The Apprentice Becomes The Mentor! Jets: 34 Patriots: 28 This had to be one of the most hyped playoff games in recent memory. Two bitter rivals which have been fueled by coaching changes throughout the years (Pete Carroll, Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Eric Mangini). Both coaches before the game put all problems aside and stunned reporters by engaging in friendly talk at the 50 yardline as their teams worked out, there was even a crisp handshake. This game was no defensive battle, as both teams reached well above 300+ yards on the ground and in the air. The Jets racked up 341 yards of total offense while the Patriots gained an amazing 462 yards of total offense. Leon Washington set the tone for whole game, rushing for 141 yds with 1 TD run. "It almost looked like a tornado ran through their defensive line and I was able to go through without a problem, the offensive line did a great job for me today" Washington stated. Shaun Ellis made a statement to reports after the game, "We might have given up a lot of yards but look at the score, thats all that matters, we stopped them when we needed to stop them." James Sanders had a nice day for the Patriots defense with 6 tackles and a forced fumble that the Patriots would later capitalize on with Cory Dillion's only TD run of the day. Dillion rushed 13 times and gaining 70 yds on the ground. Both Quarterbacks had great days: Pennington 142.4 QB Rating 177 Yds 2TD 0INT Brady 100.3 QB Rating 380 Yds 2TD 1INT (Brady also completed passes to 10 different receivers) On the final drive, it was looking like Tom Brady would lead one of his valiant drives for the win; Vilma had other plans, on 4th and 10 Tom Brady dropped back and saw his Ben Watson in one on one coverage with Jonathan Vilma. Brady's eyes lit up as he threw a touch pass that was perfectly thrown, at the last second Vilma displayed excellent coverage skills on an overmatched reciever to bat the pass away. The surprise team of the year knocked off not only their bitter rivals in the Wild Card round, but they knocked off a team that has been a modern day dynasty. The end of game festivities were not as cordial as the beginning of the game, with Bill Belichick not even meeting Mangini at the center of the field. After the game Mangini stated "You win some, you lose some, but as long as we're better then the Patriots thats all that matters." Obviously Mangini isnt worried about ruffeling some feathers. It looks like the "MANGENIUS" who eats pie and ice cream with his kids after a win prepared his team for this game. Player of the Game: Leon Washington 14 Att. 141 Yds 1 TD 2 Catches 22 Yds
LJ: Ride me to the Superbowl! Colts: 24 Chiefs: 41 This is the team that the Colts did not want to see at all in the playoffs. This Chiefs team is the Colts worst nightmare! The Colts came into the game absolutly putrid against the run; Larry Johnson was licking his chopps during pre-game warm-ups. "I hope these fans are ready for a show! I told coach, just give me touches, give me touches!" Herman Edwards must have listened to his back because like the regular season he leaned on his RB for a lot of carries, 41 to be exact in todays game. Johnson exploded for a league record 308 yards rushing, and 5 rushing touchdowns! It almost looked as if Tony Dungy didnt prepare for Johnson at all. In statements made during his press conference, Dungy stated "It was absolutly terrible, Ive never seen anything like it. Everytime we tried a new defensive look he would just pound over people! You cant stop that, we just didnt tackle today." Another surprise was the play of Peyton Manning, or was it so surprising? Manning is known for choking in big games, and he lived up to that title today. While Peyton threw for 279 yds, he did not throw a TD pass, and threw 2 INT while fumbling twice as well. and his rating hit a lowly 57.5. Peyton however, didnt get any help from his line, as he was sacked five times. When Manning was asked of his issues he simply said "next question," Colts fans are going to start wanting answers Mr. Manning, so you better find a way to start winning in the playoffs. This is the look of a defeated man Garry Bracket, of the Colts defense had a great game and was the only Colts player that could say anything at all. "I want to crawl into a hole right now. There was no reason for this. Our defense gave up today. Im speechless." Bracket ended the day with 11 Tackles and 4 tackels for a loss, he was the only player that seemed to be able to wrestle LJ down. This game was not really a surprise, many people knew going into this game that LJ would dominate and it was up to Manning to pick up the slack. A lot of questions need to be answered over the off season for this Colts team, including some defensive players that dont quit on their team. Overall a very disappointing game for the Colts with a total of 5 turnovers. Leading Recievers: Tony Gonzalez: 4 Rec, 53 Yds Marvin Harrison: 4 Rec 97 Yds Brandon Stokley: 3 Rec 104 Yds Leading Rushers: Larry Johnson: 308 Yds 5 Td Joseph Addai 63 Yds 3 TD Leading Passers: Trent Green 91.8 RTG 126 Yds 0 TD 0 INT Peyton Manning 57.5 RTG 279 Yds 0 TD 2 INT Player of the Game: Larry Johnson
The NFL should not force teams to play games where the outcome is already known!!! Send this thread to the front office so we can begin preparing for the Ravens. Sheeesh.
