I'm continuing my look at the last ten years of football, the ten
years of my life as a die-hard fan, by looking back at football at its
best. The games. The Playoffs. This will be a ranking of the Divisional
Round Games, starting with the first bunch that while interesting, were
largely fogettable or average. Still, there isn't a lot of things I
would pick over watching a playoff game, so they still have some appeal.
Tier IV – Good Teams, Good Games, but Something Missing
Review: For three straight years, the Ravens were a
Wild-Card team, having to go at it the hard way on the road. Finally, they won
the division again, and even earned a 1st round bye and were able to
get the TJ Yates Experience to come into M&T Bank. The game really did just
come down to Yates (and Jacoby Jones muffing a punt). The Texans defense was
great, sacking Flacco five times and limiting the Ravens to just 227 yards. On
offense, Arian Foster had 132 yards on 27 carries, and Andre Johnson had 111
yards on 8 catches. The only problem was Yates. He threw up way too many balls
for grabs, and despite dropping three potential interceptions, the Ravens
picked him off three times. Ed Reed, as he always does, provided the capper,
picking Yates off on a deep throw to the End-Zone with two minutes left. For
all the talk about the Texans playing better, the Ravens held the Texans
scoreless in the 2nd Half, winning with defense… again.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: This was just the Ravens 2nd
home playoff win in their franchise history. Despite the Ravens winning 10
playoff games since 2000 (T-4th in the NFL with the Giants behind
the Patriots (16), Steelers (12) & Eagles (11) ), they’ve won only two at
home. The other win was their Wild Card Round win in 2000, and in between they
lost as Division Winners in 2003 and 2006.
Interesting/Memorable Fact 2: Kris Wilson caught a one-yard TD
catch to make the game 17-3, and that marked Wilson’s 4th career
catch in a playoff game. Two have gone for TDs (2009 Chargers against). Wilson
has also caught a 2-point conversion. So, his catches have led to points 60% of
the time he’s been involved on a play.
Review: The Jaguars played about as well as they could on
offense and about as strangely as they could on defense. For one half, it worked,
as the game was tied 14-14. In the 2nd half, the Jaguars stopped
scoring TDs, while the Patriots continued, and that was the game. The game was
notable for Tom Brady’s 26-28 day (for 266 yards and 3 tds), where one of the
incompletions was a drop by Welker. The Jags gave Brady all day and he cut them
up in surgical fashion. The strangest part was Randy Moss, fresh off his 23-TD
season, had just one catch. In the end, the Jags gave their best shot, taking
the necessary risks on offense (Throwing deep on 4th and 4 on the
first drive), but taking no risks on defense. Because of Brady’s insane
accuracy, as well as Garrard’s good day, the game flew by, with each team
staging long drive after long drive. Before you knew it, the game was over, and
the Patriots went to 17-0.
Interesting/Memorable Play: The best TD came on Brady’s 2nd
TD to Wes Welker. He took the shotgun, but faked a direct snap to Kevin Faulk
and turned his back to the field with his arms raised. After keeping his back
to the field for at least a full second, he turned around, fired a laser to
Welker, and the game was mostly over. It was a sweet, sweet play.
Review: A year after the Packers gave the Falcons the
biggest home loss for a #1 seed, the Giants gave the Packers a loss nearly as
surprising in its ease. The Giants absolutely destroyed the 15-1 Packers in
nearly every category imaginable. Their only failing was with their coverage
scheme Rodgers ran for six first downs. On the day, Eli Manning threw for 300
yards before the 1st half was over, including two long TDs to Hakeem
Nicks. The Giants sacked Rodgers four times, and forced four fumbles and
recovered three of them. The Packers were just out of sync all day on offense,
as Rodgers, fresh off the most efficient QB season possibly ever (a record
122.4 passer rating), went just 24-45 on the day. The Giants played arguably
their best offensive game of the year, and their defense dominated the 2nd
half. Before halftime, Tom Coughlin told Pam Oliver that the to-that-point
average pass rush “was coming” and it sure was. By the end, the Giants were
dancing in Lambeau, celebrating a playoff win there, again.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: The game could have easily been
a lot more one-sided. The Giants had two drives in their dominant 1st
half end in Green Bay territory, with Eli Manning throwing a pick and the
Packers blocking a makeable field goal. Plus, the Packers two TD drives both
were aided by questionable decisions. First was Bill Leavy’s ridiculous
overturn of a Greg Jennings’s fumble on the 1st TD drive, and then
was a soft roughing-the-passer call on Osi on the 2nd.
Interesting/Memorable Fact 2: This was the 1st time
that two Super Bowl MVP Quarterbacks met in a playoff game, with Eli Manning
winning his in Super Bowl XLII and Rodgers in XLV. Of course, the 2nd
would happen three weeks later, with Manning and Brady. With Brady, Manning and
Roethlisberger in the AFC and Manning, Rodgers and Brees in the NFC, it is hard
to imagine it not happening more.
