NFL Divisional Finals Review: By Kyle Balfour
And then...there were four.
The Conference Championships are upon us, and we have narrowed it down to the two remaining finalists from each conference, ready to face each other to advance onto the holy land of football: known to all as the Superbowl (I'm running out of ways to make this same style of introduction...)
So let's recap the Divisional Finals!
Game 1:
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Result: Eagles 15-10 Falcons
Stuart Said: Falcons (0-1)
Kyle Said: Falcons (0-1)
How does the top seed go from...well, that, to underdogs? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
Regardless, an 'lergy suffering Eagles squad managed to duel it out in a very war-of-attrition style game with the Falcons. The Falcons O-Line couldn't contain the talent still alive on the Eagles defence (Fletcher Cox...offt), and the Eagles run game trampled onward. Despite some very good chemistry between Matt Ryan and Julio Jones to keep the Falcons hopes alive (a very fine touchdown throw by Ryan, as well), it wasn't enough.
Then a beloved 4th-and-season (patent pending) occurs for the Falcons, and Julio Jones falls down, gets up, realises he's left it way too late, and fails to make the catch due to lack of energy on his jump, never mind that his feet probably wouldn't have remained inbounds. A very underachieving performance here by the Falcons, and the Eagles march onward, and with it: an insufferable, cancerous fan base begins to awaken. Dear god...what are we doing?
Game 2:
New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Result: Patriots 35-14 Titans
Stuart Said: Patriots (1-1)
Kyle Said: Titans (0-2)
Move along, folks, nothing to see here.
This went exactly as predicted. The Titans make the audacious move to take the lead early, only to suffer the wrath of the Patriot war machine and be obliterated on the counterattack. Titans then respond too little, too late, knee deep into 'garbage time'.
Moan about officiating all you want (hell, you could make a very fine drinking game every time the Patriots and 'rigged', or 'cheated', or 'refs jobbed the other team' come up in the same sentence), but this was inevitable. The Titans exceeded all expectations this season, came up against their biggest threat, and they lost.
They tried, they lost. Dilly, dilly.
Game 3:
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Result: Steelers 42-45 Jaguars
Stuart Said: Steelers (1-2)
Kyle Said: Steelers (0-3)
...they did it again, didn't they? God damnit...
Once again, the Pittsburgh fucking Steelers refused to take their opponent seriously. An incredibly sloppy and lacklustre start undermined what was a highly amusing back and fourth of offensive prowess: aerial bombs from Big Ben and Le'Veon Bell patiently weaving his way, and Leonard Fournette trailblazing his way through the Steelers' defence. It was all for nothing, however. Had the Steelers kept their heads in it from the start, they may have won, if not have at least secured overtime. Instead, they blew it.
Now is this truly a question of the Steelers being the Steelers and blowing it (again), or is this just showing how good the Jaguars have finally become? Here's a comic by DrawPlayDave detailing what I mean: http://www.thedrawplay.com/comic/so-do-we-respect-the-jags-or-what/
When the Jags would lose, everyone would shit on them, because that's what they've been used to for years. It's status quo. Now that they have an elite and highly promising defence, a very promising running back group in Leonard Fournette and T.J Yeldon, and decent receivers, criticism then lands onto the opponent. The only thing that's holding back this team into being a genuine, no-questions-asked, doubtless Superbowl contender is Blake fucking Bortles. This is what I think is the reason the doubt is still cast upon the Jaguars, despite the numerous steps taken in becoming a great team.
What I will say is that this game was a matter of both. 42-45 doesn't happen if one team bottles it. The Steelers were good (heading into the second half, anyway.), but the Jaguars played for 4 whole quarters. They started up and didn't stop until final whistle. That's the difference maker. Steelers smashed the snooze button, and by then the lead and constant retaliations from the Jags was too much.
Now watch as Blake fucking Bortles prolapses his way to the AFC Conference Finals - the Jags first since 1999. Can you imagine the Jaguars if they had a real quarterback? Instead of this pile of crap, shackled to his team like a ball-and-chain?
Please come back, Tom Coughlin. Please?
Game 4:
Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints
U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Result Vikings 29-24 Saints
Stuart Said: Saints (1-3)
Kyle Said: Saints (0-4)
I expected a game of the season calibre match, and what I watched was exactly that: Truly a spectacular game.
The Vikings start as they mean to go on: a strong run and pass game coupled with their highly touted and consistent defence were all on full display in the first half. Drew Brees looked rusty, blowing constant 3rd downs, Kamara and Imgram were nowhere to be found, as were Ginn and Thomas. Top it off with Brees throwing 2 interceptions, and the Saints look in trouble.
