Aaron Rodgers put on a passing clinic in Atlanta and the Packers never punted en route to a thorough domination of the Falcons
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Steelers 31, Ravens 24
The best rivalry in the NFL today was renewed in the first game of the weekend, and as always it was a hard-hitting, highly competitive battle.
The game was surprisingly high-scoring, but it wasn’t indicative of a great offensive shootout as much as it was a result of both teams committing costly turnovers at the worst possible times.
With the game tied 7-7 late in the 1st quarter, Ben Roethlisberger was hit from behind at his own 5-yard line by Terrell Suggs, causing the ball to fly out of his hand forward and hit the turf. Everyone thought it was an incomplete pass, but the whistle was never blown. Ravens defensive end Corey Redding grabbed the loose ball while everyone else was just standing there and ran into the end zone for a touchdown that was confirmed by instant replay.
In the 2nd quarter Rashard Mendenhall fumbled at his own 16 and the Ravens recovered, leading to Joe Flacco’s 4-yard TD pass to Todd Heap. That gave the Ravens a 21-7 halftime lead.
In the second half, the momentum turned 180 degrees.
Early in the 3rd quarter Ray Rice fumbled for the first time in over 400 touches this year. The Steelers recovered at the Baltimore 22, leading to a 9-yard TD pass from Roethlisberger to Heath Miller. Later in the 3rd with the Ravens at their own 10-yard line Flacco was intercepted by Ryan Clark, who returned it to the Baltimore 25. Three plays later Hines Ward caught an 8-yard TD pass to tie the game at 21.
With the Steelers leading 24-21 with just over 6 minutes remaining, Baltimore’s Lardarius Webb returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown, but the score was negated by a holding penalty. Baltimore kicked a field goal to tie the game at 24.
Then the Ravens defense made an uncharacteristic mistake.
Pittsburgh faced a 3rd & 19 at their own 38 with 2:07 left in the game.  Ben Roethlisberger launched a bomb down the right sideline to the 15 yard line. A streaking Antonio Brown got behind the secondary and caught the ball, getting to the Baltimore 5 to set up Mendenhall’s go-ahead TD three plays later.
The Ravens’ Super Bowl hopes ended when T.J. Houshmandzadeh dropped a pass that would have converted a late 4th & 18 for Baltimore, and the Steelers advanced to the AFC Championship for the fourth time in seven years.
Packers 48, Falcons 21
For the last three years, the Georgia Dome has been Matt Ryan’s House.
In the divisional playoff between the Falcons and Packers, it became Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood.
Aaron Rodgers picked apart the Falcons defense with surgical precision, completing 31-of-36 for 366 yards and 3 TDs.
Ryan and the Falcons started strong, scoring the first touchdown on a 12-yard run by Michael Turner. After Rodgers’ first TD pass to Jordy Nelson tied the score, Eric Weems returned the ensuing kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-7, Atlanta.
The Packers took a 21-14 lead in the 2nd quarter on a 1-yard run by John Kuhn and a 20-yard pass from Rodgers to James Jones with under a minute left. A short time later, the man they call Matty Ice had a meltdown.
With 10 seconds left in the first half and the Falcons at the Packer 35, Ryan rolled left and threw an out-route to Roddy White to get Atlanta into better field goal position. Tramon Williams, who picked off Michael Vick in the end zone to clinch the win in the Wild Card round in Philly, stepped in front of White to snare the ball and returned it 70 yards for a pick-six that broke the Falcons will.
The Packers defense held Atlanta to a mere 194 total yards, and their offense controlled the clock in the second half, with Rodgers adding a 7-yard rushing TD and his third passing TD to Kuhn to put away the top-seeded Falcons in a virtually perfect performance.
Bears 35, Seahawks 24
In his first career playoff start, Jay Cutler rose to the occasion.
Cutler went 15-of-28 for 274 yards and 2 TDs passing, a 58-yarder to Greg Olsen and a 39-yarder to Kellen Davis. At times Cutler resembled Michael Vick, rushing 8 times for 43 yards, including a long run of 21 yards, and 2 more TDs on the ground to lead the Bears to a 28-0 first half lead.
Along with Cutler, Matt Forte and Chester Taylor helped the Bears rack up 176 rushing yards, with Taylor adding a touchdown run.
The Bears defense completely stifled the Seahawks running game, holding them to a mere 34 yards on the ground.
Matt Hasselbeck threw the ball accurately for the Seahawks but his receivers played poorly, dropping several passes. Hasselbeck threw 3 TD passes in the 4th quarter in a late rally but it was not enough.
For only the second time in NFL history the Bears and Packers will meet in a postseason game.
Jets 28, Patriots 21
This rivalry is the ultimate contrast in personalities.
Bill Belichick’s Patriots…stoic, professional, and all-business.
Rex Ryan’s Jets…swaggering, trash-talking, and just plain irritating.
Just six weeks removed from an embarrassing 45-3 shellacking in Foxboro, the Jets returned to Gillette Stadium with the whole world thinking that they were in for a similar fate. But the only thing for sure about the playoffs is that nothing’s for sure.
Midway through the 1st quarter Tom Brady threw a pass over the head of BenJarvus Green-Ellis that was intercepted by David Harris and returned to the New England 10-yard line. Though the Jets failed to score off the turnover, they had put a major dent in the Patriots’ armor.
The Jets defense blanketed the Patriots receivers and sacked Brady five times. Brady’s usual confidence and decision-making abilities seemed to disappear.
LaDainian Tomlinson scored on a 7-yard TD pass from Mark Sanchez early in the 2nd quarter to give the Jets a 7-3 lead. The Patriots botched a fake punt attempt in their own territory, giving the Jets great field position with 1:06 left in the half. 33 seconds later, Sanchez hit Braylon Edwards for a 15-yard TD and the Jets shockingly led 14-3 at the half.
Brady hit Alge Crumpler for a touchdown late in the 3rd quarter and a successful 2-point conversion cut the deficit to 14-11. The Jets answered a short time later when Santonio Holmes made a diving catch in the end zone, getting his right knee down for the touchdown to make it 21-11.
The Patriots kicked a field goal late to make it a 7-point game, but the Jets recovered the ensuing onside kick and shortly thereafter Shonn Greene, who led the Jets with 76 rushing yards, scored from 16 yards out to drive the final nail in the Patriots’ coffin.
Mark Sanchez played possibly the best game of his young career, going 16/25 for 194 yards and 3 TDs without throwing an interception.
The Jets have beaten Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, the two greatest quarterbacks of the last decade, back-to-back to advance to their second consecutive AFC Championship. Can they take down Big Ben and the Steelers and advance to their first Super Bowl since Joe Namath’s guarantee?
I am already having visions of Rex Ryan and the Jets wiping the sweat off their brows with Terrible Towels.
