The Saints and Colts Press On

The New Orleans Saints returned to mid season form and played like a well oiled machine as they trounced the visiting Arizona Cardinals 45-14 on Saturday to advance to the NFC Division Championship game next week to host either the Minnesota Vikings or Dallas Cowboys.  The Cardinals defense simply couldn't match the Saints superpowered offense, as the Nawlins boys scored touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions....WOW!  New Orleans star Quarterback Drew Brees simply carved up the Arizona defense throughout the first half to put the game completely out of reach, as he threw 3 touchdowns to the likes of Wide Receiver Marques Colston, Wide Receiver Devery Henderson, and Tight End Jeremy Shockey.  Reggie Bush also showcased his unbelievable athleticism and elusiveness, as he took a punt return 83 yards for the touchdown, while also scoring a TD on the ground with his mere 5 rushes for a huge 84 yards.  The Saints have looked to Reggie for big plays this year and finally got them today, as I'm sure he got the game ball in the locker room afterwards.

       Everyone should not overlook the Saints defense and how they performed this day, as they have often been an afterthought to the Saints high powered passing game.  Nonetheless, the Saints totally disrupted the Arizona Cardinals offense, as Kurt Warner and Co. couldn't stay on the field, as the Cardinals finished 1-for-8 on third downs.  First and foremost, nobody would have thought that Warner wouldn't record a passing touchdown, as both Arizona scores came on the ground to the likes of Chris Wells and Tim Hightower.  This game was a little disappointing for everyone that witnessed the spectacular game between the Cards and the Packers last week, however, Drew Brees and the Saints were just as impressive to watch in the first half.  Turnovers also played a role in this one, as the Saints recovered a fumble and intercepted a Warner pass to put themselves in solid scoring position for the unstoppable Brees led offense.  The Saints were running down hill in this game and there was no getting in their way.  They will certainly be tough to bet against next week no matter who they play.

          The Indianapolis Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens 20 to 3 tonight, as the Colts move on to play the winner of the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets game.  The Colts simply made the big plays to win the game in this one, as the Ravens had no answer for the Colts passing game, and the Ravens offense unfortunately couldn't put anything together against Dwight Freeney and company.  The Colts improved to 5-0 all-time against the Ravens at home, while also snapping a three-game losing skid in playoff games following a bye.  In two games against the Colts in the playoffs, the Ravens have not scored a touchdown, and also Baltimore's Joe Flacco has five interceptions in his last three playoff outings. 

       The Ravens reliable rushing attack was held to merely 87 yards on the ground, as Ray Rice's longest rush of over 20 yards ended with a lost fumble right when the Ravens were near the red zone.  The ball was falling in Indy's favor throughout the game, as even a Manning interception to Ravens Safety Ed Reed was knocked out of Reed's hands by Colts Wideout Pierre Garcon.  Reed was deep in Colts territory with the interception return when all of the sudden Garcon came sprinting back in to the play to dive forward and rip his arm in to the side of Reed to jar the ball up to the air.  The Colts then jumped on the loose ball as Colts Tight End Dallas Clark made the recovery.  These plays totally took the wind out of the sails of the Ravens, as Indy was plus 3 on the turnover battle tonight.  Reggie Wayne also joined in on the fun, as he showed why he's a premier Wide Receiver in the NFL, pulling down 8 catches for 63 yards and a hard earned touchdown.  Manning managed the game to perfection and took control of the offense to milk the clock and do enough to easily pull out the victory over a Baltimore team that had completely embarrassed the New England Patriots last week.  Very much looking forward to the games tomorrow and also to the awesome matchups next week.

Record Breaking Playoff Game in Arizona

    In an instant classic in Arizona, the Cardinals outlasted the Green Bay Packers in overtime on an Aaron Rodgers fumble that was returned for a touchdown by the Cardinal defense to win 51 to 45.  This was certainly the best playoff game of the wild card weekend, and most likely will be the best game seen throughout the playoffs.  We all knew this was going to be a much higher scoring game than what we saw last week between these two teams, but I don't think anybody thought that the Cards and the Packers would put up 96 points, 1024 yards, 62 first downs,  and 13 touchdowns.  Now that's a heck of a game!!  And by the way, that 96 points is the most in NFL postseason history.

