What the first weekend of the 2016 NFL Playoffs lacked in scoring and general offensive production, it made up by being dramatic and producing memorable games.
Let's go through them one-by-one.
5 Kansas City @ 4 Houston:
Was it over after Knile Davis' 100+ yards kickoff return for a touchdown?
The rest of the game sure seemed like a formality. Kansas City had little trouble dispatching the Texans, winning 30-0 and getting that rarest of prizes, a playoff shutout.
The Texans' offense didn't gain traction at any point and the one time they were in the red zone, they ran an incredibly stupid play that had J.J. Watt running the ball behind Vince Wilfork...and losing a yard or two. Much of the futility rests on the shoulders of QB Brian Hoyer, who threw four INT's and lost a fumble. Each interception was indefensible.
Kansas City looked as they usually do. QB Alex Smith ran around a little and threw the ball to TE Travis Kelce and WR Jeremy Maclin, just as expected. Unfortunately, Maclin went out with an injury. That didn't slow KC in the 2nd half, but it may be problematic in the next round.
6 Pittsburgh @ 3 Cincinnati:
Probably the wildest game of the weekend. Pittsburgh took a 15-0 lead and then watched in horror as Vontaze Burfict took QB Ben Roethlisberger to the ground and injured his shoulder. It looked like that injury to Roethlisberger would end up defining the game. And it would have, as Landry Jones' late INT to Burfict sealed it for Cincy.
And then something funny happened: RB Jeremy Hill fumbled.
It wasn't something I expected, to be sure. With the lead and game secure, all Cincy had to do was run out the clock. Mistakes in that part of the game usually don't happen. And yet, the fumble happened and Roethlisberger gamely made an effort to return to the field.
It was obvious that he was hampered, yet he took the Steelers into opposing territory.
And then another funny thing happened: Burfict tried to level Steelers' WR Antonio Brown.
On replay, it's a lot less vicious than it appeared in real-time. Though I'll grant that Brown's fall (with his neck snapping back and forth in what appears to be painful fashion) still made the hit look bad enough to be flagged. The flag was thrown and the Steelers got a well-earned 15 yards, enough to make a field goal try a possibility.
And then Adam Jones got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, perhaps egged on by one of the Steelers' coaches, former LB Joey Porter. The Steelers suddenly had a make-able field goal of a mere 35 yards, made it, and won the game. They went from coasting, to losing, to scraping by with a win as the 4th quarter progressed.
While most will point to the penalties and the stupidity behind them as the reason that Cincinnati lost, I have another take on it. Down 15-7, Cincinnati had the ball and was driving. They were stopped in Steelers' territory and inexplicably chose to go for a field goal that made it 15-10. Had they gone for the TD and the two-point conversion (which they did later and missed, granted), they would have been tied. And had events played out, WR A.J. Green's TD would have given the Bengals a seven point lead, thus forcing the Steelers to go for a TD just to tie.
Now imagine that the Steelers are in Bengals territory with :18 on the clock and less than 20 yards to go to get in the end zone. Can you see them scoring a TD with all that had happened?
Honestly, I can't. But because Marvin Lewis played it conservatively (as usual), we'll never know.
6 Seattle @ 3 Minnesota:
Winter in my neck of the woods is hardly a scary proposition. It wouldn't stop anybody from playing football.
Minneapolis is a lot different. Did the -9 degree temperature at kickoff, not to mention the well below zero wind chill, affect the game negatively?
Absolutely, though there were a couple of plays where the guys on the field transcended the conditions.
Seattle ended up winning on a missed field goal by Minnesota's Blair Walsh. Minnesota's offense was nothing but field goals and even in sub-zero temps, if you settle for field goals, you lose. Minnesota found that out the hard way.
And while Seattle didn't do a whole lot to win the game, they get to move on to the next round. How they'll do there is anyone's guess, though I personally doubt that they are suddenly "a contender".
5 Green Bay @ 4 Washington:
As it turned out, the Packers were the better team. Either that, or Washington just choked the game away.
The game turned when the Packers scored 17 unanswered points. Washington did score another TD to make it 18-17, but by failing to put the Packers away early when they had a great opportunity to do so, Washington practically guaranteed a win for the opposing team.
All the things that we had seen the Packers flub over the past few weeks suddenly worked and did so beautifully. The O-line had no problem with Washington's front seven; Lacy and Starks ran it well; the receivers got open and didn't drop the ball.
So the Packers move on to face Arizona, a team that drubbed them as recently as Week 16. Yet, despite Green Bay's performance this past weekend, I see nothing to convince me that anything will be different next week.
That's it for Wild Card Weekend.
As usual, I made picks for all the games; I went 3-1 straight up. My one loss was the foolish consideration of going with Washington against Green Bay. Still, given that four road teams won this past weekend, I think it would have been rather interesting had I gotten them all. Interesting, and impossible.