Review: In front of a jacked-up crowd in the first playoff
game at Invesco Field, the Broncos had the most deceiving zero-sack game,
repeatedly pummeling Brady into mistakes and into his first playoff loss of his
career. The game originally started out in Patriots-style, with the Broncos
dominating statistically but not taking advantage with a failed 4th
& Goal and a pick in the red zone by Samuel. But it all changed right after
the two-minute warning, with Kevin Faulk fumbling. One controversial pass
interference on Samuel later, it was 7-3 Broncos. They would add another field
goal off a fumble by New England and take a 10-3 lead into the half. The game
was finally shut when on 3rd and Goal for the Patriots trailing just
10-6, Tom Brady threw a pick in the end zone to Champ Bailey, who of course
returned it controversially to the one yard line. The Patriots ended up with a
lot more yards, but that is what happens when one team scores 14 points in just
two yards of offense. In the end, the Patriots did everything wrong for the
first time, with Troy Brown muffing a punt and Adam Vinatieri missing a field
goal. It was all so new for the Pats, and all so fun for the Broncos and
Pat-Haters.
Interesting/Memorable Play: The Broncos utilized what was
called the “punt-rush defense” where they put corners off-man on the receivers
and had everyone else line up at the line in a punt-rush formation. The Broncos
used it enough that it didn’t work all the time, but led to Brady getting
rocked often, and the pick by Bailey.
Interesting/Memorable Play 2: On the pick, it was Brady’s 3rd
career playoff interception thrown into the end zone (’03 AFC Title, ’03 SB)
and he has done it twice more since (’07 AFC Title, ’11 AFC Title). What is fun
about the play is noting the sudden disappointment in Jim Nantz’s voice when
Bailey first makes the interception. To his credit, he gets excited when Bailey
seemingly gets a clear path for a touchdown. Now, I must admit. That probably
was a touchback, but if there is any merit to the idea of “conclusive evidence”
no way can that be overturned with the camera angles given.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: This game marked the 1st
playoff game where both coaches had won multiple Super Bowls. In fact, from
2002-2011 (the timeframe for this countdown) the only other playoff game that
had two coaches that had won any amount was the Giants and Packers divisional
with McCarthy and Coughlin.
Review: In a game that was eerily similar to the 2000
Divisional meeting between these two teams, the Ravens won despite being
outgained by 180 yards, the fourth largest margin since the 16-game schedule.
The 3rd largest margin? The Ravens over the Titans in 2000, who were
outgained by 183. The Titans, off their almost unbelievable 13-3 season led by
Kerry Collins, rolled up 391 yards of offense but were just 2-for-5 in the red
zone, turning it over three times in the area. The Ravens really did nothing
other than hang around and force those turnovers, with Flacco hitting just one
big throw – an admittedly pretty 48-yard throw to Derrick Mason. The game also
ended controversially, with the Ravens converting a 3rd and 10 for
23 yards after snapping the ball a good two seconds after the play clock
expired. There was never any good explanation given. Either way, in a game that
featured a scary sense of déjà-vu, the most underrated playoff rivalry of the
2000s had its most memorable finish. With Matt Stover’s game winning field goal
ushering the top-seed Titans out of the playoffs, again.
Interesting/Memorable Play: A key for the game was Chris
Johnson leaving in the 2nd quarter with an injury. He had rushed 11
times for 72 yards and caught a pass for 28 yards before he left, and he just
seemed to be operating at a different speed than most of the Ravens defense. It
might not have changed anything,, but the Titans were never really the same in
the game after.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: This loss made some infamous
history for Jeff Fisher, making him the 2nd coach ever to go
one-and-done with the top-seed multiple times (did it in 2000). The other was
Marty Schottenheimer, who’s done it three times (’95, ’97, ’06).
Review: In a fascinating chess match between the league’s
best offense (and probably most forgotten great offense of the 2000s) and the
league’s best defense (and probably most forgotten great defense of the 2000s),
the Colts won the 2nd playoff game ever that featured no TDs. Peyton
Manning, facing an epic defense, played the most highly praised bad game I have
ever seen. He was just 15-30 for 170 yards and two picks (to Ed Reed, of
course), but was only sacked once, confused the Ravens dominant pass rush and
anchored four 50+ yard drives. McNair was worse, considering he wasn’t playing
the Ravens defense, going 18-29 with two picks of his own. The story of the
game, other than the kickers, was the Colts run game rushing for 100 yards
against the league’s best run defense and the ultra-conservative nature of the
Ravens attack. In the end, the Colts won a fun, if slightly defensive and
offensively inept, game by out Raven-ing the Ravens.