    The big story in this game were the quarterbacks that were leading the way, as Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Warner completely carved up the respective defenses mostly throughout the second half, as the Packers put together an absolutely incredible comeback to get back in a game in which early on many I'm sure were ready to flip the channel.  Led by their young star Quarterback, the Packers refused to lie down to the home team Cardinals, as Rodgers threw 4 touchdowns and netted over 400 yards passing.  Tight End Jermichael Finley caught 6 passes for 159 yards, while Wide Receiver Greg Jennings pulled down 8 catches for 130 yards and a TD....unbelievable!!  Jennings also had the catch of the weekend, as he hauled in a one handed left hand catch for a touchdown that for sure hit the highlight reel. 

       On the other hand, the ageless wonder of Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Warner was on full display Sunday afternoon, as Warner threw for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns, with no INT's.  Warner might want to consider a career hunting after this game, as he was a complete marksman, completing 29 of 33 passes for the third best completion percentage in playoff history, a ridiculous 87.9%.  Furthermore, Warner threw more touchdowns that incompletions and had a god like 154.1 passer rating which is also second highest in playoff history.  Even with star Wide Receiver Anquan Boldin on the sidelines with an injury, there was no stopping the Arizona offense, as Early Doucet and Steve Breaston more than pulled their weight to fill in for the star wideout.  Wideout Doucet had 2 touchdowns on 6 catches for 77 yards, while Breaston hauled in 1 touchdown on 7 receptions for 125 big yards.  Of course pro bowl Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald also joined in on the fun, as Fitzgerald pulled down 6 receptions for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns.

       It became very evident in the fourth quarter of this game that whomever had the ball last was most likely going to win, as each pass happy offense completely had their way with previously strong team defenses.  It was great for NFL fans to watch a game that was so very exciting, as the three other playoff games this weekend were not tightly contested and did not provide the anxiousness and edge of your seat emotions that this game brought to your living room.  It's really too bad that the game had to end on an Aaron Rodgers turnover, as he played an excellent game and has really showed everyone that his skills and knowledge of the game are far beyond his years.  Hopefully we'll see another classic next weekend with the powerhouse matchups that are upcoming, but before we move on we all should tip our cap to what a phenomenal game we were able to see this Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals....well done gentlemen....well done!

The Cards Get Stunned in Candlestick 24-9

        Candlestick park hosted another great Monday Night Game tonight, as the 49ers won the turnover battle and what turned out to be a much closer game than what it should have been.  It was certainly evident early on that Kurt Warner and the rest of the Cardinals, primarily the running backs, weren't planning on holding on to the ball for long, as the Cards were riddled with 7 turnovers throughout the game....are you kidding me?  Kurt Warner threw 2 interceptions, had a fumble and almost had another one, as he struggled to find any rhythm during the game because of a 49er pass rush that completed dominated the Cardinals offensive line.  3 different Arizona running backs each coughed up the ball in critical plays to thwart the Cardinals potential drives.  However, more importantly, the 49ers were only able to stumble to a 17-9 lead in the 3rd quarter, which should have been much more because of the endless opportunities the Cards handed them. 

          Alex Smith was suprisingly the better quarterback this night, as he threw for 2 touchdowns, but also tossed in 2 interceptions.  It's clear that Alex Smith has the skills to be a solid starting quarterback in the NFL, however, there's definitely times where he convinces you otherwise.  Nonetheless, with the help of Frank Gore rushing the ball 25 times for a huge 167 yards, San Francisco didn't need much to overcome the clumsy Arizona offense's output.  In addition, Michael Crabtree continued to impress, as he played a very agressive game and fearlessly sought out more yardage on a play in which he slipped to the ground, and got up to pick up another 6 yards for the first down.        
        The lone bright spot for Arizona was the rushing game of Beanie Wells, as he took the bulk of the wordload and pulled down 15 carries for 79 yards and a tough rushing touchdown.  For any sleeper picks to use in your fantasy football playoffs, feel free to deploy Wells in case you need him.  He has the potential to run in up the gut, or to bust it out wide for a long run.  The only thing he needs to do in order to cement more playing time is if he could block as well as Hightower.  At this point it's no comparison, as Hightower still runs well in his second year in the league and his blocking is far superior to Wells.  Either way, Wells has put together a respectable campaign in his rookie year and has certainly turned some heads.

         Overall, this was a sloppy game that San Francisco took advantage of, as they stripped the ball from Arizona runners throughout, leaving the Arizona offense to spend the game on the sidelines as specatators.  The Niners defense definitely flexed their muscles, as they held a robust Cardinal offense to only 170 pass yards.  Monday Night Football was entertaining and you've got to tip your hat to the Niners, however, I left the game expecting much more out of the Cards offense and was a bit disappointed in the effort after the Cardinals totally dismantled the Vikings a week prior.  You've gotta love the swings week to week in the NFL.