Sportaholic NFL Wild-card Weekend Review

Wild-card weekend usually lives up to its name as it can be unpredictable on so many levels. It’s the weekend when hot teams meet consistent teams and they clash on the field to see which team comes out on top. Upstarts like Detroit, Houston, and Denver crashed the playoff party and looked to navigate their first playoff appearances in years (Houston’s first time at all) against heavily favored competition. This year’s collection of games was no different other than the fact that all top four seeds are in intact for both the AFC and NFC.

Houston Texans 31 Cincinnati Bengals 10 - Cincinnati was done in by a few rookie mistakes by rookie QB Andy Dalton, a healthy dose of Arian Foster and the Texans new found smothering defense. The Texans were able to generate enough offense with their own rookie QB T.J Yates as he connected with stud WR Andre Johnson for a 40-yard TD and they were able to rely on Foster and RB Ben Tate the rest of the way. Foster finished with 154 yards and 2 Tds. Dalton wasn’t great in his first playoff appearance throwing 3 interceptions including one that was a spectacular play for J.J Watt as he took it to the house for the score. Houston will take on Baltimore next week in a rematch from week 6.



What they said after the game: You can see that they were all so proud of their team,” Houston owner Bob McNair said of the team’s long-suffering fans. “We want to have a team everybody can be proud of and want to feel an attachment to. I think they have that.”



Andre Johnson on finally getting a playoff win: “This is something not just for me, but for the whole organization,” the Texans star receiver said. “It’s a very special feeling. That’s probably the most I’ve smiled in a long time.”

“We have to get beyond this,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “We play in a very difficult division. We have to win games in the division, that is important and it sets up opportunities like this, all the time.”

New Orleans Saints 45 Detroit Lions 28 - The Detroit Lions couldn’t stop the white hot Drew Bree’s led Saints offense and it appears that any team facing them will have to go to tremendous lengths just to stop them from getting big plays. We all knew heading into this game that it would be a shootout as this was the first ever game that featured two 5,000 yard passers in Brees and Matthew Stafford. The Saints did what they have been doing all year on offense as they broke the postseason mark with 626 total yards of offense. The Lions did a good job just to stay in the game in the first half but New Orleans kicked it into overdrive in the second half and never looked back. Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles combined for 117 yards and 3 scores between them to seal the Saints victory. Things will be different for New Orleans next week as they travel to San Francisco to take on one of the better defenses in the league. They also will be on grass instead of the Superdome turf which makes them seem so unstoppable.

What they said after the game: “We were pulling out all the stops,” Brees said. “We play aggressive. We’re not going to apologize for that. That gives guys in the huddle a lot of confidence. We’re not going to pull the reins back. It’s pedal to the metal.”

All-pro receiver Calvin Johnson on the Lions season: We did make the playoffs this year and that’s a great accomplishment,” Johnson said. “We have some things to work on and we will. We know what we have to do to make the next step.”

New York Giants 24 Atlanta 2 - The New York football Giants put on a defensive showcase as they repeatedly stopped the Atlanta Falcons on 4th down and never let them get into the game. The Giants can go all the way to the Super Bowl if they continue to come with it on D like they did Saturday. The Giants stifled the Falcons offensive attack all day and looked like the Giants of yesteryear with Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs running the ball well. Hakeem Nicks 72-yard TD pass from Eli Manning broke the game open and the Falcons never really threatened from there. Atlanta again was done in by its inability to make any explosive passing plays and by three of ill-fated fourth down decisions. Matt Ryan failed to convert on a couple of 4th down QB sneaks and Michael Turner was also stopped on another down. Ryan’s numbers of 24/41 for 199 yards just isn’t going to cut it in the playoffs. This ends yet another disappointing season for them. As for the Giants they travel to Green Bay next week to take on the Super Bowl favorite Packers and their sterling 15-1 record. We will find out if this Giants performance was for real or just a one week thing. I’m excited about this match up.



What they said after the game: We are going to out there and give all our effort and we are going to walk away with a win,” All Pro defensive end Jason Pierre Paul said



We can’t lose like this in the playoffs,” defensive end John Abraham said. “We should have been able to do something different. We played well in the beginning, but it kind of got away from us in the end.”



’We know they are a good team,” said Manning, who completed 23 of 32 for 277 yards. “We played them tough here, did some good things here, we scored some points. We know offensively we are going to have to play strong, score some points.”

