Friday 18 January 2013

What we learned: NFL divisional playoff round!









By JC Godin
 
Holy mother of lord!! What a weekend that was!!! I do not recall an NFL playoff weekend where we had two instant classics and maybe the birth of "the next thing," the second coming, Colin Kaepernick!!!

Let's talk Kaepernick! Recall what I said about Kap when he first got wet?? Dual-threat QB, makes it harder for defenses. It's hard to game plan versus such a threat when your offensive line is DOMINANT and your running back is named Frank Gore!! But what really stood out about Colin is not how fast he can run, nor how smart he is at reading defenses, but the accuracy on his throws are close to sublime! I'm not joking!! Pay close attention this Sunday or go look back at some game tape! Green Bay put up a good fight, but by the end of the third quarter, that D had no answer for Kap!!

We witnessed the Pats win at home... Bla bla bla.... Zzzzzzzz... Snore fest!!! We all knew New England was going to win and we didn't learn anything! We already knew that Matt Schaub stinks in red zone and third down situations!
Next!!

Alright, classic #2 showed us how good the Seattle Seahawks are, even in defeat! Scoring 28 unanswered points in two quarters!! WOW!! Colin Cowherd of ESPN claims that Russell Wilson is a top-five QB in the NFL, and you know what? I kind of agree with him! Seattle is going to kick some serious ass next year and maybe for many years to come! One thing is for sure, the Seahwaks/49ers, Wilson/Kaepernick feud will be fun to watch! And that Seahawks D will still shine regardless of the loss of their defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who took the job as HC in Jacksonville!

I have to give it to the Falcons though, Matt Ryan is also top five QB in the league! He is leading this team well, and a lot of the credit has to go to HC Mike Smith, who hired Mike Nolan and Dirk Koetter as DC and OC! But on Sunday, this is where it stops for the Falcons!

Classic #1, Ravens vs Broncos, was maybe the best game I have ever watched, and I've seen plenty of football! There is so much to take from this game, I don't know where to start! John Fox's conservative ways again come and bite him in the rear-end! How all mighty Peyton looked like someone who could not make a 20-yard pass from the third quarter on! How safety Rahim Moore misplayed the ball and that is quite the under statement!!! That was bad!!!! Just Horrible ball skills!! But most of all, what I took from this game was the never give up, believe attitude the Ravens had throughout the match!! Joseph Flacco is also top five in the NFL! Say what you want to say, but Flacco is LIGHTS OUT!! Ever since coach Harbaugh fired OC Cam Cameroun, it's like the "training wheels" finally came off!! It was truly a team effort, from Flacco to Ray Rice to Ray Lewis and his 17 tackles! SAY WHAT!! Yes, 17 tackles!! From Torrey Smith's first half to Anquan Boldin's 2nd half! From T-Sizzle to CB Corey Graham, who played the game of his life!! The fifth round draft pick of the Chicago Bears from 2007 never played such a game in his career!! That's playoffs. The unsung hero emerges from that one game at that special time!! The most impressive thing about the Ravens win is the fact that they won despite the fact they gave up two special teams TDs to Trindon Holliday (I'm sure the Texans are kicking themselves after cutting him!!)! On a side note, I was quite glad to see the Broncos lose! Take that, John Elway!! The way he played Tebow out of Denver, let's just call what happened on Saturday poetic justice! I'm sure Elway had nightmares of last year's playoff game against the Steelers! Te-Bow, Te-Bow!!! Tebow has one thing Manning doesn't - A playoff win as a Denver Bronco!!

Looking at championship Sunday's games, as I stated earlier, I think the Niners will beat the Falcons! The O-line and D is way too dominant right now, and with the emergence of Colin Kaepernick, forget about it!! Nice season Falcons! Though I don't expect the Niners to steamroll all over the Falcons! Atlanta will make it interesting!

As for the AFC, the Ravens are the team nobody wants to play right now!! Ray's goodbye gave this team the last push it needed after Cameroun's firing! The Ravens are rolling on all cylinders!! Yes this is the all-mighty Pats, and I'm a huge Tom Brady guy, I like Brady, but Flacco out-balled him in the last two meetings against him. He also just out-balled Peyton Manning! The Ravens have no reason to fear the Pats, but the Pats should fear the Ravens!! This is a dangerous team to play against! If football gods truly exist, the Ravens will win against New England and make it to the Super Bowl!! Win or lose, it don't matter; just to make it there will be incredible for the franchise! It will be the last time Lewis, Reed and Suggs will get to play together, and how fitting would it be for them to do it on the biggest stage of them all!!

How sweet would it be to see the two brother coaches go at it for the Lombardi Trophy! Let's go Niners and Ravens!!! 

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