Conference Championship Reviews

NFC Championship:  Green Bay - 22 Seattle - 28 (OT)

Seattle's Defense Is Really Good
There are few defenses in the history of the NFL that can watch their offense or special teams turn the ball over five times, and still win the game.  Keep in mind that they were also going against the best quarterback in the NFL today in Aaron Rodgers.  The Seahawks turned it over twice deep in their own territory, resulting in 10 Packer points.  Take those away, and the halftime score is a much less daunting 6-0 Green Bay lead, rather than the 16-0 lead they had.  This defense also contributed a sack and two interceptions to the cause as well.  They were stifling the Packers' offense all day, particularly in crunch time in the fourth quarter.  Their performance will probably get lost because of what happened at the end, but this defense was arguably the number one reason why Seattle won the game.  That shouldn't surprise anyone though.

The 2014 Packers Became The Pre-2014 Dallas Cowboys
As a Cowboy fan, watching the end of that game was like a blast from the past.  The pre-2014 Cowboys seemed to do everything in their power to give away a big time game, which is what the Packers did yesterday.  The amount of bone headed plays and coaching decisions may have even outdone Tony Romo at his worst.  For starters, the Pack had fourth and goal from the one yard line twice, and decided to kick field goals both times.  I know Seattle's defense is tough, but c'mon now.  You have a pro bowl running back, fullback, and quarterback if you decide to throw.  You have all those options and you decide to fold two times?!  That yard might be hard to get, but it'll be easier than trying to go on a 50+ yard drive later in the game.

That was early in the game, however.  The real meltdown came in the fourth quarter.  Packer safety Ha Ha Clinton Dix was the butt of his own joke as he read a Wilson pass perfectly, only to drop a potential pick six.  On the next Seattle drive, Morgan Burnett actually did intercept the ball, only to curl up in the fetal position without a Seahawk in the camera frame.  This was a smart move...if there was under two minutes left to go.  Instead, there were five minutes left to go in a 19-7 game.  Even if he had run the ball back for ten yards, one less first down the offense has to get, that would have been extremely helpful.

He didn't and the Packers go three and out on their next possession.  The Seahawks get the ball, score in 1:43, and kick an onside kick.  Tight end Brandon Bostick leaps in the air, only to have it bounce off his hands and into the arms of a Seahawk.  And yet, the game is still in the Packers' control.  After shutting down the Seahawk offense for the whole game, the floodgates opened and the Pack allowed another TD in a Chip Kelly-esque 44 seconds.  Still, not a problem.

The Seahawks had the lead, but it was only 20-19.  If they don't get the two point conversion, then all Discount Double Check needs to do is drive them into field goal range to win the game (kicker Mason Crosby was already 4/4 on the day).  Wilson scrambles to his right, has his primary and probably secondary reads taken away, and just before he is about to be sacked, throws it across the field to no one in particular.  There were a couple Seahawks and a couple Packers hanging around, but the ball was in the air for so long that you pretty much assumed it would be knocked down.  Ha Ha Clinton Dix, not done with his comedic performance, tracked the ball, got in good position, and then let the ball gently fall into the hands of tight end Luke Willson.  I think everyone in the stadium was shocked that he caught the ball.  The rest of the game played out without any more major letdowns, but the damage had been done.  Remember, it was 19-7 with 11 minutes left to play.

Where Was The Read Option?
Perhaps the Seahawks wouldn't have been in such a hole had they run this play more often.  The coaching staffs of both Seattle and San Francisco seem to be trying to turn their running QBs into standard pocket passers.  That is not going to work.  Prior to the final two drives in regulation, which resulted in TDs by the way, the read option was basically absent from the playcalling.  Prior to those two drives, QB Russell Wilson had thrown four interceptions.  They finally opened it up towards the end of the game, and the Packer defense had no clue what was going on.  They were scrambling, out of position, and really had no answer for it.  Had Seattle incorporated this earlier in the game, I don't think there would have been an overtime as Seattle would have ran away with this game.

The Packers Need A Third Option
Seems weird to say since they already have a pro bowl WR (Jordy Nelson), a pro bowl running back (Eddie Lacy), and a pro bowl fullback (John Kuhn).  Davante Adams has shown flashes this year, but put up a one catch for seven yards line yesterday.  Maybe he'll wind up being that reliable third option, but he's still fairly raw.  The position they should be focusing on while trying to find that missing third piece is tight end.  Not to pile on with tight end Brandon Bostick blowing the onside kick recovery, but the Packers' tight ends haven't shown up this year.  The Packers are one of the few prolific passing offenses that doesn't have a reliable tight end.  The Pats have the Gronk, the Broncos have Julius Thomas, the Cowboys have Jason Witten, the Saints have Jimmy Graham, the Colts saw both Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener produce, and the Chargers have Antonio Gates.  Whether it is drafting one or developing one currently on their roster, I think a reliable tight end could be the key to overcoming great defenses like Seattle and Buffalo, whom they lost to this year.

