Post by spiderfan on Jan 14, 2020 11:55:29 GMT -8
Bonjour SCtoC, I am Spiderfan the official NFL Analyst of this great website and with Round 2 of the NFL playoffs in the books, it is time for another edition of Web of Football. Let us begin!
No upsets here
I'm going to cheat this week. Not like Houston Astros cheating more like Paul Brown cheating. I say this because I would usually do 2 segments for the other divisional round playoff games, but the losses by the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks have a lot in common so instead of repeating myself I'll just use one segment.
First off, the Vikings and Seahawks were both road underdogs to the 49ers and Packers respectively. Secondly, both the Vikings and Seahawks like to run the ball and play defense. Thirdly and finally, the 49ers and Packers ran the ball and played defense WAY better than their opponents did which is why the Packers and 49ers are going to the NFC Championship Game.
The Vikings played good... for a half and then the wheels fell off when the 49ers offense and defense physically dominated the Vikings, something which you don't see very often in the NFL. The Seahawks played good... for a half, their problem was they played good after spotting the Packers 18 points after the Seahawks had been physically dominated.
Yeah, it wasn't a good weekend for the NFC underdogs, but by taking care of business both the Packers and 49ers showed that they belong in the NFC Championship Game. As will be brought up by other people that aren't me, the 49ers and Packers did meet in the regular season. Here were my thoughts:
On the very first series of the game the 49ers defense forced a fumble out of the hands of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers inside the 10 yard line. This meant that the 49ers offense's first play of the game was a 1st and Goal which they capitalized on to make the 7-0 less than 5 minutes into the game. Those events made me realize something: "Oh, this is going to be one of THOSE games" which it in fact was. The final score 37-8 and those 8 points came in the second half because the 49ers were up 23-0 at half. Rodgers was under pressure by the 49ers defense all night, the run game was stuffed, and the 49ers defense simply dominated on the defense side of the ball. This set up short fields and various opportunities for the 49ers offense, which capitalized and put up points. An impressive team effort for sure.
Titanic Upset
I'm going to throw some stats out about the Baltimore Ravens. 0/4 on 4th down. 3 turnovers. 14 points allowed off of turnovers. 7 dropped passes. 0/1 on their 2 point conversion try. Might I also add that one of those turnovers was because of a dropped pass that went into the air and was intercepted and then set up the Titans in Ravens territory where they then scored a TD? Might I also add that a couple of the Ravens failures on 4th down were on 4th and short plays where they usually dominate? Might I also add that the dropped passes resulted in a number of promising drives resulting in punts or a turnover on downs? Might I also add that their failure to convert on their 2 point try stopped what little late game momentum they had in its tracks?
I'm now going to throw out some stats about the Tennessee Titans. Derrick Henry lead the team with 195 rushing yards on 30 carries. Ryan Tannehill had 2 great TD passes despite having less than 100 passing yards. No turnovers.
For as good as Henry and Tannehill played and even giving credit to the Titans defense which did make some good plays, the Ravens did not play well. You don't win a game with your players dropping passes left and right and north and south and east and west. You don't win a game where you allow the other team to set up shop in your territory because you can't make a 4th and short. You don't win a game where you turnover the ball repeatedly. For a team that is the #1 seed and for a team that set the single season team rushing record and for a team that has the best record in the NFL and for a team that has had the best regular season in the history of your franchise, I expected a better team effort.
I thought this game would be close, but did I think the Titans would come into Baltimore and have control of the game for its entirety? No. But, they did and they are ones who after being 2-4 and after Titans fans being unhappy with where the franchise was going are going to the AFC Championship Game. The Titans played a tough, physical, turnover free game and won and shocked the football world. Congrats.
Champions Never Die
The Kansas City Chiefs have now existed for 60 years. A long time. A bunch of losses and a bunch of wins. On Sunday, we all were witnesses to history as the Chiefs overcame a 24 point deficit to defeat the Texans which is tied for the 4th largest postseason comeback and is the largest ever comeback in the 60 year history of the Kansas City Chiefs. How did we get here?
The Chiefs had quite possibly the most disastrous 1st quarter for a team ever. To start things off the Texans are having a solid drive. Running the football nicely, Texans QB Deshaun Watson making some plays. Then all of the sudden for some reason, the Chiefs defensive coverage breaks like a thin glass vase and Texans WR Kenny Stills walks into the endzone nobody even in the same state as him. Ok whatever, not the first time the Chiefs defense this season has fallen apart, but the Texans are only up 7-0 and there is a whole game left to play.
Chiefs get the ball and on 3rd down, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes throws the ball to his TE Travis Kelce who is WIDE open... and drops the ball. Punting time! A drop by a player of Kelce's caliber isn't good, but a blocked punt returned for a TD is FAR worse. So things went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Can you start out a game worse? Yep.
