Seattle Seahawks vs. ? in the NFC Championship.
New England Patriots vs. ? in the AFC Championship.
The guess here is that the 49ers will be in Seattle next week. The Patriots will be in Denver. But, it's just a guess. There's a couple of big game today. Great games.
Seahawks receiver Percy Harvin can't stay on the field.
New Orleans Saints receiver Marques Colston made two of the most idiotic decisions that I've ever seen in the playoffs. On the same play! If he just steps out of bounds, Drew Brees has at least one shot to the end zone from inside the 40-yard line. Maybe, even a second shot from a little closer.
The Seattle Seahawks game plan against the Seahawks looked a lot like a game plan from another era. Russell Wilson only threw from 103 yards on 9 of 18 attempts. It was a little bit of passing and a lot of Marshawn Lynch. With a real nice defense, Lynch, and a distinct home-field-advantage, the Seahawks don't really need much from Wilson.
The Patriots ran the ball 46 times for 234 yards. It's probably been about a decade since Tom Brady's passing took a backseat to the run game. LeGarrette Blount led the way with 166 yards and 4 touchdowns. I think that Bill Belichick went to the ground to limit the possessions of the Colts and Andrew Luck.
Luck's four interceptions did just as much to limit the Colts time of possession.
Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton was terrific as a rookie in 2012. He's been better than that the last two weeks. His injury yesterday was a real blow to the Colts. Hilton isn't just a terrific young receiver. He's become a big play, dominant receiver. Luck to Hilton will be nightmare combination for a long time.
The Patriots lost punter Ryan Allen to an apparent shoulder injury in the first half. That led to some shuffling of the specialists. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski was forced to punt. Brady was forced to hold for place kicks. I don't think that I've seen a quarterback of Brady's caliber hold since the 1970s. Both did pretty well with their extra playing time.
If Blount wasn't the player of the game for the Patriots, it was rookie linebacker Jamie Collins. Great in coverage all night, he also had a sack and an interception. I was curious about Collins in last April's draft. He was an impact player against the Colts.
With the Patriots win, Bill Belichick tied Don Shula for the second most postseason wins in NFL history with 19. Tom Landry leads with 20.
#6 are 5-2 vs. #1 seeds since 2005.
2010 season, 2011 playoffs:
#6 New York Jets 28-21 over #1 New England Patriots
#6 Green Bay Packers 48-21 over #1 Atlanta Falcons
2009 season, 2010 playoffs:
#1 Indianapolis Colts 20-3 over #6 Baltimore Ravens
2008 season, 2009 playoffs
#6 Baltimore Ravens 13-10 over Tennessee Titans
#6 Philadelphia Eagles 23-11 over #1 New York Giants
2005 season, 2006 playoffs
#1 Seattle Seahawks 20-10 over #6 Washington Redskins
#6 Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18 over #1 Indianapolis Colts
At first glance, I couldn't possibly understand the thinking of Alabama coach Nick Saban when he hire fired Oakland Raiders and USC coach Lane Kiffin as his offensive coordinator. I couldn't imagine Saban choosing to deal with a pain-in-the-ass like Kiffin. At second glance, I thought about Kiffin having his greatest, perhaps only, success as Pete Carroll's offensive coordinator at USC. Maybe, offensive coordinator for a strong head coach is the best place for Kiffin.
The Minnesota Vikings interviewed 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula in Charlotte, NC for their still vacant head coach position. I really can't imagine that two coaches preparing for a big playoff game the next day have the time to sit down for an interview. Most of the preparation is already done but it still seems to be a tough time for an interview. All reports seem to indicate that one or both of the 49ers assistants may join Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and Arizona Cardinals defensive Todd Bowles as finalists for the Vikings top coaching job. Zimmer has been and continues to be my top choice to lead the Vikings into the future.
The Washington Redskins decided that they didn't have to cancel their scheduled interviews with 49ers coordinators Greg Roman and Vic Fangio after they had hired Jay Gruden. Very classy lil Danny Snyder.
Last year, 73 college underclassmen declared for the NFL Draft. There will be a lot more than that this year. The declarations are coming so fast that it's hard to keep to track of them all. At least 100 have declared and there's still a few days for some more.
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