AFC Championship:  Indianapolis - 7 New England - 45

Luck's Postseason Struggles Continue
I think Luck would rather face the '85 Bears than the Patriot defense.  For whatever reason, he just can't seem to figure out New England.  He had another terrible offensive game as he threw for 126 yards with zero TDs and two interceptions.  Both of his interceptions were terrible decisions and 100% his fault.  To be fair to Luck, his pass catchers dropped a few balls, but they've been doing that all year.  Luck has still been able to overcome that, but couldn't last night.  On a positive note, this is still only his third year and he has reached the postseason each year.  A lot of third year players would love to be in his situation.  They still have TY Hilton, Dan Herron has shown flashes, and Donte Moncrief has potential.  I think once that offensive line is improved, Luck should be able to take this team to the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.

Brady Can Still Sling It
A week after watching his long time rival Peyton Manning fade against this same Colt defense, Brady and the Pats surged from beginning to end.  226 yards isn't exactly lighting it up, but he did it with a 66% completion percentage as well as three TDs.  He was comfortable in the pocket, and even scrambled, albeit awkwardly, for a nine yard gain.  Many people, including myself, wrote him off early in the year, but he seems to be back to Golden Boy Brady form.  If he wins this Super Bowl, he has to be considered the greatest QB to ever play, without question.  The scary part is that, win or lose, he'll probably play another few seasons.

What The Formation?
Bill Belichick is one crafty dude.  One week after running a controversial formation against Baltimore, Belichick busted out the same crazy formation more than once against Indy.  Basically, you line up only four linemen, declare one of your players on the outside ineligible, and see if the defense knows what the heck is going on before you snap it.  The Colts at least got a sack one of the times they ran that formation, but were backpedaling the rest of the game.  Then they had numerous jumbo formations where they declared one of their big linemen eligible.  One of those plays resulted in a TD as tackle Nate Solder, lined up as a tackle, declared eligible, slipped out from the formation, caught the Brady pass, and rumbled for a 16 yard TD that gave the Pats a firm grasp on the game to start the second half.  Expect to see more of these formations, and probably some new ones, to try and confuse Seattle and the Legion of Boom.

Let Me Be Blount
Has anyone had a more up and down season than LaGarrette Blount?  After putting up 772 yards and seven TDs, along with being a surprisingly good returner in 2013, Blount was let go by the Pats this past offseason and signed with the Steelers.  This seemed like a great fit as Blount has that big back build and seemed like a great compliment to Le'Veon Bell.  Instead, his only good game came in a blowout in Week 3 in Carolina as he spent most of his time in Pittsburgh on the bench.  The straw that broke the camel's back was a Week 11 Monday Night Football game in Tennessee where Blount received zero carries, but the Steelers won.  He reportedly left the team and locker room early despite the team's success.  Mike Tomlin, being a no nonsense coach, cut him.

The Patriots, meanwhile, had been struggling to find a running back as Jonas Gray was a flash in the pan, Shane Vereen is not built for big workloads, and Stevan Ridley had been placed on injured reserve.  Blount was likely on a short leash given how things ended in Pittsburgh, but delivered back in New England and seemed like a new, happier player.  Go back to yesterday, and Blount was one of the main reasons why the Patriots won so convincingly as he amassed 148 yards and 3 TDs on the ground and wore the Colts down.  Just goes to show that sometimes a change of scenery can be a good and bad thing for a player.

Early Super Bowl Discussion

The deciding factor of this game will be Josh McDaniels and the schemes the Patriots come up with against the Seahawk defense.  With two weeks to prepare, I think the Seahawks will be ready for the Patriots' crazy formations they have shown the past couple weeks, but I'll bet that New England cooks up something special just for this game.  The Patriots, probably more than any other team in the league, also do a great job at spreading the ball around.  Consider that in last night's game, of the 23 passes that were completed by the Patriots, 14 were caught by wide receivers, three were caught by a running back, four were caught by tight ends, one was caught by a fullback, and one was caught by an offensive tackle.  This should make it harder on the Seahawks and should spread them out more.  In the end, I think the Pats are able to confuse the Seahawk defense enough, as Seattle doesn't find enough big plays to bail them out.  The Patriots are arguably the most disciplined team in the league so I put a zero percent chance on something like what happened to Green Bay, happening to them.

Prediction:  Patriots - 27 Seattle - 20

Matty O