Denver Broncos 29 Pittsburgh Steelers 23 - And the best game of the weekend was the last game as Tim Tebow found yet another way to win a close game. He found a streaking Demairyus Thomas for the game winning 80-yard pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers. You couldn’t have scripted it better than that for Tebow as he actually showed that he can be a threat with arm and his legs. He only completed 10 passes but he threw for 316 yards in the process. A week after Bronco great and current President John Elway told Tebow to “Pull the trigger” the Steelers looked down right surprised that Tebow and the Broncos were so openly passing on them and made a few big plays. Maybe it was not having leading tackler Ryan Clark not there due to his Sickle Cell trait or maybe the Steelers just didn’t think Tebow would have the audacity to open it up on them like he did. Whatever the case may be they allowed Thomas to slide behind the defense on a play action fake that even fooled all-pro safety Troy Polamalu and the rest is history now. Ben Roethelisberger looked like a shell of himself in the first half before he got things rolling in the second. It did appear that the ankle injury did hamper the usual Big Ben scrambles that we are so accustomed to seeing. Pittsburgh came out flat before waking up only to have their heart taking out in overtime. This game will go down as one of the all time greats because of Tebow and because its was against the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. What a game, what an ending and what a opening playoff game for Tebow. The Broncos now get a second crack at Tom Brady and the Patriots and have a lot of momentum rolling into this one.



What they said after the game: Tebow on game winning pass: “When I saw him scoring, first of all, I just thought, `Thank you, Lord,”’ Tebow said. “Then, I was running pretty fast, chasing him—like I can catch up to D.T! Then I just jumped into the stands, first time I’ve done that. That was fun.”

“We were moving it and we had a shot,” Roethlisberger said. “Someone got, it felt like a finger, on the ball and knocked it out. After that, you’re trying to throw a 70-yard Hail Mary and that’s hard.”

Broncos RB Willis McGahee on Tebow critics: “Case closed,” McGahee said. “They say he couldn’t throw. They said we wouldn’t be able to run the ball on them. We did that. I wonder what they’re going to say next week

Titans vs. Texans Game Review

The Titans ended their six-game losing streak in convincing fashion as they defeated the Houston Texans 31-17. The Titans jumped on the Texans early and never let up. They definitely didn’t resemble the team that was self-destructing before our eyes. The offense was fluid as Kenny Britt breathed some much needed life into the passing game. Chris Johnson was able to find some running lanes that haven’t been there in the losing skid. And even the defense jumped in recording four sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception by Alterraun Verner. The much hyped rematch of Cortland Finnegan and Andre Johnson never came in fruition and that should both should be applauded for letting cooler heads prevail. An all around victory for the Titans, as they keep their minimal playoff chances alive. They have to win out and the Colts and Jags would have to lose for Tennessee to win the division. In other words you and I reading this have a better chance at winning the power ball.

The Titans took control of this game in the first quarter as they racked up 21 points on their first three possessions. Kerry Collins hit rookie Damien Williams for a 39-yard strike on the eighth play of the drive to put the Titans in scoring position. Collins would find Nate Washington (I don’t know about that dance though Nate) for a 3-yard touchdown to cap a 9 play 60-yard drive to start the game. The Texans usually commanding offense was no where to be found in the first quarter as they ran a total of 12 plays resulting in total of 17 yards. In stark contrast, the Titans kept finding success in the air. Collins dialed up another bomb, this time to Kenny Britt for the first play of their second drive. Collins dropped a beautiful lob to Justin Gage in the corner of the end-zone to complete the drive.

After another three and out by Houston, the Titans received the ball with good field position at the Texans 44. Chris Johnson would begin to get loose on this drive as he ran for a 9 and 3 yard gain. Kerry Collins found an open Kenny Britt yet again for a 21-yard that put the Titans at the 11 of Houston. From their CJ would take it in for the score and the Titans were up 21-0 before you knew it.

Entering the second quarter, it looked as if the Titans would turn this one into a blowout and exact some revenge from the loss they took from the hands of the Texans the last time they met. But the Titans would offense would cool down and only muster a FG in the second quarter. The Texans could only match that FG by Tennessee and the score would be 24-3 going into halftime.

The game was pretty much over from there as Houston could never solve the Titans defense. The Texans would add two touchdowns after intermission but it wouldn’t be enough as the Titans would score again as well on a short drive and sealed the victory.

Tennessee finally looked like a team that was having fun again as evident by the big smiles and pats on the back on the sidelines. The offensive passing game was great as Kerry Collins had time from the offensive line to just pick apart the porous Texan secondary. Kenny Britt makes such a big difference for Tennessee when he is healthy as you can see. He provides big plays and energy to that unit. Chris Johnson 130 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He looked more like the 2009 CJ as he was able to get the edge a few times this game and break some long runs. Kerry Collins made some downright beautiful throws and even got lucky on that one Britt pass but I’m sure he will take luck any day. Vince Young even made an appearance on the sidelines as he and Kenny Britt looked to be having a good time. That is definite good sign for all Tennessee fans.

