By Brandon Simmons
49ers under Good Management
The San Francisco 49ers easily defeated the Seattle Seahawks 41-17 in their Wild card matchup. What started out as a close game at halftime, quickly turned into a rout due to some big plays and drives in the 3rd quarter. The Niners jumped out to a 10-0 lead, which included a touchdown by running back Christian McCaffrey. The Seahawks responded on the 2nd quarter with a 17-6 run, that included a 50 yard touchdown by Seattle wide receiver D.K. Metcalf. But San Francisco came back in the 3rd quarter with a long touchdown drive then create another TD drive off of a turnover and never looked back.
The key to this game for the 49ers was management of QB Brock Purdy. While he has played good during the regular season, the playoffs are a whole different animal and it was imperative to keep Purdy out of his own way. He started off making some good throws, but he also missed on some deep shots. However, when the 3rd quarter rolled around, the Niners elected to go to a more simple gameplan: let the players work for Purdy. Purdy made throws that allowed for the skills players to thrive in the yards after catch, such as Niners wide receiver Deebo Samuel with his 74 yard catch and run touchdown. They also put the ball in Mcaffrey’s hands, who finished the game with 119 rushing yards and one receiving touchdown. Purdy has done a great job getting the Niners to the NFC West crown and into the postseason, but he is still a rookie that is surrounded by outstanding skill position player. It’s best to use the latter to accomplish the goals set at hand.
Jaguars Shock Chargers with Comeback
The Jacksonville Jaguars overcame a 27 point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers. It was a feat that seemed insurmountable, considering the fact that Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw 4 interceptions in the first half, three of which went to Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel, Jr. and 2 of them that happened on Jacksonville’s first 2 drives of the game. However, that did not stop Lawrence from throwing for 3 touchdowns in the 2nd half, powering the team to a 31-30 win.
There were quite few factors that played into the Chargers’ downfall in this game. Penalties seemed to have plagued the Chargers in this game, but Joey Bosa may have committed the ultimate one. When the Jags were down 30-20 and scored the touchdown, replay showed there was a missed false start, which upset Bosa and caused him to take off his helmet throw it while still on the field. That penalty pushed the Jaguars closer to the goal line on the 2 point try they were already going for, but made it easier for Lawrence to make the conversion. Penalties also took them out of field position, making thm attempt longer field goals and missing them. The missed field goal set up the touchdown and 2 point conversion. However, credit does have to go to the coaching of Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. He did not let his team panic in a time where they had every right to do so. Also, the outside run call for Jags running back Travis Etienne on 4th down in the 4th quarter has to be the play of the game. It was smart to use his speed in that moment where everyone was expecting an inside run and it paid off, sealing the fate of the Chargers’ playoff run.
Bills Survive Playoff Opener
The Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins in a thriller that shouldn’t have been. Buffalo jumped to a 17-0 lead before Miami started charging back in the 2nd quarter tying the game at 17 but also taking a 24-20 lead in the 3rd quarter. But after that, the Bills began to take charge. Bills Quarterback Josh Allen threw for 2 touchdowns to put the team up by 10 heading into the 4th quarter. Miami tried cutting the deficit to 3 with a Jeff Wilson rushing TD but Buffalo remained diligent and stayed ahead.
The Bills quickly demonstrated how dominant of a team they were but almost lost that feeling entirely. The Dolphins defense was really getting after Allen. That unit finished the game with 7 sacks total, including the strip sack at the top of the 3rd quarter.
Giants Beat Viking s Late Game Heroics
The Minnesota Vikings could not employ their comeback efforts against the New York Giants, losing to them 31-24. The Giants jumped to a 17-7 lead, thanks to a rushing score by running back Saquon Barkley and a pass thrown by QB Daniel Jones in the 1st quarter. The Vikings would respond when QB Kirk Cousins threw a TD pass to wide receiver K.J. Osborne to cut the deficit to 3. The Giants opened the half when Jones threw a TD to Bellinger to extend the lead 10 at 24-14. The Vikings still climbed back scoring 10 straight and tying things in the 4th. Then, New York began to hold its ground. Giants marched into the red zone and faced a 4th down, until Jones executed a QB sneak, setting up a Barkley run into the end zone. Minnesota fell short in their efforts on a pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson.
