By Alex Rea
The NFL Playoffs tend to be the highlight of everyone’s January.
The weather sucks, and nothing else seems to be going on. Amidst the boredom, we have had a very exciting Postseason.
For the first time in history, all four road teams won in the Wild Card games. As a whole, the Wild Card round was eventful and in the case of the Seahawks and Vikings, even dramatic. Vikings Kicker missed a chip shot field goal in the remaining seconds of the game, which sent the Seahawks to Carolina in the Divisional round.
Carolina, who undoubtedly was the scariest team in the regular season, were expected to make a statement. Oh boy was it a statement taking a 31-0 lead over the NFC Champions Seattle Seahawks. Granted the Seahawks showed some fight in the second half, scoring 24 unanswered points to make the game came down to a onside kick, where Panther Linebacker Thomas Davis securely wrapped up Carolina’s win with the onside recovery.
The NFC side of the bracket had some more crazy finish circumstances when it came to the Packers and Cardinals game. Aaron Rodgers threw one of his famous “No-look Hail Marys” to send the contest into overtime. But the glory was short lived as the veteran duo of Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald led the Cardinals to a shaky but ecstatic victory.
The NFC Championship is set between the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals. The game is going to be a clash of two different universes, as you have the classy Cardinals on one side and the high intensity, young gun Panthers.
More locally speaking, the Denver Broncos won against the banged up Pittsburgh Steelers. Peyton Manning “played well enough to win,” which can be said for the whole team. Manning’s numbers sure could have been inflated if receivers remembered to use their hands to catch the ball opposed to dropping it. But ultimately the offense showed up when we needed them to, after Cornerback Bradley Roby forced a fumble late in the fourth quarter. Manning came in clutch on the final drive going 4 of 6 for 76 yards, which in turn led to a third and goal touchdown where C.J. Anderson smashed and fought for the end zone. The Broncos escaped the Divisional round to take on the apparent rival New England Patriots. Marking the 17th meeting between the two future Hall-of-Famers, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Although the Broncos beat the Patriots in the regular season with Brock Osweiler, there still seems to be some doubt with the Broncos’ chances. I will be the first to say there should be some doubt, but that’s expected when playing one of the most dominant franchises in professional sports history.
My big keys for the Broncos, if they want to win, are pretty commonly set but rarely achieved against the powerful Patriots. Running the football has to be established early and often. Tom Brady can’t score if he isn’t on the field. C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman both had big games against the Pats early this year, which indefinitely led to the Broncos’ win.
Now there has been a theme question this year, “What Peyton are we going to see?” The answer will be such a big factor in the success against the Patriots. We don’t need seven touchdown passes from Manning, and certainly don’t need four interceptions.
The Denver defense is so good this year, we don’t need all-star Peyton, more like no turnovers and a few touchdown drives, along with some field goals. Broncos have only started fast once this season, where they took a 27 point lead over the Steelers in the regular season.
A similar pace is required to knock off the former world champions once again. On a defensive perspective, Brady can’t breathe. This is the biggest challenge with wide out Julian Edelman back in the lineup. Brady thrives on Edelman’s quick routes to escape the pressure, but also relies on big mismatch Rob Gronkowski to move behind defenses for big gains.
The Bronco’s know their tough task, but at the end of the day, the championship team must answer the bell and prevail.
