The Seattle Seahawks beat the New Orleans Saints 23-15 in Seattle on Saturday, in the first of the National Football League (NFL) Divisional Playoff games. The Seahawks shut down the Saints and their quarterback Drew Brees in the first half, but he finished the game with 309 yards passing and a touchdown pass. Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson only passed for 103 yards, but that was enough when adding their 174 rushing yards, 140 of which were gained by Marshawn Lynch, along with his 2 rushing touchdowns.
With a 16-0 halftime lead, the Seahawks withstood a late surge from the Saints, which included a recovered onside kick, and one last chance to possibly tie the game. New Orleans receiver Marques Colston who had a great game receiving, with 11 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown catch, and even recovered the onside kick, made a huge mistake that ended the game. He caught a pass on the last drive, and instead of stepping out of bounds, and saving time for a possible hail mary pass, he attempted an illegal second forward pass on the play. The Saints were penalized with a 10 second time run-off, which used up their last few seconds.
In the later game on Saturday, the New England Patriots routed the Indianapolis Colts 43-22 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. With 43 points you might think Patriot quarterback Tom Brady had a huge passing day, but he only passed for 198 yards and no touchdown passes. Instead, the Patriots rushed for 6 touchdowns, and 234 yards rushing on 46 carries. LeGarrette Blount had 166 of those yards, and 4 of the touchdowns.
The Colts, who scored 45 points last week, in their 28-point comeback win against the Kansas City Chiefs, could not overcome a negative 4 turnover ratio in this game. Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 331 yards and 2 touchdown passes, but he also tossed 4 interceptions. You can’t give a good team like the Patriots 4 turnovers and expect to win.
The first game on Sunday was the San Francisco 49ers playing at Charlotte, North Carolina against the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers kicked a 24-yard field goal to extend their lead to 10-6, with 3:41 remaining in the 2nd quarter, then it was all 49ers after that, scoring 17 straight points to win the game 23-10.
49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for just 196 yards in the game, but he had a passing and rushing touchdown. After his rushing touchdown, Kaepernick mocked Panther quarterback Cam Newton’s Superman gesture that he does sometimes after touchdowns, which he richly deserved. This game was played pretty evenly other than the 2 interceptions thrown by Newton, while Kaepernick had no turnovers.
In the final game of the NFL Divisional Playoff weekend, the Denver Broncos took a 17-0 lead into the 4th quarter, then needed to hold on to secure a 24-17 win over the San Diego Chargers in Denver, Colorado. The Chargers’ offense finally came alive in the 4th quarter, as their quarterback Phillip Rivers threw for most of his 217 yards passing, and both of his touchdown passes in a furious attempt to win the game.
After the Chargers kicked a field goal with 3:53 remaining, the Broncos ran out the clock by running the ball, and continuing to get first downs, until no time remained. Denver finished with 133 yards rushing to only 65 yards for San Diego, who had been rushing the ball effectively in past weeks. This was the 3rd time these division rivals played this year, with the Broncos winning twice.
Next week both of the Conference Championship Games will be played on Sunday. The first game will feature the Patriots going to Denver to play the Broncos for the American Football Conference (AFC) title. In their 15th time facing each other Peyton Manning will lead his Broncos against Brady’s Patriots. Brady holds a commanding 10-4 lead in their previous games.This is a rematch of their week 12 overtime shootout won by the Patriots 34-31. I’m going with a Patriot upset, based on the way New England has been running the ball, and head coach Bill Belichick’s mastery at getting his teams prepared to play against Manning.
In the later game, the National Football Conference (NFC) title will be decided with the 49ers visiting the Seahawks in Seattle. These NFC West rivals played twice this year already, with each team winning at home. But the Seahawks beat the tar out of the 49ers in week 2, 29-3, while the 49ers won at home 19-17 in week 14. I think the Seahawks will shut down the 49ers’ offense enough to win the game, but not nearly as decisively as they did early in the season.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