The Titans now are 6-8 and done with the six-game losing streak. They went 56 days in-between victories so this has to feel like a load coming off their back. They travel to division leading Kansas City next week before ending the season at Indianapolis in two weeks. Even though its highly unlikely that the Titans can make it in the playoffs due to their circumstances, weirder things have happened. We can say this much, at least they came out and played with some fire that we haven’t saw in quite a while and they still have a reason to play hard next week and just hope for some luck. Stay tuned folks.

Titans vs. Texans Game Review

In a week that has been filled with drama for the Titans, with the Vince Young-Jeff Fisher fiasco and Mike Hermindinger announcing he has cancer, the game turned out to be anti-climatic. Tennessee was defeated in ugly fashion as the Houston Texans handed the reeling Titans their 4th straight loss. From the start of this game it looked like it was going to be a long day for the Titans as Matt Schaub and the Texans offense raced up and down the field. It got even worse as Cortland Finnegan got into a full fist fight with all-pro wide out Andre Johnson and both were ejected from the game.

The thought going into this one was that the focus would be turned to rookie QB Rusty Smith, as he got the start for the injured Vince Young but this one quickly turned into a dissembling of a team that was once 5-2 and leading the AFC South division. The Titans looked flat and the Texans came out and handed it to them.

Now for the breakdown of the game:

The Texans were able to do as they pleased on offense as they racked up 346 yards of offense to the Titans 162. Rusty Smith was abysmal going 17/31 for 138 yards and 3 interceptions. I wish I could have some of those throws back," Smith said. "You can't get them back." Tennessee barely looked like a threat as they were shutout by the Texans. This was Houston’s first shutout since 2004. This game was supposed to feature the two leading rushers in the league with Arian Foster of the Texans and Chris Johnson of the Titans. Foster held up his end of the bargain rushing for 143 yards but the most telling stat of the game was Chris Johnson numbers, as he was held to a career low of 5 yards rushing on 7 carries. We weren't able to run the ball at all," Johnson said. "I don't know why we couldn't run it."



The Texans came into the game ranked 31st in the league and had not held an opponent to fewer than 24 points this year but were able to take it to the Titans, holding them to just 12 yards and no first downs in the first quarter. Glover Quin recorded his first career interception on the very first play of the second quarter and would go on to set Houston’s franchise record with 3 for the game. Matt Schaub went 25/35 for 178 yards in the game but didn’t need to be spectacular in this one as the Titans offense could never get rolling.

After a Neil Rackers FG kick in the third quarter, the score was 17-0 and it didn’t look like the Titans could muster a first down, much less a touchdown. The Titans finally got some momentum and were able to drive the ball to the Houston 12 after a pass interference call on Houston safety Bernard Pollard. But rookie QB Rusty Smith would throw another costly interception to Quin yet again and the Titans would never recover.

The fight that broke out between Finnegan and Johnson was the real highlight of the game. The two had a minor shoving match on one play before taking it to an all out brawl on the next. Finnegan jabbed at Johnson’s neck and face mask and Johnson responded by ripping Finnegan’s helmet off and connected twice with two punches to Finnegan’s head and neck. Finnegan would take his turn at ripping off Johnson’s helmet before the refs got involved and separated the two. "He kept doing little things and I told him: 'Just because you're frustrated, you need to stop what you're doing,"' Johnson said. "I guess he thought it was funny." It's just a buildup of things over plays," Johnson said. "I just lost my cool."

The two will surely be disciplined by the league when Commissioner Roger Goodell receives the game footage. The fight was fitting in a since as it signified the Titans season at this point. They are fighting with each other and with other teams. As I stated in one of previous game reviews, the Vince Young incident had a chance to either bring the team together or bring them down, and it looks as if the latter of the two is happening.

The Titans got lucky with both the Jaguars and Colts losing their games Sunday. Tennessee is actually just a game behind first place Jacksonville at 5-6 but they are also last in the division per their record. I also would like to know why Chris Johnson only got 7 carries when it obvious he should be the focal point of the offense with a rookie QB starting. Coach Jeff Fisher looked none too pleased with his team and for good reason. The Titans ship is sinking and fast. The Titans next game is versus the division leading Jaguars and those two always mix it up in this rivalry. Let’s hope for the best for the Titans and hope that they can display a better performance than the one we saw this Sunday.

Games notes: Randy Moss caught three passes to pass Andre Reed for eighth all-time on the career receptions list. Titans K Rob Bironas had his franchise record streak of consecutive games with a field goal snapped at 20.