After last weekends poor efforts the intensity level really stepped up a notch this weekend and the action started with Baltimore Ravens versus Denver Broncos.
This was the early kick off on Saturday night and it was also a battle between two future hall of fame players. For those who may be unsure I am of course refering to the great Mr Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning or just Eli's brother as he is known in some circles! For Ray Lewis each game has added importance because it may be his last with his pending retirement at the end of the season. Before I continue with the match let us take a look a some of Mr Lewis career highlights by clicking on the videos below.
This was the early kick off on Saturday night and it was also a battle between two future hall of fame players. For those who may be unsure I am of course refering to the great Mr Ray Lewis and Peyton Manning or just Eli's brother as he is known in some circles! For Ray Lewis each game has added importance because it may be his last with his pending retirement at the end of the season. Before I continue with the match let us take a look a some of Mr Lewis career highlights by clicking on the videos below.
Despite the legends on the field it was actually a relatively unheard of name that was making the early headlines. There was a young player by the name of Trindon Holliday who returned Baltimore's first punt 90 yards for a touchdown and put the Broncos up by seven points. This return really set the game on fire as by the time the next two minutes had passed we had two more touchdowns. The first came on Baltimore's next possession after the punt return where Torey Smith caught a 59 yard bomb from Joe Flacco to tie the game. I'm sure you are all thinking the next touchdown in the two minute madness was a Manning touchdown pass and to a degree you would be right. Peyton Manning through an interception to Corey Graham who proceeded to take it back 39 yards for a touchdown. After the two minute madness had finished, normal service was resumed as Peyton Manning led the Broncos on a touchdown scoring drive which went the length of the field and was finished off by a 15 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley. The score was now 14 all and it was only the first quarter.
In the second quarter both teams started to make several coaching adjustments and Denver started to play the no huddle to try and tire out the Ravens defence. It looked as though the no huddle was working as Manning lead the Broncos on a drive which resulted in a touchdown pass to Moreno. The Broncos looked like they were starting to get the upper hand however they missed a field goal which put the Ravens in great field position just before half time. The Ravens did not hang about and brought the scores level with a great leaping touchdown by Torey Smith. The score was now tied 21 all at halftime and I could not wait for the second half.
The second half kicked off and Trindon Holliday continued his great day by returning the kick off 104 yards for a touchdown to put Denver up 28-21. In the third quarter there was an exchange of fumbles, the first being from Joe Flacco followed by one from Peyton Manning.
This was to prove costly for the Broncos because on the next drive Ray Rice broke a 30 yard run which set up his one yard touchdown run to tie the game at 28 all going into the fourth quarter. The teams continued to exchange possessions in the fourth quarter with no scoring, that is until with just over seven minutes left Manning managed to find Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown putting the Broncos up by seven points. The Denver defense then stood tall and managed to keep the Ravens out of the endzone until there was just over 30 seconds left in the quarter. In what must have been a blown coverage Jacoby Jones caught a 70 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to tie the game at 35 all. At this point you would have expected Denver to let Manning use that 30 seconds to try and get the winning field goal but for some reason they made him take a knee to run out time. This was a move that would come back to bite Denver as after a further series of scoreless possessions the Ravens managed to kick the winning field goal at the start of the second overtime quarter. Ray Lewis and the Ravens continue to win in the playoffs and people are now labelling them as the team of destiny.
Please click on the picture below to watch the highlights.
This was to prove costly for the Broncos because on the next drive Ray Rice broke a 30 yard run which set up his one yard touchdown run to tie the game at 28 all going into the fourth quarter. The teams continued to exchange possessions in the fourth quarter with no scoring, that is until with just over seven minutes left Manning managed to find Demaryius Thomas for a touchdown putting the Broncos up by seven points. The Denver defense then stood tall and managed to keep the Ravens out of the endzone until there was just over 30 seconds left in the quarter. In what must have been a blown coverage Jacoby Jones caught a 70 yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to tie the game at 35 all. At this point you would have expected Denver to let Manning use that 30 seconds to try and get the winning field goal but for some reason they made him take a knee to run out time. This was a move that would come back to bite Denver as after a further series of scoreless possessions the Ravens managed to kick the winning field goal at the start of the second overtime quarter. Ray Lewis and the Ravens continue to win in the playoffs and people are now labelling them as the team of destiny.
Please click on the picture below to watch the highlights.
Now we move onto the late game on Saturday night between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers. Recently coach Harbaugh has decided to stick with the young Colin Kaepernick rather than putting Alex Smith back in the side. Kaepernick has been playing well of late however the early part of the game did not go as planned. On their opening possession Sam Shields intercepted the young quarterback and ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown to put Green Bay up 7 nil. The 49ers soon answered back with a long drive which was finished off by a Kaepernick 20 yard run. Already you could see that this was also going to be another high scoring game and the teams traded touchdowns again up until half time. San Francisco also managed to sneak in a field goal from David Akers to put them up 24-21 at halftime.
In the second half the 49ers defence really came out to play as they managed to hold the Packers to just 10 points. With the defence playing so well the offense also stepped it up and by the end of the game Kaepernick had thrown for 263 yards and two touchdowns and run a further 181 yards again with two touchdowns. What a playoff debut this was for the young lad as he led his side to a 45 - 31 victory over the Packers. You can check out some his special moments by clicking the picture below for the highlights.
Okay so now you are all excited from the first two games we move onto the delights provided on Sunday starting with Seattle at Atlanta. This for me was going to be my upset of the round as I really thought that Seattle would take down the high flying Falcons.
In the first quarter it looked indeed like this was going to be the close game I was expecting. Atlanta were controlling the possession however they only managed to score a field goals thanks to some great defence from Richard Sherman one of the young cornerbacks for Seattle. At this point we had not seen much of Russell Wilson and things were going from bad to worse for Marshawn Lynch as his fumble led to the Atlanta drive which was capped off by a Gonzalez touchdown reception at the back of the end zone. Gonzalez showed great skill getting both feet down before going out of bounds. The first half drew to a close with Seattle failing on a fourth and one and Atlanta then capitalising with a 47 yard touchdown pass to Roddy White.
Like the Seattle Seahawks I was shell shocked at half time as Atlanta were up 20 nil. The second half started with a touchdown reception by Brandon Tate to make the score 20-7. The Falcons answered back with a Snelling 5 yard touchdown catch and it extended the lead back to 20 points. Somehow the Seahawks managed to claw there way back into the game and scored 21 unanswered points to put them up 28-27 with under a minute left in the fourth quarter. Atlanta then managed to do what they have all season long and put two plays together which put them into field goal range to win the game. Up steps Bryant and he kicked the game winning field goal. Atlanta have now won their first playoff game in the Mike Smith era as they won 30-28!
Please click on the picture below for the game highlights.
Please click on the picture below for the game highlights.
We finished the weekend with a rematch from last seasons divisional games as Houston took on New England in Boston. The game started with a 94 yard kick off return by Daniel Manning which put Houston in great field position. Unfortunately Houston could not capitalise on this and had to settle for a field goal. Although this was only the first drive of the game you knew the New Engalnd would prove to be too much for the Texans. New England then scored 17 unanswered points and in the process Gronkowski managed to break his arm again which will keep him out now until next season. I was very dissapointed with the Houston performance and New England came away as winners 41-28. Please click on the picture below to see just how bad the Texans were!
Well that is all from me for this week and until next week football fans, take care and stay safe.