Then came the second half, and a very costly interception thrown by Case Keenum shifts momentum the Saints way. Brees to Thomas, twice. Vikings can only answer with field goals, their defence is starting to falter, Keenum is being too trigger happy with his throws. Ohh dear...
However, the Vikings do manage to get inside Sean Payton's head. Throwing away both his challenge flags on calls that ranged from questionable to "what the fuck are you doing, Sean Payton?!" (I literally said that out loud after the second flag was thrown). First one, I get that. You've not got much to lose, you've got all 3 timeouts, take the L if it doesn't go your way. Nothing lost from that venture. Then the next one: there was just no need for it. It was for an incomplete pass anyway, just let it go. It doesn't matter if they're trying to hurry up the next snap to negate a call, they set the bait and you took it.
So the Saints suffer a mind boggling technical setback. However, the game is still going their way. They take the lead with 25 seconds left to go thanks to a Wil Lutz field goal. It's all or nothing for the Vikings.
4th quarter. 3rd down and 10 for the Vikings. 10 seconds. Saints are doing everything in their defensive power to stop the Vikings from making kicker Kai Forbath's job as easy as possible. Horrible flashbacks of having to rely on a final kick to seal the game are pouring into the heads of every Vikings fan, young and old. Gary Anderson missing his first of the entire season against the Falcons in the NFC conference finals in 1999, the anti-kicker himself Blair Walsh whiffing on a chip shot field goal during the Wildcard against the Seahawks in 2016. It doesn't get more nerve racking that that.
Case Keenum throws...
Saints' rookie safety Marcus Williams undershoots his tackle attempt; Vikings wide receiver Stefan Diggs is open...
It's CAUGHT! DIGGS! SIDELINE! TOUCHDOWN!
An unbelievable win for the Vikings, and a truly valiant effort by the Saints. Just a fantastic game.
Nothing much else to say. Once again, all flavours of matches were on show here. The underachieving Falcons doing just that; the first Rocky vs. Clubber Lang fight from Rocky III that was the Titans vs. Patriots; the offensive shitshow that was the Steelers vs. Jaguars; and the down-to-the-wire showdown of the Vikings vs. Saints
See you for the Conference Championships!
The Conference Championships are upon us, and we have narrowed it down to the two remaining finalists from each conference, ready to face each other to advance onto the holy land of football: known to all as the Superbowl (I'm running out of ways to make this same style of introduction...)
So let's recap the Divisional Finals!
Game 1:
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Result: Eagles 15-10 Falcons
Stuart Said: Falcons (0-1)
Kyle Said: Falcons (0-1)
How does the top seed go from...well, that, to underdogs? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?
Regardless, an 'lergy suffering Eagles squad managed to duel it out in a very war-of-attrition style game with the Falcons. The Falcons O-Line couldn't contain the talent still alive on the Eagles defence (Fletcher Cox...offt), and the Eagles run game trampled onward. Despite some very good chemistry between Matt Ryan and Julio Jones to keep the Falcons hopes alive (a very fine touchdown throw by Ryan, as well), it wasn't enough.
Then a beloved 4th-and-season (patent pending) occurs for the Falcons, and Julio Jones falls down, gets up, realises he's left it way too late, and fails to make the catch due to lack of energy on his jump, never mind that his feet probably wouldn't have remained inbounds. A very underachieving performance here by the Falcons, and the Eagles march onward, and with it: an insufferable, cancerous fan base begins to awaken. Dear god...what are we doing?
Game 2:
New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Result: Patriots 35-14 Titans
Stuart Said: Patriots (1-1)
Kyle Said: Titans (0-2)
Move along, folks, nothing to see here.
This went exactly as predicted. The Titans make the audacious move to take the lead early, only to suffer the wrath of the Patriot war machine and be obliterated on the counterattack. Titans then respond too little, too late, knee deep into 'garbage time'.
Moan about officiating all you want (hell, you could make a very fine drinking game every time the Patriots and 'rigged', or 'cheated', or 'refs jobbed the other team' come up in the same sentence), but this was inevitable. The Titans exceeded all expectations this season, came up against their biggest threat, and they lost.
They tried, they lost. Dilly, dilly.
Game 3:
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Result: Steelers 42-45 Jaguars
Stuart Said: Steelers (1-2)
Kyle Said: Steelers (0-3)
...they did it again, didn't they? God damnit...
