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Pittsburgh edging Baltimore. The Steelers rally from a 14 point halftime deficit to win. Ben Roethlisberger’s 3rd and 19 pass to rookie Antonio Brown set up the game winning touchdown. In the first half the Steelers offensive line was getting whipped all over the place, they couldn’t run and they couldn’t protect Roethlisberger, who fumbled which allowed the Ravens to get a cheap first quarter touchdown. Their Steelers defense ignited the second half comeback by forcing Ray Rice to his first fumble in over 400 touches. This got the momentum on their side. Joe Flacco then threw a interception that got the Steelers in position to get even. The Steelers defense kept the Ravens from getting anything going throughout the game, but it was dropped passes by wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J Houshmandzadeh that aided them. Boldin dropped a pass in the fourth quarter that would have given the Ravens the lead again and shifting momentum back the Ravens way. Houshmandzahed then dropped a 4th down pass that would have giving the Ravens a first down in their attempt to tie the game late. The biggest play came when the Raven’s defense had a brain freeze and watched Antonio Brown glide past them with to catch the ball with his helmet. The Ravens had plenty of chances to win and advance by like many of their previous losses the Steelers, but this one will sting the most because it was in the literally in the hands. Green Bay blowing out Atlanta. The Packers started out slow but once they got rolling it was no contest. Aaron Rodgers was fantastic, spinning out of sacks, running for first downs and throwing accurate passes to that his receivers could not have dropped if they tried. It's hard to believe that people still doubt how good he is. Rodgers is playing at superstar level. The Packers defense was it’s usual stingy self pressuring and sacking Matt Ryan throughout the game and stifling the Falcons top ranked run offense. Tramon Williams 2nd interception and return for a touchdown was the game breaker. It was obvious that the Packers were the better team. The Packers were so dominating controlling the clock for almost two thirds of the game and making many Falcon fans to leave in the third quarter and Packer fans buying tickets and booking flights to Chicago. The Falcons after a good start played like they thought that home field was going to carry them through to victory. It did not and they were embarrassed. A bitter end to a season that looked so promising at the start of the playoffs. The Packers are playing so well that no wonder their divisional rival Chicago Bears played to hard in the final game to knock them out. Chicago blasting Seattle. The Bears and Jay Cutler came out smoking hot and blew out the Seahawks. His long pass the tight end Greg Olson set the tone early. The Bears often criticized offense line gave Culter plenty of time to get the ball down field and allowing the running game to control the clock. The Bears defense for the most part did not allow the suddenly resurgent Seahawk offense much of anything until giving up a couple of garbage touchdowns late. It looked like when it was 21-0 the Bears took their foot off the gas and began preparing for next week’s championship game. The Seahawks made a nice playoff run winning one game, but they were outclassed and overmatched. They could not run the ball and their receivers did not respond well to tight man to man coverage. Hasselbeck got some a good passing rhythm late but by then the game was over. Their defense wish has not been very good all year was pushed around beat deep exposing a lack of speed in their linebackers and corners. Overall an ending that many thought was going to happen last week. Pete Carrol’s team has some holes, but it’s a good start for the Seahawks. Next for the up for the Bears. Green Bay. A game that may make George Halas and Vince Lombardi rise from the graves to make guest appearances on sidelines, barking and cussing at both teams and at each other. New York Jets over New England. This was a shocker. The Jets and Rex Ryan have been yapping all week what they were going to do to the Patriots and they did. They backed it up and with interest. Their defense which was torched in the last meeting with the Patriots confused sacked and made Tom Brady look more like an insecure, slow former 6th round draft choice than the MVP that he is. The Jets made major adjustments by taking away Brady’s first, second and third options. Many times Brady threw the ball into the ground when he still had time. Brady was often seen looking at the rush and not downfield. He almost took a couple of phantom sacks which would have been the ultimate insult to his legacy. The Jets did this by mixing up their coverage’s and not giving Brady the same looks. They took away the Patriots short and medium passing lanes and dared Brady to beat them deep which he didn’t and with his feet, which he can’t. Rex Ryan must have spent many hours studying tape and cooking up new schemes only coming up for air for press conferences which he used to fuel his team. He even used a favorite Patriots play against them on Ladainian Tomlinson touchdown catch when he had three receivers bunched on the left side in the bunch. They went inside and essentially picked the linebacker who was supposed to cover Tomlinson. Tomlinson also gets his personal revenge against the Patriots who had given him and his team devastating playoff losses in the past. Shone Green’s late touchdown run clinched it for the Jets. Mark Sanchez was on the money with his throws and more importantly did not turn the ball over. He was the best quarterback on the field today. The Patriots were off for most the game. As soon as Brady threw his first interception since November, there was sense of this may not be their day. They were out of sorts. They were outplayed and out coached. They made mistakes by fumbling, even though they recovered and getting into little skirmishes with Jets which is very un Patriot like. You could see the frustrations in the faces as the game wore on. They never adjusted to what the Jets were doing. Bill Belichick teams are known for being make adjustments. This was the first time the Patriots missed not having a big play receiver like Randy Moss to stretch the field. There were too many Jets around the middle of their medium pass routes. There season ends with painful loss to a division rival. On the bright side the Patriots will win the NFL draft with multiple picks in every round. http://MrCleo3586.info
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