It seemed like instead of an upset, this was more of a redemption for the New York Giants. In the last game they fell behind early but held a late lead; this time around they took control from the jump and stavednoff the Vikings. Their biggest key to winning was executing their scheme against Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who finished the game with 6 catches and 47 yards. Cousins didn’t even look his way on the final play. But that allowed Jones and his receiver group to flourish, as they helped the Giants QB with his Stat line of 301 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wide receiver Isiah Hodgins certainly provided that support with his b 8 catches for 105 yards.
Bengals Hold off Ravens
The Cincinnati Bengals move on to the divisional round after beating the Baltimore Ravens 24-17. It looked like things would quickly turn into a blowout when the Bengals jumped to a 9-0 lead, which included QB Joe Burrow throwing a touchdown to wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. The Ravens responded by digging into their run game and driving down the field and scoring with a touchdown pass from QB Tyler Huntley to running back J.K. Dobbins, making the score 9-7. Baltimore got the ball back before the half and kicked a field goal to take a 10-9 lead. The back and forth continued in the 3rd quarter when the Bengals performed a QB sneak in the endzone and got the 2 point conversion to go up 17-10. But the Ravens responded with Huntley finding wide receiver Demarcus Robinson for the deep score to tie the game. Baltimore gets the ball back into the 4th quarter and reach the 2 yard line, but Huntley is hit then fumbles and it’s recovered by Cincy defensive end Sam Hubbard returning itn98 yards for a touchdown.
It was a surprisingly close game for the Bengals since they were facing a Ravens team with no Lamar Jackson; however they pulled it off. When playoffs come around, teams are going to turn up the intensity, as regardless if your superstar is suited up or not. It probably also helped Baltimore that they faced this team a week before and was probably easier to recognize and make adjustments against Cincy, the same could be said for them. However, the positive thing the Bengals can take away from this game is that when it comes down to it, they can find more than one way to win a game, which is gonna be useful on the rest of their playoff run.
Dallas Overthrows Tampa Bay at off Their Home Ship
The mantra has always been don’t bet against Tom Brady, but even though he wasn’t guaranteed to win nobody would bet that Brady would get beat this bad. The 45-year-old suffered a huge defeat as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys 31-14. Many people figured this game would be a lot closer than the end result but that was imply not the case starting the in the 1st quarter. Both teams traded 3 and out possessions on their first 2 drives, but the Cowboys soon got things corrected. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott hit tght end Dalton Schultz for a touchdown pass but the extra point was missed by kicker Brett Maher, who missed the next 3 extra points for scores as well. When it looked like Brady and the Bucs would respond with a long touchdown drive, until he threw an interception. That pick started another touchdown drive by the Cowboys, in which Prescott converted a 4th and 1 for the score. Dallas gets the ball back and Prescott throws another TD to Schultz at the end of the to take an 18-0 lead. This onslaught continued well into the 3rd quarter and piling on the score in the 4th quarter to make the beatdown official.
The key to the Cowboys win was they had the more complete, efficient offense and did not force anything. Those first 2 drives, Prescott tried to get the ball to wide receiver CeeDee lamb early, almost forcing it to him. But once he started spreading the ball around – and others started getting involved in the offense – things really took off for them. Tight end Dalton Schulz came up big with his 2 touchdowns but he also added 7 catches for 95 yards. Prescott easily had his best game throwing 25/33 for 305 yards for 4 touchdowns and rushing for one. At one point he was threw 11 straight passes after the two 3 and out drives. The Dallas defense should also receive a hefty share of credit for shutting the Buccaneers out through almost 3 quarters. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch led those efforts with 9 total tackles and 2 pass deflections. A lot has been said about the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff reputation in recent years, but tonight they put on a solid performance that should silence their critics for at least a week.