DIVISIONAL ROUND
BEST GAME: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
This game wasn’t back and forth like most classic, great playoff games, but it was the only one of the weekend decided by less than a touchdown. The Eagles flew out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, but then the Saints turned their fortunes around with a fake-punt attempt deep in their own territory.
The successful fake led to New Orleans’ first touchdown. From the point in which the Saints converted that fourth down, they outgained the Eagles, 351-90. Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
The yardage led to only two touchdowns, but it was enough for the Saints to knock out the defending champions, 20-14. New Orleans will host the NFC championship next Sunday.
This game wasn’t back and forth like most classic, great playoff games, but it was the only one of the weekend decided by less than a touchdown. The Eagles flew out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, but then the Saints turned their fortunes around with a fake-punt attempt deep in their own territory.
The successful fake led to New Orleans’ first touchdown. From the point in which the Saints converted that fourth down, they outgained the Eagles, 351-90. Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
The yardage led to only two touchdowns, but it was enough for the Saints to knock out the defending champions, 20-14. New Orleans will host the NFC championship next Sunday.
BEST PLAY: MARCUS
LATTIMORE INTERCEPTION, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
While the fake punt was extremely important, the real
turning point of the game was Lattimore’s interception. Early in the second
quarter, the Eagles were already close to midfield and were looking to go up by
a third score when quarterback Nick Foles slightly underthrew tight end Zach
Ertz down the sideline.
Lattimore made a tremendous play on the ball, jumping up to
make an interception. Without this play, the fake punt wouldn’t have
happened.
The Saints completely dominated the game after Lattimore’s
interception, holding the Eagles to under 100 offensive yards. Lattimore picked
off another pass, leading to our third superlative.
BIGGEST GOAT:
ALSHON JEFFERY, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
In sports, GOAT wasn’t always an acronym that meant
“Greatest of All-Time.” Being a goat used to mean you were the one to blame for
the loss — aka the scapegoat. After all, goats are generally smelly, ugly and
dumb (didn’t I mention stinky?) animals. Who wants to be a goat?
The biggest goat of divisional weekend was Jeffery, who let
one of Foles’ passes slip right through his hands before the two-minute warning
in the fourth quarter. After falling through Jeffery’s hands, the pass landed
in Lattimore’s arms for an interception.
Instead of the Eagles approaching the red zone with two
minutes to go, giving Foles a real chance of becoming a hero again, Jeffery’s
poor hands essentially ended the game. The Saints ran out the clock with one
first down after the two-minute warning.
MOST IMPRESSIVE
DRIVE: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
There were several impressive drives from the weekend,
including a few from the Saints. But New Orleans’ most impressive came on its
first possession of the second half.
After forcing an Eagles punt, the Saints possessed the ball
for the next 11:29 and gained 92 yards for a touchdown. New Orleans converted
three third downs on the drive, including a third-and-16, and overcame three
penalties to reach the end zone.
The drive gave the Saints the lead for good and seemed to
wear out the Eagles defense. New Orleans held the ball for more than 37 minutes
in the victory.
BEST HISTORY: NEW
ENGLAND PATRIOTS GOING TO EIGHTH STRAIGHT AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
Think the dynasty is finished? Well, as Lee Corso would say
— not so fast, my friend.
The Patriots absolutely dominated the 12-4 Los Angeles
Chargers, scoring touchdowns on five of their first six possessions. They led
by 28 at halftime and defeated Los Angeles, 41-28.
With this victory, New England advances to its eighth
straight AFC championship, which is an NFL record. The Patriots face an even
tougher task on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs to get back to the
Super Bowl, but never count out Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
MOST SURGICAL
PERFORMANCE: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Surgical is about the only word that truly fits the
Patriots' performance against the Chargers. Brady threw for 343 yards and a
touchdown, looking as good as he has in weeks.
The Patriots punched the Chargers in the mouth on the ground
as well, rushing for 155 yards. Sony Michel individually gained 129 yards on 24
carries and scored three touchdowns.
New England’s defense played perhaps its best game of the
season too. The Chargers were able to pad their stats late in the blowout, and
still, Los Angeles rushed for only 19 yards.
Coming off the bye, the Patriots were focused and
ready.
