There is one round of the NFL playoffs in the books and suffice to say it wasn’t the greatest display of football. There was a bit of history made as all four road teams won on Wild Card weekend for the first time ever. The road to the promised land gets bumpier for those four teams in the divisional round. So let’s take a look back as well as one forward in the first of a three part series on the State of the NFL Playoffs.
THE STATE OF THE AFC PLAYOFFS
Kansas City started off the Wild Card weekend in dominant fashion. Their win over the Texans was never in doubt as all three phases of the game were in top form against the AFC South champions. Knile Davis’ 106 kickoff return to begin the game set the tone. Alex Smith’s game management was at peak performance with Travis Kelce catching everything. Spencer Ware churned out tough first down after tough first down. The defense dominated Houston from the secondary to the pass rush. They exorcised playoff demons and kept from extending their NFL record 8 game playoff losing streak. They come out of the game relatively healthy and should provide stiff opposition to the Patriots, even in what should be miserable conditions at Foxboro on Saturday.
For the Texans it was a bitter end to a season with as many peaks as it had troughs. Their inability to keep a find a stable quarterback, or keep any of them healthy for that matter, was their ultimate downfall. This was on full display during their AFC Wild Card game. As Brian Hoyer was continually pummeled and throwing interceptions in bunches, head coach Bill O’Brien wouldn’t pull him in favor of Brandon Weeden. With the Colts in distress, Jacksonville not quite rebuilt, and Tennessee a total disasterpiece, Houston needs to address this glaring weakness. Wasting the prime of one of this generation’s top defenders in J.J. Watt is just inexcusable.
This game at Gillette has a bit of a revenge on the line for the Patriots. The last time the Chiefs and Pats locked horns it was a 41-14 bloodbath that had “experts” asking if Tom Brady’s career was over. Another Lombardi trophy on his mantle turned those shouts into faint whispers by season’s end. That game was at Arrowhead, and New England is going to want to turn the screws to the Chiefs on their home turf. The dark cloud surrounding them has been their injury woes. As Kansas City gets healthier, bodies continue to drop for the Patriots. Even the ones they are getting back are nowhere near 100%. However, this is the playoffs. Tom Brady is still under center and Bill Belichick is roaming the sidelines in his “business casual wear.” Even with an IR list that reads like a crudely translated copy of War and Peace, the Patriots have the majority of the odds in their favor. I expect them to beat the Chiefs. They will also hope to get out of the frigid affair unscathed.
This was the last thing that Steelers fans wanted to see happen during their Wild Card playoffs game with division rival Cincinnati. Ben Roethlisberger could only watch as the 15 point lead he had staked his team to over two quarters and change evaporated. Landry Jones played like a sleeper agent for Who Dey Nation, but in the end it was actually their own players who were their undoing. Big Ben returned, visibly shaken still, and had Pittsburgh at just over midfield with 30 seconds to go. The Bengals then unleashed a barrage of idiocy and unprofessionalism that only the Bengals could. Two back to back penalties put the Steelers in field goal range and it was all she wrote.
While the Chiefs avoided a record setting ninth straight playoff loss, the Bengals joined them in the pantheon of playoff losers with their eighth straight postseason defeat. A.J. McCarron seemed out of his depth for the majority of the evening, but he made the plays necessary to break his club out of their January funk. Instead, the same classless individuals that the organization has taken chances on time and time again bit them in the keister. The exodus has already begun as offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is off to be the new head coach in Cleveland. Head coach Marvin Lewis may be the next one out, but it won’t be of his own accord.
The main event on Sunday all comes down to how healthy Ben Roethlisberger will be. Antonio Brown’s game log alone should be enough to emphasize his importance to the club. Then again, Brown himself will most likely sit this vital contest out as he goes through the NFL’s concussion protocol. Denver isn’t going to take it easy on the shorthanded Steelers, especially with the memory of Pittsburgh’s comeback victory less than a month ago. Landry Jones has shown his inability to deal with even mediocre defenses. If Roethlisberger can gut it out, he may be just one mere free shot away from shortening his career. It is a horrible scenario that the Steelers face, but it is one they’ve been accustomed to over the past half decade. No team has dealt with the quantity of injuries that Pittsburgh has had in recent years. It will be a tough hill to climb at Mile High, but if there is any team capable of adaptation it is Mike Tomlin’s men. You just have to think unless Peyton Manning puts up a KC caliber stinker, the AFC North will be devoid of representation in the AFC Championship Game.
