Wow! What a weekend in the NFL. Between my other responsibilities over at SNJ Today it took me a little bit to catch up on all of the action from the weekend. Luckily I had the extra day to get myself up to date, just in time to write today’s “Weekend Recap.”

Obviously this is going to be a more NFL-centric recap since, well, you know, the playoffs. I will give my thoughts on last night’s clash between Cleveland and Golden State in the NBA. For now though I’ll go game by game and give my two cents on the weekend in the NFL. I’m feeling pretty good after going 4-0 with my game picks and my picks against the spread so I’ll be a little more jovial while writing these.

Atlanta Throttles the Legion of Boom

The Divisional round of the playoffs started with a literal bang. Atlanta silenced some serious doubters on Saturday by bringing Seattle’s rollercoaster season to a screeching halt, 36-20. Matt Ryan threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns in another MVP-type performance.

Seattle had the right start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in a low scoring first quarter. However, everything changed with Seattle up 10-7 in the second quarter. Backed up near its own endzone, Seattle needed to produce a drive. Atlanta’s defense had other ideas, stopping Thomas Rawls for a three-yard loss on first down. On the next play, Russell Wilson tripped over his center’s foot, falling into the endzone, and Ben Garland pounced right on top of him to secure the safety. Atlanta may have still been down one, but you could feel the momentum shift to them.

Later in the half it was Atlanta’s turn to produce a drive backed up on its own goal line. Ryan went to work, orchestrating a nine-play, 99-yard touchdown drive to give the Falcons a nine-point lead heading into halftime. The Falcons showed no fear of the Legion of Boom, throwing the ball on every play of that drive, capped off by a 14-yard catch and run by Tevin Coleman for the touchdown.

The rest of the game became academic after Atlanta’s offense exerted its will on the Seattle defense on the opening drive of the second half ending with a Devonta Freeman rushing touchdown. The Falcons rode the wave of that perfectly executed 14-point swing to victory. It was game-set-match.

Atlanta and its prolific offense advance to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 2012. The only question that remained was whether they would be traveling to Dallas, or hosting Green Bay.

New England Survives A Sloppy First Half, But Eventually Rolls Houston

 

Give credit to Houston for making this one mildly entertaining for at least one half. New England uncharacteristically turned the ball over twice in the second quarter deep in its own territory. A Dion Lewis fumble on a kickoff and a Tom Brady interception (gasp!) put Houston in field goal range with two opportunities to take control of the game. The Patriots defense stood tall and limited Houston to only ten points in that quick stretch, keeping them ahead 14-13 with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter.

The Texans would never get closer though as New England added a field goal to end the half before dominating in the second half. The Patriots would intercept Brock Osweiler three times in the second half (all by former Rutgers players… Go Knights) which stifled any comeback attempt by Houston.

Tom Brady and the Patriots offense settled in with its defense playing some outstanding football on the other side. It wasn’t flashy, but New England was able to control the rest of the game and slowly add to its lead making it insurmountable by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

New England advanced to its sixth consecutive AFC Championship game and would await the winner of the Pittsburgh-Kansas City game. Its also the eleventh time New England has made the AFC Championship game in the Brady-Belichick era.

Green Bay Staves Off a Late Dallas Rally for its Eighth Straight Win

 

We now turn our attention to the best game of the weekend, which featured an epic clash between Green Bay and Dallas. The Cowboys came out with its usual mix of Ezekiel Elliot on the ground and intermediate passing, but a sack forced Dallas to settle for a field goal. Green Bay responded with 21 unanswered points in an incredible run by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense where they looked unstoppable.

Dak Prescott would finally get the Dallas offense going again after hooking up with Dez Bryant for a 40-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to eleven. Dallas would add another field goal to make it a one-possession game heading into halftime. The Cowboys withstood the early storm and weren’t going to let Green Bay pull off the road upset that easily.

Unfortunately, the Dallas defense just couldn’t keep Rodgers down for long. Green Bay would open up the second half with another impressive scoring drive ending with Rodgers finding Jared Cook for a three-yard touchdown to make it 28-13.

That score would hold until the fourth quarter when Dallas threw everything it could muster up in a valiant comeback attempt. Following an interception of Rodgers (he actually does make mistakes), Prescott would get the Dallas offense rolling. Ten plays later, he would find old reliable, Jason Witten for a touchdown to make it 28-20 with 11:39 to play.

Momentum was swinging and the Dallas defense fed off the energy of the crowd, picking up a crucial stop on the next possession. Prescott would then lead another long touchdown drive, finding Bryant again for a seven-yard touchdown to make it 28-26. Jason Garrett would roll the dice and keep his offense on the field to attempt the two-point conversion. Dallas came out in the shotgun, spreading out the Green Bay defense. The QB draw was the perfect play call as Prescott waltzed into the endzone to pick up the two-point conversion to tie the game with just over four minutes left in the game.