Interesting/Memorable Play: What might have been the two
biggest plays of the game were defined by each quarterback throwing to covered
receivers. Down just 3-0, the Ravens had 3rd and Goal from the 3,
when McNair threw to Todd Heap who was double-covered at the goal line. Antoine
Bethea picked it off, and the Ravens never got that close again. Then, on 3rd
and 5 with four minutes to go up 12-6, Manning iced the game with a
ridiculously tight throw to Dallas Clark, who was draped by Corey Ivy. One guy
made his throw, the other did not.
Interesting/Memorable Player: Ed Reed had what might have
been his greatest game. He had two interceptions (the 2nd one he
lateralled to Chris McAlister right before going out of bounds, but the refs
thought he was already out), a huge hit on Dallas Clark, another sure
interception tipped away early by Ray Lewis, and a play where he ran from deep
centerfield to the left sideline and leaped and took the ball away from Marvin
(he came down out of bounds). Ed Reed was by far the best player that day on
that field.
Tier V – The Good Games
Review: In the 1st playoff game ever to have no
punts, the Colts played ‘Catch Me If You Can’ with the Chiefs, by outgunning
them in Arrowhead. The only reason that this isn’t higher is other than the
Chiefs first drive of the game, they never had the ball with a chance to tie
the game. The Colts were that good, scoring on each of their six real
possessions in the game (they ran out the clock in the other). The Colts didn’t
play perfectly, as the Chiefs rolled up 408 yards on 60 plays, with a 176 yard
day for Priest Holmes. The Chiefs even got a Kick-Off Return TD from DeAngelo
Hall (remember him?). But Manning never wavered. He was flawless, going 22-30
for 304 yards and 3 tds, and Edgerrin James had his best playoff game of his
career, with 125 yards on 26 carries and two TDs. The Colts made it look easy,
and even though the Chiefs made it look almost as easy, the one turnover, a
fumble by Priest Holmes in the beginning of the 2nd quarter, was the
only break the Colts needed.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: Manning entered the game off of
his perfect passer rating day in Denver, and was nearly as good. For the two
combined games, he was 44-56 (78.6%) for 681 yards (12.2 ypa!!) with 8 TDs and
no picks. That’s a passer rating of 156.9, the highest ever by any QB ever in a
two-game stretch.
15.) 2003 AFC Divisional – (A5) Titans 14 @ (A1) Patriots 17
Review: On a bitterly cold night, with wind chill at -10,
the Patriots outlasted a game Titans team on Adam Vinatieri’s most forgotten
clutch kick. The game started out fast, with the Patriots taking a 14-7 lead
two minutes into the 3rd quarter, but became a struggle after as the
wind picked up. Brady had an odd day. On the good side, he didn’t turn the ball
over and threw a gorgeous 41-yards TD to Bethel Johnson, but he also completed
just 21 out of 41 passes. McNair was efficient, going 18-26 against the
league’s best defense, but made two crucial mistakes. The 1st was an
interception. The 2nd was a lot more harmful. After the Titans tied
the game on a nifty TD catch-and-run by Derrick Mason, the Patriots ran a 33
yard drive leading to Vinatieri’s game winning field goal. However, that was
still with 4:11 left on the clock. The game finished hauntingly. At the 2:00,
the Titans had 2nd and 3 at the Patriots 33 yard line, about ten
yards out of reasonable field goal position. McNair then took an intentional
grounding, which was followed up holding penalty. 2nd and 3 became 3rd
and 23. After a nice gain, on 4th an 11, McNair launched a pass that
Drew Bennett dropped around the Patriots 10. End of game, and end of classic in
the bitter, bitter cold.
Interesting/Memorable Play: The game ended strangely, with
the Patriots, with 0:03 left, on 4th and 15 actually running a play.
Instead of risking a punt return (a
pretty minimal risk), Belichick instructed Brady to run backwards, run out the
clock and launch a pass out-of-bounds. It worked perfectly, and the Patriots
securely finished the game.
Review: The two teams combined for 389 yards. That’s
combined. They also combined for 55 points. This was the most defensive
high-scoring game ever, and that weird dichotomy probably ruined it from being
as memorable as it was. In many ways, this game was seeing both teams play
defense as well as they could, but the Steelers did it just a little bit
better. They both forced and recovered two fumbles, but the Steelers got the
game’s only interception. The Ravens had five sacks, and the Steelers had six.
Terrell Suggs had three sacks, and James Harrison answered him with three of
his own. In the end, what is memorable is the Steelers not even flinching when
falling down 21-7, and missing a field goal going into the half. The Steelers
scored 17 points around two Ravens turnovers to take the lead, but credit the
Ravens for coming back and tying it up. The final nail in the coffin, though,
was a 58-yard bomb to Antonio Brown on 3rd and 19 to set up the game
winning TD run by Mendenhall. At the end, it was a far more entertaining game
than one that features 11 punts, five turnovers and 389 yards of offense.