Eagles Continue Hot Streak Against Division Rival Giants Giants:27 Eagles:30 The Giants season took another downfall yesterday in the city of brotherly love. The Giants team which has been pointing fingers at each other since the middle of the season had nobody else to point at after this loss. Eli Manning continued to struggle, Tiki got the ball for a minimal 17 touches, Plaxico was non-existant with 0 catches, Shockey was out for the game and felt that his ankle couldnt handle the load needed to play, but c'mon man...its the playoffs. Is Eli the most overrated QB in the NFL? The one bright spot for the Giants was their run defense. Westbrook carried the ball 12 times and only gaining 33 yds, we all know that Westbrook can catch though, and he did, 222 yds to be exact. He was the leading reciever in the game catching the bal 14 times. Mathias Kiwanuka had a career day with 2 sacks and 5 tackels, but he always seemed to be pressuring the QB and getting into the backfield. This didnt rattle Garcia who has become quite the seasoned veteran within the past few weeks. Jeff Garcia attempted 29 passes while completing 22 of them, Garcia threw 2 TD strikes, one to Westbrook and another to Stallworth, Garcia racked up a total of 368 yds in the air. This is what the Giants expected when they selected Kiwanuka in the first round this year. In a strange stat, the Giants did a much better job on 3rd down conversions going 6-12 (50%) which was much better then the Eagles 3-8 (37%) but at the end of the day, stats get thrown out the window and the winner of the game just plays better football. This was a typical grindout playoff game, with everything on the line, both teams tried their best to neutralize their opponants strongest asset. The eagles accomplished this in eliminating Burress from the game but the Giants found no answer to Brian Westbrook out of the backfield. Is the Tom Coughlin's last hurrah? With a performance like this it is very possible. "Im here to do a job, get the right people to help me with my job and coach a bunch of guys that have been playing this game all their life. I need players with heart that will out their bodys on the line and their egos at home. If im back next year then there will be a lot of changes because this wont happen again." A dejected Coughlin said after the game. Player of the Game: Brian Westbrook 12 carries 33 yds 0 td 14 receptions 222 yds 1 td
"Nail Biter in Seattle" Cowboys:31 Seahawks:30 The Tuna (aka Bill Parcells) will give it another go in the divisional round next weekend, for now he will enjoy the last second win in Seattle. Here is how it played out: The Cowboys were down 28-30 with 3:15 seconds to go in the fourth quarter (thats quite a bit of time seeing that we use 5:00 quarters). Tony Romo did a great job stringing out the drive and getting into fieldgoal range. Parcells did a great job at clock management as well. As the clock ticked to the 2 minute warning the Boys were on their own 40 looking to gain another 10 yards to get into field goal range. The next play was golden, Owens caught an out route for a 12 yd gain. With 1:49 left all the Cowboys needed to do was pound the ball, which they did. The Cowboys ended up with two first downs while running the ball getting it to the 2 yard line. While the clock continued to roll (38 on the game clock, 33 on the play clock) the 'Boys decided to take the penalty and try to draw the defense offsides. It worked! the clock stopped with :04 seconds and the ball on the 1 yardline. The rest is history. Wait a second! Here is the best part. That field goal should have been for the TIE! late in the 3rd quarter, the Seahawks had scored their final TD and elected to go for 2! needless to say they were rejected, leaving Cowboys one last shot that they capitalized on. When asked after the game what Holmgren