Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
Dean from Leavenworth, IN
Are you surprised that none of the eight teams this weekend could score more than 20 points in regulation?
Nothing surprises me in the playoffs. I repeat, nothing. I also agree with Kevin.
Kevin from Holmen, WI
Not a lot of offense this weekend in the playoffs. It should be no surprise that once again championship football will come down to controlling the football with the running game, limiting turnovers, pressuring the quarterback, and making big defensive stops on third and fourth down.
It’s hard to win a playoff game in the first three quarters, but you sure can lose one. Don’t lose it, then go win it.
Gary from Belle Mead, NJ
Did you think the hit on Wentz was incidental helmet contact?
Not really.
Tom from West Palm Beach, FL
Do you think Clowney will be suspended for that egregiously dirty hit?
Not a chance. He’ll probably get a hefty fine, rendering his labor in Philly free, but that’s about it.
Timmy from Chicago, IL
I don't want to beat a dead horse, but All-Pros Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis were contained by the same offensive line that had no answer for Za'Darius Smith.
Never underestimate the value of getting a chance for a breather to regroup and reset, especially after a tough loss. The Vikings got that in Week 17 and took full advantage. Further evidence it’s a week-to-week league.
Jeff from Vandenberg AFB, CA
Mike, for only the second time since 2003, the AFC champion will be someone not named Ben, Peyton, or Brady. What was your biggest wild-card weekend takeaway?
In the AFC? A powerhouse running back is a great equalizer. In the NFC, you have to give it up for Josh McCown playing in his first playoff game at age 40 after having worn a dozen or so different helmets. I thought if the Eagles had kept kicking field goals, they might have pulled it off, 18-17.
Erick from Vancouver, BC
Wow. Week 1 of the playoffs took the advantage out of home-field advantage.
It mattered in the first game. In the other three it was countered by a beast of a back, a de facto bye week, and the loss of a starting QB.
Bob from Colby, KS
When the season is over and awards are handed out by the league, the Eagles should get the "Ace Band-Aid" award.
We’ve all seen the Packers endure some brutal years in the injury department, but what the Eagles went through this past season was astounding. Fighting all the way back to get in the playoffs only to have the QB go down just took the cake for them.
Mike from Park Ridge, NJ
Hello II, excited for the week ahead. I see the Vikings moving their edge rushers inside like the Packers have done. Does this technique offer a greater advantage over simply being a shorter distance to the QB?
It allows for more speed overall to be on the field to get after the quarterback in obvious passing situations. The interior guys can attack the outside shoulders of the guards to create one-on-ones and render useless any potential help from the center. It can be incredibly effective as long as the QB is not a running threat.
David from Osceola, WI
Watching the Eagles-Seahawks game, and seeing all the injuries, it dawned on me that I was missing the other benefit of the bye week. Not only can we get healthy, but we can’t get injured.
Previously discussed, but worth mentioning again.
Jeremiah from Denver, CO
If this were saints.com, what are you telling the fans right now?
If the Hall of Fame quarterback doesn’t fumble at the 20-yard line in the fourth quarter, your team in all likelihood is still alive. There’s nothing harder to overcome than a turnover at the wrong time.
Mike from Duluth, MN
The Saints seem to have paralleled the Packers over the past decade. They both feature future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, many exciting regular-season results, and yet both seem to suffer way too many unexpected playoff heartbreaks. Here’s hoping Green Bay can reverse that trend starting Sunday.
The Packers were eliminated from the postseason on the game’s final play three straight years from 2013-15. The Saints just pulled off the same trifecta from 2017-19.
Jake from Eden Prairie, MN
What was your biggest takeaway from the wild-card round? Upsets? Brady’s potential last game? Cousins rising to the occasion?
It doesn’t sound like Brady is retiring, but if his last pass as a Patriot is a pick-six, that’s just strange. Cousins’ last two throws in overtime were absolutely clutch. Josh Allen will learn a lot from that game and have the Bills back there again soon, with a coach in Sean McDermott who’s going to be around for a while. I think for next weekend the home teams are much stronger favorites in the AFC than the NFC. The NFC feels so much more wide open to me.
Ron from Broken Arrow, OK
Can we agree that the Vikings with Dalvin Cook are a much different team? For all the "style points" the announcers want to give Sean Payton for his use of Taysom Hill, I appreciate Mike Zimmer's "old black and blue, Central Division" philosophy; especially this time of year. I have no idea what will happen next weekend; and I'm certainly not a Vikings fan, but I do respect what they accomplished in New Orleans.
Without a doubt. I also think the Vikings are a much different team with a healthy Adam Thielen, whose recovery from the opening-drive fumble to make key play after key play should not get lost in everything else surrounding that game.
Larry from Belgrade, MT
There you have it, PI review is officially a joke. Rudolph clearly extends the arm, which causes the defender to clearly bend backwards, and the gods of NY won’t even take a look. I honestly feel bad for the Saints now.
They did take a look, and the key to my two-bit analysis is this – the defender is not going to get the benefit of the doubt when he is not playing the ball and has his back to it. Just as he’s almost always going to get flagged for his own restrictive contact in that position, he’s not going to get bailed out by offensive contact when not playing the ball. If he turns his head and Rudolph shoves him in the back, I think they’d call OPI there. But not the way he tried to defend the play.