step on the Packers road back to the Superbowl.   It does make me very proud to say that I did pick the Giants to win this one as my upset of the week.

I can't put my finger on why I thought that, maybe it was that they run them so close in their regular season meeting or maybe it was because of the hype surrounding the Packers that I wanted them to loose.

This game had a big build up and when I look back on it, I have to say although there were some great moments it was a little disappointing from a quality perspective.  I think a lot will be said this week about the effects of resting Aaron Rodgers and him not having played for three weeks but I can only think of one or two plays that didn’t work because of him.

The game started with an early exchange of field goals before Eli Manning managed to find Nicks who bounced off a tackle and took the ball 66YD'S for a score.  On the next drive the Packers had their first of two very lucky calls when Rodgers found Jennings on a pass to the New York 32YD line.  Jennings appeared to loose control of the ball on his way to the ground with the reply showing the ball coming out before any part of Jennings hit the floor.  It was challenged but strangely upheld as a completed catch down by contact.

The Packers used this momentum to put the ball in the endzone with an 8YD pass to Kuhn for the score tying the game at 10-10.  It was from this point that the Giants took control of the game with a field goal and a last second TD grab from Nicks on the stroke of halftime giving the Giants a 20-10 lead at halftime.

In my opinion this was probably the defining moment of the game for two reason, firstly it was an amazing catch and secondly it gave the Giants a 10 point lead which the Packers never recovered from.  Check out Nicks's grab below:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FSzyr1ffos

Although they did try to rally late on in the game and where helped by a roughing the passer call which was ridiculous they couldn’t get back in this one.  The game finished 37-20 to the Giants.

I think to summarise the game the keys things were Eli Mannings completion rate on third down was outstanding, the Packers receivers dropped far to many catches that were right in their hands to make it a contest.  Finally more a point of note that the Packers only TD'S came off the back of two very dodgy officiating calls which kept their drives alive.

Fair play to the Giants as they move on to the conference game this weekend.





























3rd Down

This week for the last two downs instead of pros by myself and EJ on each team I have handed over my beloved AFC match-up to EJ to provide his take on the Patriots vs Ravens with myself handling the NFC match-up between the Giants and 49ers.

AFC Championship - Ravens vs Patriots

The Ravens and Patriots look like two teams going opposite directions. The Patriots dismantled the Broncos, looking tough in all phases of the game. The Ravens struggled with the Texans, unable to protect Flacco and having difficulty stopping Foster. The Ravens offense looked miserable, not being able to run the ball with Rice or Flacco able to do much through the air. On the flip side, the Patriots and Brady are playing just as good as anyone in the league. The 'Gronk' is unstoppable, it is fun watching him and Brady dissect defences.























The Ravens have to keep Brady off the field by getting their run game going with Ray Rice and Ricky Williams. They have to be able to convert on 3rd downs, something they were very unsuccessful in doing against the Texans. Defensively, they don't have to worry about the run game -- but instead shutting down 2 guys: Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker. Personally, if I were the Ravens, I would put Ed Reed to man up with the Gronk all game to shut that facet of the offense out.
















The Patriots need to continue using their weapons as stated above as well as keeping the opposing defences guessing, like they did when they had Hernandez run 3 times for over 60 yards--not bad for a TE! They are a tough team to game plan for and will win if they can contain Rice from having big plays.

Both teams are very hungry and I foresee a very physical and emotional game!

Awesome work EJ as always my friend, personally I look forward to spitting football with you every week as you say!

4th Down

NFC Championship – Giants vs 49ers

A bit like the above match-up both the Giants and 49ers have a different style of offence.  Whilst the 49ers offence revolves around the running game of Frank Gore, the Giants offence uses the running game to set up their big plays down the field.

This should be a very interesting game as unlike the Saints the Giants will be able to get some really good pressure on Alex Smith and will really test the offensive line of the 49ers.

For the Giants to win this one I think they need to control the clock by going deep early and getting a few quick scores to get the 49ers off their offensive gameplan and try to take Frank Gore out the equation early on.  I say this as controlling the clock because if they can get the early lead it will force the 49ers to throw more and also when the Giants have the ball they can use the partnership of Bradshaw and Jacobs to tire the 49ers front 7.  I know Alex Smith was able to produce the goods last week in the dying minutes but the Giants defence is better than that of the Saints and I really like Corey Webster as a corner.