When the Chiefs got the ball for the second time in the game, they had a tiny drive going when, facing another 3rd down Mahomes throws the ball to his WR Demarcus Robinson who is WIDE open... and drops the ball. Punting time! Another drop for the Chiefs, is REALLY not good, but even after forcing a punt by the Texans, muffing a punt inside the 10 yard line setting up a 1st and Goal situation for the Texans is in a galaxy FAR FAR AWAY worse. Deshaun Watson then throws another TD pass this time to Texans TE Darren Fells. 21-0 Texans.
Then the Chiefs got the ball for the third time and this time it was a 3 and out. Punting time! Texans get the ball up 21 and after a mixture of pass and run plays put themselves in the redzone. Facing a 4th and 1 inside the redzone, Texans HC Bill O'Brien decides to ignore his players wishes and instead of going for it, kicks the FG. Texans now up 24-0 and so ends the 1st quarter of play, if it is apparent already a, may I repeat disastrous 1st quarter.
Entering the 2nd quarter Chiefs WR/returner Mecole Hardman had a great return which the set the Chiefs up in Texans territory. Then Mahomes hits Kelce for a big game and on the next play hits RB Damien Williams for a TD. The score is 24-7 and the crowd is back into the game. On the next Texans series, the Chiefs defense forces a 3 and out. Punting time for the Texans... but wait IT IS A FAKE PUNT AND IT IS STOPPED! Yeah, Bill O'Brien tried to do what Saints HC Sean Payton did when the Saints trailed the Eagles in the playoffs last year, except unlike the Saints where it worked and gave them momentum, yeah the Texans just gave the Chiefs momentum, which considering the Chiefs previous drive isn't a good idea.
Chiefs get the ball in Texans territory for the 2nd time and after Texans CB Lonnie Johnson decides to blatantly interfere with Travis Kelce, the Chiefs have 1st and Goal. Then after an incomplete pass on 1st and Goal, on 2nd and Goal, Kelce catches a TD pass, the score now 24-14, with the Chiefs having all the momentum.
The Chiefs would end up getting more momentum when the Texans fumbled on the ensuing kick return, setting the Chiefs up in Texans territory for the 3rd time in a row and again Travis Kelce catches a TD pass. 24-21. The Texans would then have what appeared to be a solid drive until after what appeared to be a flea flicker failed and forced them to punt. Texans CB Lonnie Johnson again interferes with Kelce and Mahomes does his magic, throwing beautiful passes to Tryeek Hill and to Travis Kelce and Mahomes even runs the ball himself. Then, for the 3rd time in the 2nd quarter Mahomes finds Travis Kelce in the endzone, meaning that after his drop Kelce would get 3 TD catches. I would say he redeemed himself and I would say the Chiefs redeemed themselves. Being down 24-0 sucks, but it makes coming back all the sweeter. 28-24 Chiefs.
And the Chiefs just kept going in the second half. Chiefs RB Damien Williams had 2 TD runs and backup Chiefs TE Blake Bell had a TD catch as well. In fact, after the Chiefs were down 24-0 they only punted once and that was late in the game. As for the Texans? They did score a TD in the second half, but it ended up not meaning anything because the Chiefs kept scoring and scoring and scoring and scoring. And the Chiefs defense shut down the Texans offense, something which they didn't do when the Chiefs and Texans met earlier in the season. And the Chiefs special teams helped too. This epic comeback win by the Chiefs was a full team effort. After all the playoff losses the Chiefs have had in the last 50 years, they could have laid down and died. Heck, the SCtoC twitter was even thinking that:
Remember, champions never die.
Cleveland Browns hire Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski to be their next HC
I was someone who was a supporter of the Browns hiring Freddie Kitchens and was skeptical of his firing. With that in mind, Kitchens' replacement is Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski who (as has been reported my everyone under the sun) was the runner-up for the job last year. It sounds like there was a split between Browns Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta (as played by Jonah Hill in Moneyball) and then Browns GM John Dorsey over who to hire and Dorsey won out. Being that Kitchens and Dorsey are now unemployed, it has come to pass that DePodesta finally got his man, Kevin Stefanski.
I like the Stefanski hire. He did a excellent job of creating a run based offense where the quarterback was set up to succeed with the Vikings. Considering the Browns have more talent than the Vikings, the style of offense that Stefanski runs should work with the Browns. Key word should. The Browns have seemingly tried everything and still haven't won so at this point it wouldn't shock me if Stefanski and DePodesta and Mayfield will all be thrown out next season and their will be a new regime this time next year.
Random Eurobeat Recommendation of the Week
What is Eurobeat? It is basically European disco pop music. It was made most famous by the anime series Initial D and Initial D is my favorite anime of all time in part because of the Eurobeat music throughout it. This week's recommendation was featured in the 5th season of Initial D. It is When the Sun Goes Down by Ken Blast. Enjoy!
An interesting week of NFL futbol for sure. We are now down to just 4 teams and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami is on the horizon. I'm looking forward to it and I hope that y'all will be along for the ride. Geaux Tigers! This is spiderfan out.
Graphic courtesy of David.
