Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks and the Jacksonville Jaguars for moving on to the Divisional Playoffs with victories on Saturday. I correctly picked both games' winners, and I wasn't too surprised on how each game went down. Here are some quick hitters from Saturday's action:
Quick Hitters:- Todd Collins played extremely well as much as the stat sheet doesn't show it. As tough of plays that guys like Chris Cooley and Santana Moss can make, too many times they dropped balls beyond the first down market that required precision from Collins.
- I couldn't believe my eyes with the momentum the Redskins had at the start of the fourth quarter, especially with their unintentional onside kick.
- Cris Collinsworth: it's ok to mention the possibility of divine intervention, but you didn't have to try and sell it overboard to all of America.
- Shaun Suisham: how do you miss that kick after a season of kicking so well?
- The Seahawks did a fair job not calling too many runs. The runs they did call, for the most part, came at the right times.
- Marcus Trufant, Julian Peterson, and Patrick Kerney. Talk about having impact players in each unit, and that's not even mentioning Lofa Tatupu.
- Yes, it was fun to see Ben Roethlisberger try and rally the Steelers. But guess who was also responsible for Pittsburgh being down so much early on? Ben Roethlisberger. How do you expect Pittsburgh to carry on with trying to establish the run when they find themselves down 28-10 in the third quarter?
- I agree with Mike Tomlin going for two points with the score 28-23 initially. After the penalty though, it's a no-brainer: kick the extra point. I won't blame Tomlin and say that his decision lost the game, because that'd be too nit-picking. Still, a bad decision that could've changed the game's outcome.
- I know it was a chipshot at the end for Josh Scobee. But still -- in Heinz Field, can you imagine all of the pressure on the snapper, the holder, and Scobee to execute 1, 2, 3, just like they've done all season?
- David Garrard's first "bad" game of the season as a thrower should have cost him the game. Credit to him for keeping his composure and coming through on a miraculous 32-yard fourth down run to all but win the game.
- How did the refs miss Hines Ward tugging at Brian Williams' facemask on fourth down earlier in the fourth quarter? Williams had every right to complain, and that nearly cost the Jaguars dearly.
- I wish Madden and Michaels could do more playoff games.
Tomorrow, I'll have my previews for the Giants/Buccaneers and Titans/Chargers contest online at PFCritics. I doubt either of those games will match the intensity from the Jaguars/Steelers game, but nonetheless, you can never underappreciate the NFL playoffs.