THE STATE OF THE NFC PLAYOFFS
Every Super Bowl team in recent memory had their certain stroke of luck. New England had Seattle’s inexplicable pass play to end last year’s Super Bowl. Seattle got to the big game the year before on a fourth down touchdown. People in Denver still wince over the thought of Joe Flacco’s overtime forcing Hail Mary in 2013. Seattle may have gotten their rabbit’s foot even earlier. Nearly automatic Blair Walsh bricked a 27 yard field goal, sparking visions of Scott Norwood, Billy Cundiff, and Mike Vanderjagt in the heads of the public. Heartbreaking doesn’t even begin to describe the range of emotions that Vikings fans, as well as casual NFL viewers, went through during those pivotal moments. But Seattle are the defending conference champions for a reason, and the football gods weren’t going to knock them off that pedestal just yet.
Minnesota began the season in horrible fashion in an embarrassing loss to the 49ers. The fortitude the team showed afterwards was hopefully a sign of things to come in Viking country. Teddy Bridgewater is still developing as a signal caller, but in the meantime he’s become a steady hand at quarterback. The defense predictably improved under Mike Zimmer, but not even he could have dreamed of the cohesion of what looked like loose parts entering 2015. Rookie wide receiver Stefon Diggs emerged as a top flight target that the Vikings haven’t had since Percy Harvin. Adrian Peterson may have garnered MVP votes in his return, if you know, that Cam Newton guy wasn’t there.
Speaking of Newton, the 15-1 Panthers stand between Seahawks and a third straight NFC Championship Game. Newton has had an amazing season, but the playoffs are a different beast. Russell Wilson knows what it takes in the playoffs. They have a substantially better record heading into this game, but many people fail to remember that these two squads met in the same round last year. Where the game is being played has changed, but the rosters remain relatively similar. And yes, I am aware that the Panthers went into Seattle in Week 6 and showed great resilience in a win. But that Seattle team was light years different than what they are now. It will be an instant classic, but the Seahawks will continue the preservation of their dynasty at the hands of a burgeoning one.
On the other half of the NFC bracket, the Packers ended the weekend of the road team with a win at Washington. The soon to be Mr. Olivia Munn Aaron Rodgers will get the most praise, but it was Green Bay’s duo of running backs that should worry Arizona the most. James Starks and Eddie Lacy have been benign all season, but their play in Washington gave the Pack some much needed offensive balance. Every time the Redskins thought they had Green Bay in a precarious situation, Starks or Lacy would come up with the yards. If Green Bay wants to have any chance of a repeat of their last clash with Arizona, they’ll need their backs to perform a road encore.
Like Minnesota, Washington turned what could have been a lost season into one to build on. Kirk Cousins has gone from the league’s most dangerous backup quarterback to a true NFL starter. With Washington’s track record though, they should probably be wary of overspending to compensate him. They have a brutal reminder of that eating a large percentage of their cap from the bench. With the rest of the NFC East in flux, it is time for the Redskins to address their weaknesses, mainly on defense, and become regular playoffs staples. They have a coach in Jay Gruden who plays people on merit, which will only breed the necessary competition as well as attract free agents. Whether or not owner Dan Snyder lets the seeds of success germinate is an entirely contrasting question.
Arizona comes into this game as the favorite, but there are still doubts about the Cardinals. Once an under the radar powerhouse, their Week 17 throttling at the hands of the Seahawks put trepidation in the minds of their backers and fans. Carson Palmer will want to quell all those fears early on against the Packers. Having to watch his team get unceremoniously dumped from the postseason last year still stings Palmer as well as other returning Cardinals. Larry Fitzgerald and the receiving corps will be looking to take advantage of the Packers secondary in ways that Washington could not. Their defense is much more equipped to handle what Washington failed to stop as well. I wish there was more to be analyzed for this one, but it can’t be anything other than a decisive Arizona win.
Enjoy all the games this weekend and come back next week for the next State of the NFL Playoffs. We will recap the divisional round and preview each division’s respective championship game. In the interim you can follow me on Twitter @TREVORutley as well as the site at @sportsftb. You should probably just do both to be safe.