Once again, the Pittsburgh fucking Steelers refused to take their opponent seriously. An incredibly sloppy and lacklustre start undermined what was a highly amusing back and fourth of offensive prowess: aerial bombs from Big Ben and Le'Veon Bell patiently weaving his way, and Leonard Fournette trailblazing his way through the Steelers' defence. It was all for nothing, however. Had the Steelers kept their heads in it from the start, they may have won, if not have at least secured overtime. Instead, they blew it.
Now is this truly a question of the Steelers being the Steelers and blowing it (again), or is this just showing how good the Jaguars have finally become? Here's a comic by DrawPlayDave detailing what I mean: http://www.thedrawplay.com/comic/so-do-we-respect-the-jags-or-what/
When the Jags would lose, everyone would shit on them, because that's what they've been used to for years. It's status quo. Now that they have an elite and highly promising defence, a very promising running back group in Leonard Fournette and T.J Yeldon, and decent receivers, criticism then lands onto the opponent. The only thing that's holding back this team into being a genuine, no-questions-asked, doubtless Superbowl contender is Blake fucking Bortles. This is what I think is the reason the doubt is still cast upon the Jaguars, despite the numerous steps taken in becoming a great team.
What I will say is that this game was a matter of both. 42-45 doesn't happen if one team bottles it. The Steelers were good (heading into the second half, anyway.), but the Jaguars played for 4 whole quarters. They started up and didn't stop until final whistle. That's the difference maker. Steelers smashed the snooze button, and by then the lead and constant retaliations from the Jags was too much.
Now watch as Blake fucking Bortles prolapses his way to the AFC Conference Finals - the Jags first since 1999. Can you imagine the Jaguars if they had a real quarterback? Instead of this pile of crap, shackled to his team like a ball-and-chain?
Please come back, Tom Coughlin. Please?
Game 4:
Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints
U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Result Vikings 29-24 Saints
Stuart Said: Saints (1-3)
Kyle Said: Saints (0-4)
I expected a game of the season calibre match, and what I watched was exactly that: Truly a spectacular game.
The Vikings start as they mean to go on: a strong run and pass game coupled with their highly touted and consistent defence were all on full display in the first half. Drew Brees looked rusty, blowing constant 3rd downs, Kamara and Imgram were nowhere to be found, as were Ginn and Thomas. Top it off with Brees throwing 2 interceptions, and the Saints look in trouble.
Then came the second half, and a very costly interception thrown by Case Keenum shifts momentum the Saints way. Brees to Thomas, twice. Vikings can only answer with field goals, their defence is starting to falter, Keenum is being too trigger happy with his throws. Ohh dear...
However, the Vikings do manage to get inside Sean Payton's head. Throwing away both his challenge flags on calls that ranged from questionable to "what the fuck are you doing, Sean Payton?!" (I literally said that out loud after the second flag was thrown). First one, I get that. You've not got much to lose, you've got all 3 timeouts, take the L if it doesn't go your way. Nothing lost from that venture. Then the next one: there was just no need for it. It was for an incomplete pass anyway, just let it go. It doesn't matter if they're trying to hurry up the next snap to negate a call, they set the bait and you took it.
So the Saints suffer a mind boggling technical setback. However, the game is still going their way. They take the lead with 25 seconds left to go thanks to a Wil Lutz field goal. It's all or nothing for the Vikings.
4th quarter. 3rd down and 10 for the Vikings. 10 seconds. Saints are doing everything in their defensive power to stop the Vikings from making kicker Kai Forbath's job as easy as possible. Horrible flashbacks of having to rely on a final kick to seal the game are pouring into the heads of every Vikings fan, young and old. Gary Anderson missing his first of the entire season against the Falcons in the NFC conference finals in 1999, the anti-kicker himself Blair Walsh whiffing on a chip shot field goal during the Wildcard against the Seahawks in 2016. It doesn't get more nerve racking that that.
Case Keenum throws...
Saints' rookie safety Marcus Williams undershoots his tackle attempt; Vikings wide receiver Stefan Diggs is open...
It's CAUGHT! DIGGS! SIDELINE! TOUCHDOWN!
An unbelievable win for the Vikings, and a truly valiant effort by the Saints. Just a fantastic game.
Nothing much else to say. Once again, all flavours of matches were on show here. The underachieving Falcons doing just that; the first Rocky vs. Clubber Lang fight from Rocky III that was the Titans vs. Patriots; the offensive shitshow that was the Steelers vs. Jaguars; and the down-to-the-wire showdown of the Vikings vs. Saints
See you for the Conference Championships!
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