Wild Card Weekend special

The Texans might finally be thinking that it's time to pick a quarterback in the draft. Brian Hoyer showed once and for all that he isn't a franchise QB as he imploded, completing only 15/34 passes and tossing 4 interceptions. Credit to a very good Texans defence, they kept the game close throughout the first half even after Knile Davis returned the opening kick-off for a 106 yard touchdown.

 

Alex Smith repeatedly made plays both in the passing game and with his legs. The Chiefs took control in the second half on their way to a 30-0 shutout of the Texans and their first playoff win since when a certain Joe Montana was at quarterback. Travis Kelce showed why he’s one of Smith’s favourite weapons. The tight end exploded for 128 yards on just 8 catches.

 

Think special teams aren't important? Ask the Vikings. After keeping his team in the game, Blair Walsh gets labelled as the goat for missing the 27 yard field goal that could have won the game for the Minnesota Vikings. But it was the whole threesome of long snapper, holder and kicker that failed to produce in the tightest of moments. Walsh didn't hide for the miss, "You're confident, but you never think that you have it or take it for granted," he said, subdued with glassy eyes in the locker room afterward. "I just didn't put a swing on it that would be acceptable by anybody's standards." But for my money it was holder Jeff Locke leaving the laces facing the kicker that led to the miss

 

 It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Viking faithful as they had kept the Seahawks offence struggling for the majority of the game and only a broken play kept the Seahawks in the game. On a wild snap that Russell Wilson wasn't ready for, the athletic quarterback managed to avoid getting tackled for a huge loss and hit Tyler Lockett for a 35 yard catch and run that led to the go ahead score. Whilst the kick took centre stage little was made of the fact that the Vikings repeatedly failed to get touchdowns and settled for field goals, despite all their pressure.

 

Resilience is a key trait in the truly great quarterbacks and on Sunday Aaron Rodgers showed it in spades when he bounced back from four drives that had less than impressive results; punt, safety, punt, punt. Rodgers and the Packers offence started to warm up in the second quarter and several times Rodgers caught the opposition with too many players on the field as he moved to a hurry up offence that proved too much for the Redskins.

 

All the talk prior to the match had been of up and coming Redskin’s quarterback Kirk Cousins and the poor play of the Packers, the lack of a Packers running game and the number of times Aaron Rogers had been hit. Throughout the game though it was Cousins who was getting hit. He finished the game being sacked six times for 59 yards. And that much maligned Packers run game? Against the Redskins they showed signs of life as Eddie Lacy and James Starks combined for over 100 yards (63 for Lacy and 53 for Starks).

 

The one Redskin the Packers had no answer for was Jordan Reed, who at times seemed unstoppable, as he accounted for 120 yards of the Redskins 329 passing yards. With a few more pieces the Redskins will again be in the hunt for that most elusive of things back-to-back NFC East crowns. They'll do so without RGIII as the player cleared out his locker following the loss and completed a Darth Vader-esq fall from grace.

 

In one of the weirdest games in recent playoff history the Steelers were completely in control for the first three quarters of the game, as they took a commanding 15 point lead.

The Bengals fought back hard and scored 16 unanswered points and had the ball and the lead with 1:30 to go. But these are the same Cincinnati Bungles we expect and they continue their 25 year search for a playoff victory.

 

First, Jeremy Hill fumbled the ball.  Then the defence gave away two 15-yard penalties, the first on Vontaze Burfict after a hit on defenceless Steeler’s wide receiver Antonio Brown and another on Adam Jones. Chris Boswell promptly kicked a field goal to give the Steelers their first playoff win since the 2010 AFC championship game. In a game in which both Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown played through significant injuries the Steelers were just thankful to finish with the win.

 

Finally, many of the available head coach vacancies have been filled. Tampa Bay and the New York Giants kept things in house as Dirk Koetter was promoted by the Buccaneers from offensive coordinator to head coach and the Giants did likewise with Ben McAdoo.

 

The Philadelphia Eagles go back to the Andy Reid coaching tree, hiring Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson.  Pederson is no stranger to the Eagles; he was their quarterback for one season, before Donovan McNabb took over, and was also their quarterbacks coach under Andy Reid.

 

The Dolphins turn to their ninth successive first year coach as they attempt to recapture the winning culture that has been missing since the Don Shula era. They tagged Adam Gase, the Bears offensive coordinator and the man behind Jay Cutler’s resurgence. Gase will tellingly also have control over the Dolphins roster. Expect plenty of changes here.

 

Will Hue Jackson will become the next casualty of the Browns ownership after the 2016 season? He’s just been hired by Jimmy Haslam to be next year’s head coach – the fifth in only eight seasons! Jackson has already said that Johnny Football’s time with the team is over. The Browns also made changes in the front office, promoting Sashi Brown to Vice President of Football Operations. They also win the Outside the Box thinking award for hiring Paul DePodesta, former executive of baseball’s New York Mets, as their Chief Strategy Officer.

 

Perhaps the most intriguing hiring, and certainly the one that gained the most media attention, is the San Francisco 49ers hiring of former Eagle’s head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly inherits a team that was decimated by retirements last off season but may have a quarterback that can run his offensive in Colin Kaepernick. He just has very little else. Maybe he’ll trade for DeMarco Murray!