Divisional Round Recap: Seattle Beasts Through New Orleans

When New Orleans and Seattle met in early December for a big Monday Night Football matchup, many people thought it would be an exciting game going down to the end, but Seattle shut their entire team down like they were Jon Taffer dealing with a bar serving warm beer. They met again in the playoffs, and some people (Guilty) thought things might be different with how New Orleans looked the prior weekend in Philadelphia. Seattle showed why they were the number one seed in the NFC, a mean bruising running attack and a defense that does not quit ever.

New Orleans knows about Marshawn Lynch like we Packer fans know how Golden Tate never caught the football in the end zone. They still run back the tape of when Beast Mode was invented and how a 7-9 Seahawks team knocked off the 13-3 Saints. My assumption would be the Saints did not want a similar result this weekend, but Lynch did not have an iconic run in this game, he still was the difference for this Seattle team turning in one of the best performances of his season. Lynch went over 100 yards for the first time since November 10th against Atlanta. He basically provided everything for Seattle on Saturday afternoon. 

One of the things we see with running backs especially bruisers like Lynch, they tire out by the end of the year. FOX Sports John Lynch believes Marshawn needed an extra week giving him a much-needed rest, and boy, did it show. He looked like the best player on the field for the entire football game, and that is in no way a hyperbolic statement. Lynch will need to continue his power style because I do think there needs to be more of a concern about Russell Wilson. Once again, the Seahawks quarterback struggled to do anything really having only 100 yards with a 67.6 passer rating. Wilson needs to be better moving forward if Seattle wants to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. While Seahawks' defense and Lynch are great, they will not be able to carry the load like this for the whole playoffs. 

Everyone trips over their own feet to tell you how good Seattle's defense. It is like every male that seen The Wolf of Wall Street imploring you to check out Margot Robbie. But like how attractive and talented Robbie is, Seattle's defense shined through in this one. They held one of the best offenses to zero points heading into the fourth quarter. Drew Brees, one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the last decade, had only 54 yards in the first half which was his lowest since 2006 against Carolina. Brees ended up with 300 yards which is impressive, but Seattle played mostly prevent style defense in the final quarter. This defense deserves every narrative they have already received, and what they will receive in the coming weeks.

Seattle averted a near disaster after not being able to recover an onside kick leading to New Orleans getting the ball back with 26 seconds left. Thankfully for Seattle, Marques Colston does not know the rules of football and the 10 second run-off ended the game. Seahawks are now one game away from heading back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2005 and to get there, they will play their rival San Francisco. Seattle's wide receiver Doug Baldwin Jr. put it best. 

Wouldn't want it any other way...
— Doug Baldwin Jr (@DougBaldwinJr) January 12, 2014

Amen. 

Charlie.  

Wild Card Recap: Saints Become Road Warriors

Narratives in sports are a funny thing. Most of the time they are overblown, but there are some that become a 'Death, Taxes' and team x losing to team y or losing in y condition.'  The latter became how people treated New Orleans Saints on the road especially in cold. People believed the Saints could not win a big game when they had to be away from the SuperDome. New Orleans could not really disagree as the facts were there with Saints going 8-8 since 2011 on the road. Well they shed some of the criticism beating Philadelphia on a chilly Saturday night in the city of Brotherly Love.

While their road failures have been an issue for New Orleans, kicking field goals have been a real problem for Saints this season. Garrett Hartley is currently looking for work after going 22/30 this season missing three field goals inside 30-39 and another four field goals inside 40-49 so it is not like Hartley missed field goals from deep distances rather he missed short yardage field goals. Credit to New Orleans for making sure it would be not be what came back to bite them in the ass in the playoffs. Shayne Graham was a rockstar on Saturday night drilling three field goals including the game-winner at the very end. Couple weeks ago, Graham did not have a job and now he is kicking field goals in the playoffs, what a world.

One of the more impressive things about New Orleans' win is they grinded out this victory. This was not a classic Saints game where they relied on big plays and a huge Drew Brees performance in the process.  Only twice did Brees have a lower quarterback rating yet New Orleans still found a way to find this football game. Further, Saints lost the turnover bout to with Philadelphia picking Brees off twice and still New Orleans came out ahead in this football game. Saints Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan gets a great deal of shit from people, but he deserves a ton of credit for the game plan he had against Philadelphia. He is the biggest reason why Saints were able to win with a negative turnover ratio and a poor Brees performance.

Philadelphia only had one play of 25 yards or more. Eagles make their living off of those plays as they had 62 this year leading the NFL. DeSean Jackson usually on the receiving end of the big play assault was held in check with 53 yards on three catches with 40 of them on one play. Even without Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis whom went out of the game earlier with a concussion, they were able to hold Jackson in check. New Orleans also held LeSean McCoy at by as the league leader in rushing only had 77 yards averaging 3.8 yards per carry. Ryan's yeoman effort on Saturday night makes me think this New Orleans team might be step up for a deep playoff run even though they will be battling the elements for all four weeks of the playoff season.

Hell of fight by Philadelphia this season. Nobody really knew what to expect with Chip Kelly and this team. When they started off season 3-5, many people started writing off this team and people began to criticize Kelly's style as a coach. Eagles responded by only losing one game the rest of the season and will definitely be a Super Bowl contender in a couple years with a couple more pieces. They have a plan in place, and might be one of the most exciting teams moving forward. Expect to see this team a great deal in primetime next season.

New Orleans heads back to Seattle for their second game, and place that has given them all sorts of trouble in the Pete Carroll era. All week they will see the Marshawn Lynch run, or the game in December when Seattle wiped the floor with them. But given how New Orleans gutted out a playoff road win, I would not doubt this team at all.

Charlie.