FMQB: Playoff Recap
I have been so bad about keeping this up during the most exciting time of the year for football fans! But it has been a fun playoff year, couple upsets, a 5 seed winning 3 road games to make the Super Bowl, and a Brady vs. Mahomes matchup. We’ll talk Super Bowl next week, but let’s do our best to discuss an exciting 3 weeks knowing that it won’t do it justice.
Wild Card Round:
- The Bills beat the Colts for their first playoff win in 25 years! Phillip Rivers decided to retire after 1 year as a Colt.
- The Rams shocked the Seahawks with an upset on the road. Backup QB went out in the 1st quarter, and Jared Goff was able to secure a win with a broken thumb.
- The 7-9 Washington Redtails hung in with the Buccaneers but not enough to win
- Ravens downed the Titans for Lamar Jackson’s first playoff win. He’s now 1-3 in playoff games
- The Saints took down the Bears in a snoozefest, showing why an 8-8 team shouldn’t make the playoffs. However the broadcast on Nickelodeon was awesome! Splashy, slimy, and hopefully worked to get a new generation of football fans in. They also did a really good job of explaining the rules of football without making it cheesy.
- The Browns took down the mighty Steelers on the road by scoring 28 unanswered points in the 1st quarter.
Record of the Week:
The Buccaneers won their first playoff game in 18 years, the Bills won their first playoff game in 25 years, and the Browns their first playoff win in 26 years! The Browns win was also their first Road playoff victory in 54 years.
Divisional Round:
- The Rams #1 defense was no match for the Packers top Offense which goes against playoff norms.
- The Bills Ravens matchup was a weather game that the Bills easily dominated
- Chiefs Browns ended up being the most exciting game of the weekend. Mahomes went down early, the Browns had an awful fumble-touchback that was the game changer. And Andy Reid running a 4th down play with Chad Henne to win the game was insane!
- Bucs and Saints was a 3rd meeting between the 2 teams. Game between the #1 and #2 most Passing TD’s in NFL history will probably never happen again! Brady was barely 50% in the game but still pulled off the win. Also seeing Jameis Winston throw a TD against his old team was pretty hilarious to watch!
Point of the Week:
- We witnessed Drew Brees’ last game. He was emotional on the sidelines, he appeared to tell Jameis “It’s your team now.” He looked back at the crowd on the way into the tunnel, and he and Brady had a moment on the field after the game. End of an era.
Championship Week:
Packers vs Bucs:
Why didn’t Rodgers run the ball in on that 3rd down play?!?! I think at a minimum he gets to the 1 yard line, better than 50-50 he makes it in. I hate the FG call on 4th down. They have to score a TD somewhere. Might as well go for the tie there. Worst case scenario, you have the Bucs backed up at their own 5, which forces them to run. They punt and you get the ball at midfield with more shots at the endzone.
You have to ask yourself looking back, when GB drafted Jordan Love in the 1st round. Does an Antoine Winfield Jr, or Clyde Edwards-Elaire end up pushing them over the top in some way?
Chiefs vs Bills:
Will say I was shocked by the end of 1 to have the Bills up 9-0 against the Chiefs, and seemingly dominating per se on defense. However, we’ve all watched the Chiefs lead playoff comebacks in dramatic fashion last year. And after rattling off 3 straight TD drives and going up by 12, the game almost seemed over at halftime.
Missed Memes
FMQB 