It was a brand new ball game now. Dallas had clawed its way back into the game after falling into the early 18-point hole. Now they just needed to stop Rodgers again. That was easier said than done though. Green Bay went a bit conservative with some of its play calls, trying to bleed as much of the clock as they could. The Cowboys defense forced the Packers to settle for a 56-yard field goal from the trusty leg of Mason Crosby. Green Bay led 31-28 with just under two minutes remaining.

Dallas got the ball back with a timeout and 1:33 left on the clock, plenty of time for Prescott to engineer a game winning drive. Prescott came out dealing, hitting Terrance Williams for 24-yards then found Jason Witten for eleven yards on the next play. The Cowboys were on the move, but then Garrett had his quarterback spike it with 1:07 on the clock.

Green Bay’s defense collected themselves and readied for battle once again. Cole Beasley caught a short pass and got knocked out of bounds after a seven-yard gain. Once again though the clock was stopped. The Packers got the all-important stop on third down when Nick Perry knocked down a Prescott pass at the line of scrimmage. Dallas was forced to settle for a 51-yard field goal from Dan Bailey and we were tied at 31 with 35 seconds left in the game.

Rodgers made the most of the little time left on the clock and created some magic on the final drive of regulation. He found Ty Montgomery for 17 yards, but then Dallas was able to sack him for a ten-yard loss on the next play. Rodgers tried to go deep on the next play but had to throw it away.

3^rd-and-20 with 18 seconds left in the game and overtime was in sight for the Cowboys. They only rushed three men on the play, which gave Rodgers enough time to turn the scramble drill into what would become the play of the game. He would find Cook once again on the sideline for an incredible 32-yard pass. The review would confirm that Cook just barely kept his toes in-bounds.

Crosby would trot out onto the field for a chance to hit a game-winning 51-yard field goal. The kick was good but Dallas used its final timeout to attempt to ice Crosby. He wouldn’t waste his second attempt, and curled the kick just inside the left upright to give the Packers a thrilling 34-31 victory, punching their ticket to Atlanta to face the Falcons in the NFC Championship game.

Pittsburgh’s Kicking Game Bests Kansas City

 

When your kicker does all of your scoring and the opposing team scores two touchdowns, usually that doesn’t lead to a victory, especially in the playoffs. The Steelers bucked that thinking, as Chris Boswell hit a postseason-record six field goals en route to an 18-16 upset of Kansas City.

Pittsburgh relied heavily on the kicking game for points but it was Le’Veon Bell who literally carried the Steelers all night long. He set a new single-game franchise record for rushing yards with a 170-yard performance on the ground. He was the bright spot in a tough night for the Pittsburgh offense.

The real story in a game like this is two-fold. On one side of the equation you have the play of the Pittsburgh defense, which held Kansas City to 225 total yards and forced two turnovers. The other part of this story is another instance of Andy Reid’s clock management. He inexplicably burned a timeout early in the second half to talk over a play, and then came out in the same formation following the timeout. It led to a 20-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin, but the cost was not having a timeout late in the game.

Once again the Chiefs fall short in the Divisional round, and Pittsburgh moves on to the AFC Championship game to face New England. I think we are all winners in that exchange.

Golden State Crushes Cleveland in Final Regular Season Clash of NBA Titans

Seven months ago, Cleveland robbed Golden State the NBA championship and the moniker of “greatest team of all time.” Then last month the Cavaliers stole a victory away from the Warriors on Christmas Day. Last night, Golden State nabbed a small measure of revenge against their rival from the East in dominating fashion. Golden State’s 126-91 win over Cleveland was a shot across the bow in the season-long standoff between the two top teams in the NBA.

The talk today was whether it actually means anything considering it was only a regular season game. For Cleveland, it’s really not that big of a deal. They are still the overwhelming favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals and one loss in the regular season doesn’t change their long-term trajectory.

For Golden State, this was a big game for them. Beating Cleveland handily is going to be a huge confidence booster for the Warriors given how the last seven months have gone against the Cavaliers. A four-game losing streak against Cleveland is broken. Now the Warriors set its focus on securing the top-seed in the West and attempting to make the NBA Finals for the third consecutive season.

I think the biggest point to takeaway from last night’s game was the incident between Draymond Green and LeBron James. Green shoulder-checked James on a fast break, picking up a flagrant foul on the play. After the play, Green mocked James for “selling” the foul. Obviously Green needs to stay away from the flagrant fouls, his suspension in the NBA Finals last season probably cost Golden State a championship.

I really do question why the Warriors keep making the same mistake of mocking LeBron. If history has shown us anything, you don’t mess with LeBron like that. He doesn’t forget and you know he’ll bring his “apex predator” game when these two inevitably square off down the line. Hopefully, that next time will be in the NBA Finals.

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Heat Check” for my midseason NBA rankings. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.