was thinking, "We felt we had momentum, we wanted to make it hard on them to score a TD, it was a stupid mistake, and I put all the blame on me for this loss." Bill Parcells said of the move: "To tell you the truth he caught me totally of guard! We had our FG unit out their to try to block the kick and before we knew it the play was off. Thankfully it was a run up the middle :chuckles:." We cant believe it either Bill. Tony Romo got back to his old ways by having an unbelievable 157.7 QB rtg, throwing for 300 yds, 3 TD and 0 INT. Hasslebeck also had a good game but had too many mistakes, throwing for 392 yds, 4 TD and 2 INT. The running game was suspect on both ends with Julius Jones picking up 76 yds on 16 att. with 1 TD, while Shaun Alexander picked up 55 yds on 16 att with 0 TD. Alexander was fuming after the game. "This is all ********, how the hell do I get 16 touches in a playoff game! Is this what i signed a contract for last year to stay here? I dont know what happened, its like we totally abandon the run! Why i dont know...its crazy." Alexander wasnt celebrating after this one. Nate Burlesson had a great day, as he was Hasslebeck's favorite target, hauling in 253 yds, and 3 td catches, on only 8 receptions. Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton created their own tandem with Owens catching 5 for 123 yds and a TD and Crayton catching 3 for 103 yds and a TD. Burleson had a career day Jordan Babineaux was flying around the field for Seattle. He finished the day with 8 tackles and 1 sack. The Cowboys pass defense was terrible and so was their tackling after the catch. Roy Williams ended up with 6 tackles and a forced fumble but missed 7 tackles as well. "Im dissappointed in my overall performance today but im happy for the win and the team effort. Im going to need to step up next round." Williams said. Akin Ayodel also had a good game with 4 tackles and 2 sacks. Babineaux is a young and rising star for the 'Hawks So now with the Seahawks out and the Steelers not even in the playoffs, both superbowl teams from last year will be watching the show from their living rooms this year. Player of the Game: Tony Romo 157.7 QB RTG 3 TD 0 INT
Jets Surprise Season Ends In Baltimore Ravens:28 Jets:17 In a total turn of events from last game, Chad Pennington had a horrible game, throwing 4 interceptions. This seems to be the way Chad functions now because it was like this during the regular season as well. One game he throws great and looks like the "Old Chad" and the next he makes stupid mistakes. Pennington ended the day with a 83.3 RTG, 215 Yds, 1TD 4 INT. Yardage wise, Pennington did fine, if he eliminated the mistakes the Jets could have, and should have one this game. The Jets defense did a nice job holding Lewis to under 100 yards, allowing only 90 yards, but 2 TD on 21 ATT. McNair did a nice job, but nothing spectacular. 153 yds 2td and 1int. Leon Washington had a let down day after his 141 yd performance, but he only had 13 carries so 52 yards isnt so bad. He ended with 0 TD. Chris Baker was the leading reciver for the Jets with 5 rec and 55 yds, while Demetrius Williams was the only reciever to go over the 100 yd mark with 115 yds, a td on 4 rec. The way this game was won was on defense and forcing the Jets into mistakes. The offensive line didnt hold up and allowed 3 sacks by Terrel Suggs. Ray Lewis ended with 6 tack and 3 tack for a loss. Ed Reed ended the way with 6 Tack and 2 INT. Eric Mangini praised Brian Billick after the game. "This is Brian's style of coaching, it is hard to out think him, he is a brilliant guy when it comes to football. He had our coaching staff guessing all game. We just needed to learn from this game and take everything from this year and have a good offseason. We're looking forward to next year." Player of the Game: Ed Reed 6 Tackles, 2 INT.