BIGGEST DUD
PERFORMANCE: LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Having said that, the Chargers looked absolutely terrible
Sunday. Many predicted Philip Rivers was ready to take that next step toward
winning the Super Bowl and finally beat Brady. Instead, Rivers never stood a
chance, falling to 0-8 in his career against the Patriots QB.
The Chargers running game and pass rush was nowhere to be
found. Maybe traveling to the East Coast two weeks in a row was too taxing on
the team. Or maybe Anthony Lynn's squad was too “in awe” of facing the
five-time Super Bowl champions.
Whatever it was, this Chargers team was arguably the most
complete in the AFC. Needing to win three road games to reach the Super Bowl is
tough, but there’s no reason to be blown out by 28 in the first half.
MOST SURPRISING
PERFORMANCE TO THE CASUAL FAN: C.J. ANDERSON, LOS ANGELES RAMS
With Todd Gurley sitting out the final two regular-season
games, Anderson rushed for more than 130 yards in Week 16 and 17. But unless it
somehow impacted your fantasy team, it’s likely most people weren’t aware
Anderson was playing so well. His two impressive rushing performances came in
late-afternoon games, against the lowly Cardinals and 49ers.
People are noticing Anderson now, though, as he posted a
game-high 123 rushing yards against the Cowboys on Saturday. Anderson and
Gurley each rushed for more than 100 yards in the 30-22 victory against Dallas,
but Anderson outgained both Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott.
Anderson, who the Panthers and Raiders both cut this season,
gives the Rams a formidable 1-2 punch in the backfield that will face its
toughest test yet against the No. 2 rushing defense at the Saints next
Sunday.
BIGGEST
FOURTH-DOWN STOP: LOS ANGELES RAMS
The biggest play of the Cowboys-Rams game came in the form
of a fourth-down stop. The Cowboys went for the first down on fourth-and-1 to
begin the fourth quarter. At the time, Dallas trailed Los Angeles by only one
possession, 23-15.
With one of the best power backs in the league, no one can
blame Jason Garrett for the decision, but the Rams stuffed Elliott for no gain
and took over at their own 35-yard line. Next, Los Angeles promptly drove down
the field to increase its lead to 15.
Dallas would score to pull back within eight, but the
Cowboys wouldn’t get the ball back again. Failing to convert on that fourth
down proved to be the pivotal play of the night.
WORST THIRD-DOWN
OFFENSE: DALLAS COWBOYS
The Cowboys offense wasn’t able to do much converting at all
in third- and fourth-down situations. Dallas went a combined 4-for-14 on third-
and fourth-down tries, including 1-for-10 on third downs. Indianapolis was
equally bad, going 0-for-9 on third down vs. Kansas City.
More than anything, that was why Dallas didn’t win Saturday.
The Cowboys surprisingly rushed for only 50 yards, but the inability to move
the chains in critical situations kept Dallas from advancing to its first NFC
championship since 1995.
Instead, the Rams are back in the NFC title game for the
first time in 17 years.
MOST SURPRISING
DEFENSE: KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
There were surprising defensive performances around the
league this weekend, but the most shocking was in Kansas City. The Colts came
into Arrowhead Stadium red-hot, winning 10 of their last 11 games, and yet, the
much-maligned Chiefs defense held Indianapolis to just 263 yards in the 31-13
Kansas City victory.
The Chiefs forced the Colts to go three-and-out on each of
their first four possessions. Indianapolis didn’t record a first down until
there was less than two minutes left in the first half.
Indianapolis averaged 6.2 yards per rush, but the running
game wasn’t working early, and the Colts abandoned it. Kansas City held
Indianapolis to 4.5 yards per pass as well.
TOP SPECIAL TEAMS
PLAY: NAJEE GOODE, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
If not for a blocked punt, the Chiefs would have absolutely
run away with its division game against Indianapolis. Trailing 17-0 and still
without a first down, the Colts needed a jolt to stay in the game. They got
that from Najee Goode.
The linebacker broke completely free on a Chiefs punt and
blocked the punt attempt close to the Kansas City goal line. Wide receiver Zach
Pascal recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
Without the special teams score, the Chiefs would have
easily blown out the Colts. Instead, Indianapolis stayed in the game until late
in the fourth quarter.
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