Interesting/Memorable Play: The Game essentially ended when
TJ Houshmandzadeh dropped a 4th and 18 pass that would have been a 1st
down on the final drive, but it really went bad for the Ravens when Anquan
Boldin dropped a TD on 3rd and Goal on the drive that tied it at 24.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: Here are the lengths of the TD
drives in this game: Steelers: 80 (26 via penalty), 23, 25, 65; Ravens: 68 (28
via penalty), 0 (fumble return), 16. That’s how you get a 31-24 game. Have the
seven TD drives combined be just 223 yards of offense.
Review: The 1st of two great Jets upsets, Rex and
Co. beat the Chargers, who entered the game on an 11-game winning streak. In
reality, it was more the Chargers buying the sword that the Jets used to do the
slaughtering. In perfect Chargers fashion, they did everything wrong. Nate
Kaeding missed three field goals (two from inside 45 yards). They committed two
15-yard penalties that stifled late drives. They didn’t take advantage of a 1st
half where the Jets offense could do nothing. Philip Rivers threw two
interceptions, the 2nd of which was a horrible pass out of his own
end zone. The Chargers did almost everything right besides these
self-destructive plays, and the Jets took full advantage. Mark Sanchez did
enough with what Philip Rivers gave him, and Shonn Greene continued his
breakout posteason with 128 yards, including a dramatic, game-clinching 53 yard
TD run to make it 17-7. Rex Ryan’s schemes didn’t work perfectly (Rivers threw
for 298 yards), but they confused Philip just enough. It wasn’t the brilliant
defensive performance that came a year later, but it was maybe more stunning.
In a weekend where the three previous bye teams all won at a combined 99-20,
the Chargers fell flat.
Interesting/Memorable Play: Rivers’ first interception was
just a ridiculous play by Darrelle Revis, where he jostled the ball out of
Jackson’s hands, and when they both fell to the ground, had it bounce of
V-Jax’s ass, where Revis scooped it up. Almost as shocking as the play was the
fact that the officials got it right on the field.
Review: One year after beating the 13-3 Chargers who entered
on a 11-game win streak, the Jets beat the 14-2 Patriots who entered on an
8-game win streak. Not only were the Patriots the best team in the NFL, but
they had beaten the Jets 45-3 in that same stadium. Rex Ryan said he had to be
better than Bill Belichick for one day, and he was. His defense masterfully
confused Brady, dropping back into coverage and flooding the middle zones. Even
when the Jets didn’t get pressure, Brady had nowhere to throw. It was
scintillating defensive football. Mark Sanchez was confident, throwing for
three TDs, including one on a ridiculous catch by Santonio Holmes. Rex Ryan
called it the “2nd biggest game in the Jets’ franchise history.”
That could be debated, but it was a giant game that the Jets showed up for. I
have never seen Brady that rattled without being pressured that much, and I
have never seen or enjoyed, Gillette being that stunned in silence.
Interesting/Memorable Play: Brady entered the game having
not thrown an interception since Week 6 against Baltimore. On the first drive
of the game, Brady floated a screen pass that David Harris picked off. The
audible gasp by the crowd was a harbinger of the awful day it would be for the
Patriots.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: There was controversy as the
game started, as Bill Belichick benched Wes Welker for the 1st
series after Welker playfully alluded to the alleged foot-fetish videos created
by Rex Ryan and his wife. It was very clever, but probably out-of-bounds (don’t
go after someone’s private sex life), and most certainly put the Patriots in a
weird funk at the start.
Review: The 3rd straight Jets game brings us to
their most harrowing loss. In Ben Roethlisberger’s first playoff game following
his astounding 14-0 rookie season, he looked very much like a rookie, throwing
two interceptions including a key pick-6. The Steelers did lead the game 10-0,
and had a lot of success on the ground, running for 193 yards (101 from
Bettis), but the Jets led late 17-10 after returning a punt and pick for
scores. After a nice drive was capped off with a Roethlisberger TD to Ward with
6 minutes to go, the Jets staged two drives into Steelers territory, but two
missed kicks by Doug Brien, from 47 and 43 yards, and his life was never the
same. Unlike Giants’ kicker Lawrence Tynes in the 2007 NFC Championship, Brien
never got a 3rd chance in OT. The Steelers won in OT on a kick by
Jeff Reed, keeping their dream 15-1 season alive.
Interesting/Memorable Fact: Doug Brien attempted both his
field goals into the open end of Heinz Field, which is historically incredibly
tough to kick into. Of course, the next week, Adam Vinatieri would nail a
48-yarder into that same end, setting the record for the longest field goal
into the open end (at the time).
