Mattie T’s Divisional Playoffs Recap

There were some exciting games over the weekend, as all 4 contests were decided by a combined total of 18 points.

Let’s get it poppin’!

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Star Performer of the Game: Colts K Adam Vinatieri, who hit all 5 of his field goal attempts from 23, 35, 42, 48 & 51 yards. (Vinatieri’s 4th field goal gave him an NFL-playoff record 33 field goals.)

Colts QB Peyton Manning on his team winning the game despite failing to score an offensive touchdown: “I’m not sure if we ever won one before in the nine years I’ve played here without scoring a touchdown. My guess is no.”

“You want to get touchdowns and it was frustrating to have to settle for field goals. But we saw how our defense was playing early, and we thought field goals would be enough — if we got enough of them.”

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

Saturday’s Colts-Ravens game was just the 4th playoff game in NFL history & the first in 27 years that neither team failed to score a touchdown.

The last playoff game that resulted without a touchdown for either team was the Los Angeles Rams’ 9-0 win in the NFC Championship Game over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 6th, 1980.

Surprisingly, the Colts head into Sunday’s AFC Championship Game allowing just 14 points defensively over the past 2 weeks.

A big reason for the Colts’ defensive resurgence could be credited to the return of All-Pro S Bob Sanders, who has missed 12 games this season with a knee injury.

The Colts are 5-1 (.833) with Sanders this season & 9-3 (.750) without him.

Adam Vinatieri has proved to be a big-time pickup for the Colts this season with his clutch kicking.

Vinatieri will surpass George Blanda’s NFL record of 19 consecutive playoff games with a field goal if the All-Pro kicker connects during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

Indianapolis will host the AFC Championship Game at the RCA Dome for the 1st time in the franchise’s 23 year history after losing their 2 previous tries on the road against Pittsburgh (’95-96) & New England (’03-04).

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Star Performer of the Game: Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski, who kicked the game-winning field goal from 31 yards with 1:10 remaining in the 4th quarter.

Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson on the Patriots’ post-game celebration: “I would never react in that way. I was very upset. When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.”

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

I agree with LT and i’d also like to add that i’m surprised by the way New England handled their postgame celebration after winning A DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF GAME. Now if Sunday’s game was for the Super Bowl championship, then i would understand the need to celebrate in the matter that they did.

But this team has 2 more wins to go before even thinking about starting a huge celebration, and Sunday’s events were very uncalled for.

You would have to think that a team who’s won 3 Super Bowls in the past 5 seasons would handle their playoff wins a little more professionally.

This loss has to really hurt for Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who drops to 5-13 all-time during the playoffs, which is the most losses among active coaches.

San Diego remains winless in the playoffs since 1994, when they defeated Pittsburgh 17-13 in the AFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl XXIX. (San Diego lost 49-26 to San Francisco.)

New England will now advance to the AFC Championship Game for the 4th time in the past 6 seasons on Sunday against Indianapolis.

This will be New England’s 1st Conference Championship Game in a domed stadium & ironically, the last domed postseason affair this team played in was Super Bowl XXXVI when they upset the heavily-favored St. Louis Rams 20-17.

The Patriots have now knocked off 5 MVP or co-MVP’s during their recent string of playoff apperances.

The players include:

2001 MVP QB Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Rams (Patriots beat Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI.)

2003 Co-MVP QB Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans (Patriots beat Titans 17-14 in Divisional Playoffs.)

2003 Co-MVP QB Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts (Patriots beat Colts 24-14 in the AFC Championship Game.)

2004 MVP QB Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts (Patriots beat Colts 20-3 in the Divisional Playoffs.)

2005 MVP RB LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers (Patriots beat Chargers 24-21 in the Divisional Playoffs.)

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Star Performer of the Game: Saints RB Deuce McAllister, who ran 21 times for 143 yards (season-high) & rushed for a touchdown. McAllister also caught 4 receptions for 20 yards & caught a touchdown reception.

Saints RB Reggie Bush on the team winning to advance to their 1st NFC Championship Game in franchise history: “It means everything. “All that stuff we went through as a team, these are the type of games we live for. And this game is even bigger for the city.”

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

This has been a truly amazing season for the Saints & it will continue on Sunday when they face the top-seeded Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game from Soldier Field.

New Orleans is the only remaining playoff team that has totaled over 200 yards passing & rushing each in a single game this postseason.

The Saints went 6-2 on the road this season, losing both games by a combined total of 10 points.

Saints RB Deuce McAllister becomes the first player in franchise history to rush for more than 100 yards in the playoffs after missing 11 games in 2005 with a knee injury.

Backup TE Billy Miller led the team with 4 receptions for 64 yards.

Philadelphia ends their season winning 6 of their final 7 games.

5 of their 6 losses were by 7 points or less.

The Eagles suffered a Divisional Championship loss for the first time since 2000, when the team lost 20-10 to the New York Giants.

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Star Performer of the Game: Bears K Robbie Gould, who connected from 41 yards to tie the game 24 all with 4:24 left & hit the game-winning 49 yard field goal in overtime.

Gould on his game-winning kick: “A year ago I’m pounding nails. Now I’m hitting game-winning kicks and going to the NFC championship game. I didn’t even watch the end of it. I hit it right where I wanted it to go.”

Mattie T’s Thoughts:

Robbie Gould is having a career season for the Bears, converting 32 of 36 field goal tries. However, i am surprised that Gould has yet to attempt a field goal from 50 yards or longer in his brief 2 years in the NFL.

The Bears will now play in the NFC Championship Game for the 1st time since 1988, when the team lost 28-3 to the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field.

That’s a wrap with the Divisional Playoffs Recap!

I’ll have Previews & Predictions of the AFC & NFC Championship Games later on this week.

Until then,

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.BMSRadio.com

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