On the flipside for the 49ers to win it is all about using their main weapon, tough defence!  The Giants have had a lot of big plays this year where their receivers have just not been wrapped up in the tackle or hit hard enough to be stopped.  I think if they can take away the deep throws or at least tackle them when they complete a 30YD catch they can put a holt on the big play ability and force the Giants to take on their front 7 defenders.  Lets be honest who wants to run into Patrick Willis 10 – 20 times a game!  From on offence point of view Frank Gore is key, the Giants front 7 are great pass rushers but no so strong against the run.  This really falls into the 49ers hands so will be interesting to see who wins the trench battle.























Well that's me done for another week, we have two great games to look forward to on Sunday night and to think my next edition will be a Superbowl preview.  Due to the pro bowl the weekend after this my blog will be taking a bye week until the Tuesday before the Big Game.

As always Ladies and Gents 'Thanks for Stopping By!'

Wednesday 11 January 2012

Wild Card Weekend


1st Down

What a great weekend of action we have had for the first week of the 2011/12 play-offs.  This week we have witnessed a major upset and our first glimpse of the new play-off overtime rules introduced last year.

During the play-off editions I shall be reviewing that weeks match-ups and myself and EJ will continue with our pros for each team left on how they can advance to the next round.
















As always with my very slight AFC bias ;) I shall be starting off with the Bengals vs Texans and Steelers vs Broncos.

Saturday night saw the battle of the two rookie QB's with the starter Andy Dalton taking on the third string TJ Yates.  There were also two of the leagues best defences on show in this one.  It started off as tight as we were all expecting with the first big play being a heave down the field from Dalton to AJ Green leading to a pass interference call which gave the Bengals great field position.   It proved to be a costly penalty as the drive was capped off with a 1YD TD run by Benson.  

We skip forward now to inside the last two minutes of the first half.  With the scores tied at 10 all, we got the key play of the game from JJ Watt.  I still do not understand how he managed to intercept the pass that close to Dalton but he did and ran it back to the house giving the Texans a 17 – 10 half time lead.  Unfortunately for the Bengals it was downhill from there as Dalton threw a further two picks as the Texans defence started to dominate affairs.

Another key factor was the running of Foster and Tate, with Foster running for 153YDS and 2 TDS to help the Texans control the clock and the game.  Although I had the Bengals down to win this one  I was happy to see the Texans win their first play-off game purely because of Andre Johnson, well him and my good friend Justin of course!

















Now we move onto what was supposed to be the one-sided affair that was the Steelers vs Tim Tebow's Broncos.  I for one thought the Steelers would not only win this game but were my pick to win the Superbowl.  It just goes to show that in football anything can happen, well that and that Tim Tebow is the Devil lol!  Tim Tebow has had more escapes than the great Houdini himself in my humblest opinion.

Anyway onto the game itself, it was a great spectacle and the only downside for me is that Tebow will once again get all the press but for me this win rests with the game plan of their offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.  Talk about pulling the wool over someone's eyes, like the rest of the world the Steelers defence was so focused on Tebow and the running game that they forgot Denver actually has wide receivers as well!

Denver totally surprised everyone early by throwing and completing some big passes down the field, it's almost like Tebow is a quarterback or something!!  To be fair to Tebow he played very well and executed the game plan to perfection.  Denver despite going down 6 – 0 in the first quarter Denver exploded in the second quarter with touchdowns from Eddie Royal and Tim Tebow, this was rounded off by two field goals of their own taking a lead of 20 – 6 into half time.

In the second half the Steelers made the necessary adjustments and limited the Broncos to just a field goal as they went on to tie the game at 23-23 in the fourth quarter.  This leads us nicely into overtime.

Now the question I have is this, when you have held your opponents to just 3 second half points by dropping a safety into permanent deep coverage why do you then on the opening play of overtime bring 11 up to the line of scrimmage and get beaten by a deep play action pass from Tebow to Thomas going for the game winning 80YD TD pass?

































2nd Down

Now we move onto the NFC and the match-ups of the Saints vs Lions and Giants vs Falcons.  I shall start with the Giants vs Falcons.  I think we all had a feeling the Giants would win this one as they were both the home team and the team on form going into the play-offs by sneaking in on the last day of the regular season.

