Seattle Seahawks - 23, New Orleans Saints - 15
This one was not what I was hoping for or expecting. It was, admittedly, a lackluster affair.
It did not have to be. After all, when these two teams met in a huge Monday Night Football match-up a little over one month ago, it was billed as a huge game with ramifications for home field advantage in the NFC Playoffs. Both teams had potentially explosive offenses, and so a shootout was more or less anticipated, although that wound up being a one-sided affair in favor of the Seahawks.
In this contest, once again Seattle came out roaring, looking dominant. The problem was that they were not able to put a lot of points up on the board to go along with that dominance. They held a 16-0 lead going into halftime, but they perhaps had the opportunity to realistically be up by considerably more.
Part of the problem was that the Seahawks seemed to just play too predictably and conservatively. it appeared to me that they were more focused on trying not to lose, than actively trying to win. They looked like they were trying to sit on their lead when there was still simply far too much of the game yet to be played.
And when the Saints finally did score when Khiry Robinson ran it in from 1 yard out, capping a strong drive off with a successful two-point conversion, the Saints were right back in it. It had to be frustrating for Seattle, to see this team up only by one touchdown and two-point conversion after having dominated the game to that point.
New Orleans was coming on, and suddenly, Seattle could not seemingly keep the ball or run out the clock.
But time was running out nonetheless. And when the Saints failed to convert on another strong drive that finished with a missed field goal attempt when Shayne Graham hooked it wide right (which was his second missed field goal of the game), the Seahawks decided to take the opportunity to suddenly become a whole lot less predictable.
It was a gamble, but it worked, too. Russell Wilson, who only completed 9 of 18 passes on the day for 103 passing yards, completed a decent length pass down the field to Doug Baldwin for a 24- yard pickup, almost getting Seattle to field goal range right there. Then, a couple of plays later, Marshawn Lynch found daylight and ran it 31 yards to the end zone for a 23-7 lead, seemingly to ice the game, as it at least appeared out of reach for the Saints.
Still, New Orleans fought back with a strong drive that, ultimately, resulted in a touchdown when Brees found Marques Colston. Down by 15 prior to the score, they settled for a PAT, so that they were then down by 8, and could still have a chance at tying the game up with another touchdown and a two-point conversion. But what they needed to do was, somehow, recover the onside kick.
That, they did, which gave them another opportunity to win the game. But they didn't ultimately. They managed to get to midfield, but Brees tossed it to Marques Colston on a play that resulted in a penalty that took the remaining seconds off the clock, and effectively ended any last hopes for New Orleans in rather anticlimactic fashion.
As for the Seahawks, they will now have the comfort of watching today's game between the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers, knowing that they will host next week's NFC Championship against whoever emerges with the win in that contest.
New England Patriots - 43, Indianapolis Colts - 22
Eventually, Luck was going to run out for the Indianapolis Colts.
After a historical comeback for the ages last week, one that will live on in team, and league, lore. So, when the Colts fell behind early in this game, you definitely wanted to stay tuned, just in case, right?
But the Patriots are not the Chiefs, and the Colts were playing this game on the road. They did respond offensively. However, they also could not contain the Patriots with their defense, and New England racked up the yards and the points.
How New England managed to do so was a bit of a surprise, however. They relied very heavily on their running game. Running back LeGarrette Blount had a career day, running for 166 yards on 24 attempts, and getting into the end zone 4 times. The Colts simply had no answers to try and stop him.
New England did not rely exclusively on Blount, however. They also used running back Steven Ridley, who ran for two touchdowns himself, and gained 52 yards on 14 carries.
The Patriot's running game simply buried the Colts, and any flickering chances that they hoped to survive this game and advance to the AFC title game.
For New England, they will return to the AFC Championship Game for a third time in a row. They won it a couple of years ago while hosting the Baltimore Ravens, advancing to the Super Bowl, before losing narrowly to the Giants (once again). Then, last season, they lost the rematch to the Ravens, and had to watch at home as Baltimore wound up holding up the trophy at the end of the big game.
Now, New England will play once again in the AFC Championship Game. The only questions that remain will be who they will play and, by extension, where the game will be played. That all depends on the final result of tonight's game between the visiting San Diego Chargers, and the host Denver Broncos. If the Chargers win, they will go up to Foxboro to take on the Patriots in New England. If the Broncos win, they will host the Patriots next week up at the Mile High City of Denver, as the Manning-Brady rivalry will be renewed once again.
This could be good!
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