HIGHLIGHTS
The Packers Big Bounce Back- A week after getting beat by the Vikings, it looked like the Packers wanted no part of Adrian Peterson and the Vikings. Although they won the first game of this eventual rubber match, after watching Adrian tear them up for two games in a row I doubt anyone in Packerland wanted to play this team (especially after the loss in the last week of the regular season). But then what happened in the playoffs is something you hope happens to any serious contender, they got it done. Although their season has been rockier then most playoff teams in recent memory, the Rodgers-led Packers played lights out football when it mattered most, and actually beat the Vikings much worse than the final score indicated. Yes, having Christian Ponder out had some effect I’m sure on the outcome of this game, but I think his absence was over emphasized. The Vikings offense has faced teams lining up 7-8 in the box to try and stop Peterson all season, and as such, I doubt having a quarterback you know can’t throw replace a quarterback you know can’t throw made little difference.
Hats off to the Packers, for not only getting back to executing on offense, but having their defense step up and do what most teams couldn’t all season, stop manage Adrian Peterson. Lastly, there is something very similar about this Packers team to the one that won the title two years ago. If Charles Woodson can stay healthy and help vaunt the notoriously lackluster Packers defense at least to one level higher, this could be very dangerous team down the strecth.
The Texans Texas-Size Win- Although it shouldn’t be surprising when a number 3 seed knocks off a 6 seed at home in the playoffs, but for a while there it did not look good for the Texans. Over the course of the game it looked like the Bengals were doing everything they could to hand the W to the Texans but for much of the game the end result was still in doubt. In fact, if Andy Dalton could have hit AJ Green in stride on that endzone pass late in the 4th, this tight contest might have had a completely different result. But alas, the Bengals are the Bengals and Andy Dalton looked especially awful in this game so it is only fitting that he missed that throw. With the win the Texans beat the Bengals for the second year in a row and managed to escape (for at least a week) much of the criticism they have faced of late. This week, they themselves go on the road to face the Patriots in Foxboro, so sufficed to say they are facing a much tougher task. While those in the Houston area are hoping for something special on Sunday, I think the Texans have done all they are going to do this season and losing to New England seems deserved for the way they gave away the NFL’s best record over the last few weeks of the season.
LOWLIGHTS
Those Ridiculous Redskins- Well it finally happened, RG3 came crashing down to Earth and that loud thud you heard was everyone jumping off the bandwagon. Look, while I have been a notorious RG3 skeptic from the beginning, mainly because I do not trust mobile quarterbacks in the NFL due to their propensity for injury, he did impress me at various points throughout the season. However, even I could plainly see that with the way the Redskins brass was using and over-using him this season, that whatever NFL career he was going to have would be drastically shortened. If you thought it was moronic for the Redskins to put him back in the lineup after his concussion issues (including the absolutely deranged decision to line him up as a WR during this period), the Redskins’ stupidity was that much more pronounced when they trotted their quarterback out into games late in the season after he got hurt. I don’t care if its the playoffs, this guy is your franchise, if he has to sit four games now then so be it. If his tenure at the helm of your team is hoped to be at least 10 years what sense does it make to put him out there on one leg? Not only is he not going to perform the way you expect, but the chances of injury are sky-high. Who doesn’t know this?
To no one’s surprise RG3 of course got hurt and it is believed that he tore both his LCL and ACL in the process. For a franchise quarterback, couple these injuries with the devastating injuries he already suffered in college and it probably won’t be long before its back to the drawing board for these same old Redskins.
Ray Lewis’ Goodbye Party- What do you mean this was Ray Lewis’ last home game and how come nobody told me? The previous sentence was of course spoken by no one as any analysis or legitimate coverage of this game was forgone the second Ray Lewis announced his “retirement” last week. If this truly was Ray Lewis’ last game at home than I guess it was bearable to watch Ray Lewis monopolize every ounce of this game including the way he managed to get back on the field during the final kneel down and repeat his tired dance one more time. However, if Ray Lewis pulls a Brett Favre and were to somehow un-retire and we have to go through these shenanigans again there must be some sort of reprisal. Fans cannot take much more of this nonsense. Banning players from fake retirements and the shameless self promotion it creates can and should without a doubt be the next item on the agenda for the commissioners of all major sports.