Not only were the Giants on form, people have been questioning the Falcons form away from the Georgia Dome all season.  The game started off intense with both defences dominating early on with neither team being able to get a drive going.  It even got to the point where the Falcons D were the first side to put up points with the pressure getting to Manning and chasing him out of the pocket into the endzone where an intentional grounding call resulted in the award of a safety and 2 points.

Sadly for the travelling Falcons this was the only scoring they would see their team get all afternoon.  The Falcons have some great tools on offence with Julio Jones, Roddy White, Michael Turner and the great Tony Gonzalez.  Unfortunately despite all of these weapons their offence was shut out by the underrated Giants defence.

With the defence holding strong it was left to Eli Manning to win the game for the home team.  Eli started slowly but was able to clock up 24 unanswered points with 2 touchdowns to Hakeem Nicks and 1 to Mario Manningham.  For a game that was billed as a close contest it turned out to be the most one sided affair since New Orleans demolition of the Colts in week 7.


















OK so with that in the books lets move ever so swiftly onto the Saints vs Lions.  This was the late game on Saturday night, for me kick off was 1am.  I mention this as due to the timing I remember drifting in and out of sleep so my apologies if the review is a little hazy!

So this one was billed as Brees vs Stafford, the shoot-out at the Super Dome, a battle between two hot QB's.  It started off as just that with each team trading touchdowns.  The Lions managed to take a 14-10 lead into half time   In the second half it seemed to be a tale of missed opportunities for the Lions as they had a couple of plays on defence which should have been interceptions but ended as just incompletion’s allowing the Saints to sustain their drives.

The Saints finished the second half outscoring the Lions by 5 TD's to 2TD's.  Darren Sproles had another monster game and the Saints continue to not lock back after letting Reggie Bush at the start of the pre-season.  Although he only finished with 85 YD's from scrimmage it was his big plays and 2 TD's that destroyed the Lions hopes of advancing into the divisional round of the play-offs


















Here is the confirmation of all the scores from this weekend of wildcard action:-

Cincinnati 10 vs 31 Houston
Pittsburgh 23 vs 29 Denver
Atlanta 2 vs 24 New York Giants
Detroit 28 vs 45 New Orleans

3rd Down

Lets now look forward to this weeks divisional play-off action with the Patriots and Packers making their way into the chaos of the play-offs.

We shall mix it up and start with the NFC games beginning with the meeting of complete opposites at Candlestick Stadium between San Francisco and New Orleans.  Here you have the high powered Saints offence against one of the toughest defences in the League.  First up is EJ with the pro's for the Saints:-

EJ - Can the 49ers ground and pound offense keep the Saints offense off the field? They will need to do this to keep what I believe to be the hottest team and offense in the league on the sidelines. If New Orleans gets an early lead...game over. This is due to the fact that the 49ers win by their defence being very stout and the offense just making enough plays to earn a victory. They cannot play from behind as they don't have the fire power to catchup with the Saints. New Orleans needs to focus on scoring first and not turning the ball over. If they don't do this, they will press and make the game much closer than what it should be.

















Adri – You are spot on their EJ, the 49ers have been a solid team all year because their defence has been so good and Alex Smith has been able to manage the game on offence as well with the help of Frank Gore.  I think in the same way that when teams play the Patriots they try to keep Brady of the field, this is the same way to beat the Saints by keeping Brees off the field.  It is essential for the 49ers to play smart football and utilise their run game.  If Frank Gore has a good day then we could be looking at our first upset of the weekend.  I know the Saints are seeded lower most people see the Saints as the better team due to it's offence and the coaching of Sean Payton and his staff.  Also despite having a bad defence the Saints are capable of getting turnovers and so in throwing situations Smith needs to be focused and not give the ball away.  If they play solid defence and smart field position football the 49ers can move onto the title game.























Now onto the other divisional game in the NFC, the Giants vs Packers in a rematch of their week 13 encounter which the Packers escaped victorious thanks to a last minute field goal from Crosby.

EJ - I feel this is the game of the weekend. The Giants are playing very confidently, however Aaron Rodgers and Company are just too tough. Plus, they are playing in Lambeau Field, where they haven't been beat in who knows how long. I believe it is the best home field advantage in the league. The Packers will also be playing for their offensive coordinator, who just this week lost his son in an unknown incident where his body was found in a Wisconsin River. I feel the Packers are still the team to beat and will be playing with a chip on its shoulder. Priority #1: stop Eli Manning! He has had his best season throwing to targets like Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks. Packers D has got to hit him and make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket.


















Adri – Whilst the Packers may have an added incentive this week EJ I have a feeling that the Giants may just pull off the upset of the season by beating Green Bay in their own back yard.  For me whilst playing at Lambeau Field is an advantage normally that is because of the weather as well as the crowd.  Lets not forget the Giants play in New York and are used to it being uber cold this time of year.  The Packers defence also lets them down at times as between them and New England they are the worst two this season.  Eli Manning is in the form of his life at the moment and he will be able to take apart the Green Bay secondary like he did in their earlier meeting.  Lets also remember the Giants pass rush led by Tuck, Umenyiora and Pierre-Paul.  Your right it will be the tie of the round and will have me glued to the TV no doubt!

































4th Down

OK so lets finish off this week in the AFC with the games New England vs Denver and Baltimore vs Houston.

Lets start at the M&T Bank Stadium with the Ravens vs Texans:-

EJ - TJ Yates did just enough for the Texans to beat Cincy. How did he do it? Its simple....hand off to Arian Foster. Houston needs to ride on Foster's legs all day through the run game and pass game on screen plays. It was good to see Andre Johnson, who has had an injury plagued year at WR, step up and have a big play. He will need to have a couple of those against a vaunting Ravens defence. I am not a firm believer of Flacco yet, so if the Texans can contain Ray Rice, I feel they can make this game interesting. The Ravens like to throw it deep to Torrey Smith a couple of times a game, so they need to be continually on the lookout for that.
















Adri – The Texans really showed up last week on both side of the ball however the Bengals defence is not as strong as Baltimore's.  Baltimore have a tough front 7 who will make it really hard for Foster and Tate to control the game like they did against the Bengals and it is also full of play makers like Suggs and Reed.  Reed and the defensive backs will make it hard for TJ Yates to complete even the simplest passes.  Lets also not forget that with the emergence of Torrey Smith this season coupled with Ray Rice means they can score from anywhere on the field and it will be difficult for the talented Texans defence to contain.  This should be another great tie but I could also see it being very low scoring.

















Lastly we have the Devil Driven Broncos vs the Brady led Patriots:-

EJ - The Broncos will have to play their best game all year if they stand a fighting chance against the Patriots. New England destroyed Denver in Denver about a month ago and made Tebow look like he was lost. I have a hard time believing as does everybody, that Tebow will be able to replicate what he did against the Steelers in the first round. He will need to play just as well and Demaryius Thomas needs to keep coming up with long reception plays. The Broncos running game needs a 100 yard plus rusher to keep the potent New England offense off the field, so McGahee needs to step up! The Broncos D simply need to knock Brady around. Teams that have beaten NE have been able to make Brady feel uncomfortable. Welker and the Gronk/Hernandez combo make NE dangerous. Denver faces a daunting task both on offense and defence.























Adri – The Broncos showed last week that they can pass the ball as well as rely on their running game.  The problem they have this week is there is no shock factor if they do come out passing thanks to last week.  You can bet your bottom dollar that Belichick has been sat in his office all week dissecting where the Steelers went wrong and how they were able to contain Denver in the second half.  We also have that amazing offence of New England which in their earlier season meeting proved to be too powerful for Denver's defence.  New England has a lot of weapons that can hurt you all over the field.  You have the record setting Gronk, Wes Welker and when they are covered you have Branch and Hernandez to defend and they are not too shabby either!  I think this one should be dominated by the Patriots from about half way through the second quarter and they wont look back.















This week sure looks like its going to surpass the excitement of last week and baring the Texans vs Ravens game there will be bags of offence to feast your eyes on!

I hope you have enjoyed my weekly spin and as always ladies and gents 'Thanks for Stopping By'

Saturday 7 January 2012

Week Seventeen


1st Down

Well just like that the regular season is now done and dusted. Before
the dust even has chance to settle we go racing into the wild card play-off weekend.

Welcome all to week 17 of The Lo Down. This is a special week for me as not only is the regular season over but I'm currently sitting next to the Hudson river looking at the beautiful statue of liberty as I write.

I've had the pleasure of being in New York since Wednesday and it has been amazing from the mass crowds around times square on new years eve to having a nice quiet moment relaxing by the river.


















Let's move on to the football now, again this week particularly the AFC there has been some interesting results. Going into this week, Denver, Oakland, Cincinnati and the Jets needed a win to stand a chance of getting to the play-offs.

I was very surprised that none of the above teams were able to sneak a win and so the play-off picture finishes exactly were it was last week. New England are no.1 seed in the AFC with Baltimore no.2 after their win over Cincinnati. Houston hang onto the no.3 slot with Denver taking the AFC West being no.4. Rounding off the AFC play-offs we have Pittsburgh at no.5 and Cincinnati as no.6.































2nd Down

Now its onto the NFC. Going into this week the Saints had a chance of taking second place from the 49ers if they won and the niners lost.  All of the NFC play-off teams were decided last week except for the NFC East title. This came down to a battle between the Giants and Cowboys or I see a battle between Eli and Romo.























As you can guess from the picture above unfortunately for Romo the outcome was not so good. The Giants raced to a 21 point lead and unlike the Bills they were able to hold onto that lead and came away winners by 31 - 14.



















OK so with that said the NFC teams heading into the play-offs this year are Green Bay as no.1 by finishing the season 15 - 1. The 49ers were able to avoid a slip up at the hands of the Rams and finish as no.2, of course that meant that the Saints finish as no.3. The Giants win over the Cowboys sees them no.4 leaving the Falcons and Lions finishing as no.5 and no.6 respectively.























I shall be coming back to the play-off picture later on with myself and EJ giving the pros for each team and how they can win this week.

3rd Down

OK so like the blog I have moved on from the banks of the Hudson to a much warmer and comfortable place. Its happy hour at the Chelsea Grill. A great bar and restaurant we found ourselves in on new years eve. If you find yourself in NY I strongly recommend heading to this place, its on 9th Avenue between 47th and 46th street.


















Apologies as I have digressed again, let's get back to the action with all the scores from week 17:-

New York Jets 17 vs 19 Miami
Buffalo 21 vs 49 New England
Tennessee 23 vs 22 Houston
Indianapolis 13 vs 19 Jacksonville
Washington 10 vs 34 Philadelphia
Chicago 17 vs 13 Minnesota
Carolina 17 vs 45 New Orleans
San Francisco 34 vs 27 St Louis
Detroit 41 vs 45 Green Bay
Baltimore 24 vs 16 Cincinnati
Pittsburgh 13 vs 6 Cleveland
Kansas City 7 vs 3 Denver
Seattle 20 vs 23 Arizona
San Diego 38 vs 26 Oakland
Tampa Bay 24 vs 45 Atlanta
Dallas 14 vs 31 New York Giants

Finally before we move onto the play-offs, I had the joy of going to the Patriots vs Bills game this week. The Bills got off to a great start taking a 21 - 0 lead in the 1st Quarter unfortunately though I knew a come back was inevitable. The Patriots over the course of the next 3 quarters demolished us by scoring 49 unanswered points taking the game 49 - 21. Despite the result I had great fun with some Pats fans and a Bills fan behind me. I didn't get his name but his spirit was amazing and a true billiever!

































4th Down

So now we move onto the play-off match ups for the wildcard weekend. As always I'll start with the AFC and the first match up between the Bengals and the Texans. First up is myself with the reasons why the Texans will beat the Bengals:-

Adri - Whilst their onto the third string quarterback, the Texans are still a solid football team. They have one of the best defences in the league and when you have the duo of Arian Foster and Ben Tate you are difficult to stop. I think we will see TJ Yates using a lot of screens and dump off’s to Foster to give him more touches. If Andre Johnson is fit to play then they also have one of leagues elite receivers to get the ball down the field too in clutch situations. I agree with what I've heard this week that the key match up will be Joseph against AJ Green, whoever comes out on top will win it for their team.














EJ - Good for the Bengals to make the play-offs, making 3 teams from the AFC North. It is their first play-off birth in a long time. Unfortunately, they are playing against a very hungry team in Houston, which is their first time ever in the play-offs. Luckily for the Bengals, they are playing against the 3rd string QB in TJ Yates, who will also be playing against the pain of having a separated left shoulder. The Bengals defence needs to apply pressure as often as possible on Yates, hitting him on the shoulder to make him wary of any future injury. Cincy has to mainly focus on stopping Foster in the running and pass game, as I feel if he is shut down, the Texans will be shut down. Offensively, the Bengals will struggle with a very stout Houston defence, especially with the Texans knowing they will need to help out their offense by not letting the Bengals score due to the QB situation. Cedric Benson and Bernard Scott will need to help their rookie QB out by getting rushing yards making 3rd down conversions shorter and easier. AJ Green has been battling injuries all year long, but is a gamer and will toughen it out and will no doubt have at least one big play on the Texans D. In order for the Bengals to win, Jermaine Gresham (TE) and another Bengals WR will need to step it up.























Now we have the Steelers vs Broncos. I have shot myself in the foot by doing the pro's for the Broncos but here goes:-

Adri - For the Broncos to beat the Steelers they need McGahee to have the game of his life for two reasons, firstly to keep Big Ben sitting on the bench for as long as possible and also so they don't have to rely on Tebow's passing ability. I think maybe even confuse the Steelers by lining up their back up QB under centre and Tebow as the RB.











































EJ - It seems unfair that the Steelers can't play the Broncos at home due to having a better record, but it is the way the play-offs have always been set up with the division winner getting to play at home. Steelers defence may take a big hit if safety Ryan Clark cannot play due to the altitude in Denver and the health condition he has preventing him to play in such heights. However, I feel defences are figuring Tebow out and the Steelers D will likely subdue Tebow. Bummer for the Steelers that they lost their RB Rashard Mendenhall for the season due to a torn ACL. Isaac Redman has big shoes to fill and unfortunately for Steeler fans it looks like he has a hard time holding onto the ball as he lost 2 fumbles last week. That, coupled with Big Ben's lingering ankle injury could hinder the offense big time which showed this past weekend with the Steelers only scoring 13 points on the lowly Cleveland Browns. The Steelers are a veteran team and play-off hardened, so guys like Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown will make enough plays to escape with a victory.

















Now we move onto the NFC where we have a couple of mouthwatering ties in prospect. First up we have the Lions vs Saints:-

Adri - OK so after the shenanigans of having to convince you the Broncos will win I have the Saints for this one :)  Firstly let's start with the obvious in Drew Brees, he is currently on fire which included setting the record for the most YDS in a single season. At the start of the season I didn't see this happening with the start Brady had but he has turned it on at the right time. Let's also not forget in Colston and Moore who are capable of making immense catches. The saints also have Jimmy Graham and I've not even started on their running game with Sproles as the change of pace guy playing extremely well backed by a championship winning defence on their day.  OK EJ let's hear you counter that my friend :)
















EJ - Detroit lost a great game against Green Bay to end the regular season and now has to go up against the hottest team in the league -- the Saints. Not only are the Saints on a roll, but their offense is led by the record setting QB Drew Brees who looks unstoppable. It will be tough for the Lion defence to focus just on any one player as the Saints are loaded with Sproles, Colston, Graham, etc.... The best they can do is try to have long sustained drives to keep the Saints potent offense off the field and win the turnover battle. The one thing the Lions do have for them is a potent passing attack themselves led by Matthew Stafford who threw for over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns against the Packers last week. They also have what I believe the most dynamic WR in the league -- a freak of nature -- Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron. He will have to continue his torrid pace of torching defences in order for the Lions to have a fighting chance against the Saints.


Finally we have the Falcons vs Giants. Here is why the Giants will roll into the next round of the play-offs:-

Adri - Eli Manning and Victor Cruz. These two have also had outstanding seasons individually and seem to have a real chemistry. Cruz is quickly becoming Mannings favourite target in clutch situations. Also they have a great double act at RB with the speed of Bradshaw and the power of Jacobs.  They also have to me a great corner in Webster who is capable of shutting down and picking off the best receivers in the game. Over the last few weeks he has come up big and I expect more of this in the play-offs.
















EJ - I believe this is going to be the most entertaining game and the highest scoring game of the first round play-offs Atlanta is playing good overall football right now, with Matt Ryan having found his groove. Michael Turner, Roddy White, and Julio Jones add multiple weapons to Ryan's repertoire. They will have a daunting task trying to stop Eli Manning who I feel is having his best year yet. He looks like his older brother Peyton and even sounds like him checking/audible at the line of scrimmage. There has been no better 4th quarter QB, so Atlanta has to got to be weary of that along with the rushing game. If they can stop Cruz, they still have got to worry about Nix and Manningham. I see a shoot-out!



















Well I hope you have enjoyed my final blog of the regular season and will keep reading through the play-offs

Until next time when I'm back on the right side of the pond 'Thanks
for Stopping By'