Things I Noticed: Divisional Round

The winners from last week move on to face the top seeded teams coming off bye weeks in the Divisional Round, to determine who will make it to the Conference Championship games.

This round certainly didn't lack for dramatic finishes or intriguing storylines.

Here are some things I noticed this week:

Ravens at Broncos

• Following the game's opening drive, Trindon Holliday returned a punt 90 yards for a TD, then later opened the second half with a kick-off return for another score. 
• Baltimore took a first quarter lead after returning a Peyton Manning interception the other way for a score.  The Ravens got away with blatant pass interference that went uncalled after Eric Decker's arm got held down, leading to the deflected ball finding it's way into the arms of Corey Graham for the defensive score.  Hard to pin that one on Manning.
• The Ravens were clinging to just a shred of hope when they got the ball back with about a minute left and no time outs.  Jacoby Jones picked a good time to make his first catch of the game - a 70 yard game tying TD catch with just over 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
• It took a 2nd overtime period to find a winner, but Baltimore kicked the game winning field goal to upset the heavily favored Broncos.  The winning drive was set up after another Manning INT.  After getting chased out of the pocket, Manning tried throwing on the run to the middle of the field (not exactly his specialty).  That one you can blame Manning for.  The turnover gave Baltimore the ball in Denver territory and a handful of Ray Rice runs put them in range for the winning kick.

• We are now living in a world where Joe Flacco (331 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTS) out dueled Peyton Manning (290 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) in a playoff game.  Not only that, but he came through in the clutch in a road game, where he has often struggled.  This could be just what Flacco's career needs to get over the hump of mediocrity.
• Flacco has had his ups and downs in his career, but hasn't quite broken through to that elite level.  The one thing he does do very well though is throw the ball high and deep.  That allows him to make big plays to his speedy receivers, like the game tying throw to Jones, or the 49 yard TD pass to Torrey Smith.  He has his flaws, but as long as he can keep throwing it deep and let his receivers go chase after it, he can keep his team in games.
• Ray Lewis led his team in tackles (17) for the second straight playoff game to help extend his swan song tour at least one more week.
• Baltimore moves on to their second straight AFC title game.  They'll travel to New England next week, the site of last year's heartbreaking playoff loss.

Packers at 49ers

• In 2005, the 49ers drafted Alex Smith first overall, passing over Aaron Rodgers, who grew up a Niners fan.  Rodgers slid all the way to the Packers at the 24th spot in the first round.  After the draft, Rodgers was asked if he was disappointed that his hometown team didn't draft him.  His response - not as disappointed as the 49ers were going to be that they didn't draft him.
• Given how Rodgers has outperformed Smith in their careers, winning an MVP and a Super Bowl, Rodgers has done a lot to make the Niners regret that draft day decision.  Colin Kaepernick is starting to help the Niners make amends for that mistake.
• Kaepernick may have been making his first career playoff start, but he played with the poise of a veteran.  After an early pick six got his day off to a rough start, he refused to allow that mistake to dictate the rest of the game and quickly turned things around.  His 263 passing yards and 2 TD passes were great, but his dominance in this game came by using his legs.  Kaepernick set a league record for rushing yards by a QB with 181 and added two more scores on the ground.
• Kaepernick's 16 rushes were only one less than his number of pass attempts, yet the Packers defense still looked surprised every time they watched him take off for a big run.  They struggled to keep him in the pocket, letting him get outside for huge runs on several occasions.
• I think it's safe to say that Alex Smith would never have a game quite like this, helping to justify the mid-season QB switch.
• Michael Crabtree came up big again.  After a 172 yard, 2 TD performance in Week 17 helped the Niners clinch the #2 seed (stealing it away from the Packers and ensuring this game took place in San Francisco instead of Green Bay), Crabtree came through with 119 yards and another pair of TDs to help beat the Packers.  The Niners loaded up on receivers in the off-season to boost a struggling passing game, bringing in Randy Moss and Mario Manningham, but it's been the emergence of Crabtree that has been the biggest difference in the passing game.
• The Niners set a playoff franchise record with 579 total yards.
• After looking dominant at home, the Niners now have to see if they can take this show on the road by playing this well in Atlanta.  They were 5-3 on the road in the regular season.

Seahawks at Falcons

• Matt Ryan's Falcons have made the postseason in four of his five seasons in the league, but entered this game having never won a playoff game.
• It took Seattle until nearly the end of the first half before they finally got into scoring range, driving down to Atlanta's 12 yard line.  After getting stuffed on a third and short, the Seahawks gambled by going for it on 4th down, but were stuffed once again.  Mysteriously, Marshawn Lynch wasn't on the field for either of those short runs.
• Seattle once again marched down deep inside the red zone just before halftime with a chance to put points on the board, only to come up empty.  Russell Wilson was sacked on third down and was unable to rush the team to the line in time to get off one last play before the clock ran out.
• It was close, but the replay looked like they may have gotten the snap off in time, but since the offense wasn't set at the time, it would have resulted in a penalty that would have run off the rest of the clock anyway.
• Asante Samuel made a play to knock down a pass in the end zone to save a TD.  The announcers pointed out Samuel's 7 career postseason INTs, which trails only Ed Reed among active players.  If he had just one more, he'd be tied with Reed, Tom Brady would have a 4th ring and the Patriots would have had a perfect season.  But wait, he dropped that would be INT in the Super Bowl.  Glad they just reminded me of that, I'm going to go bang my head against the wall now.
• Shutout in the first half, Seattle found themselves down 20-0 at halftime.  If the odds of a comeback seemed insurmountable, nobody told Russell Wilson that.  The last of the rookie QBs still alive in the postseason, Wilson (franchise postseason record 379 passing yards) led the Seahawks to a stunning comeback to take their first lead of the game on a short run by Marshawn Lynch.  The ball popped out of Lynch's grasp at the end of the play, but officials determined he had broken the goal line by the time he lost control.  The score appeared to put Seattle in great position to win the game, except...
• 31 seconds left, 2 time outs.  Plenty of time for Matty Ice.  Ryan completed two quick strikes to move Atlanta into position for the game winning field goal.  The kick didn't come without it's share of drama.  Seattle called time out to ice the kicker at the last second.  Atlanta snapped the ball anyway and let the kick fly, which of course missed.  Since Seattle had called time out, they'd get another chance at it.  That sent Pete Carroll into a tirade, yelling at the officials to ask who called time out (replay of the sideline clearly showed he did).  Matt Bryant nailed the mulligan to give the Falcons the lead with only a few seconds remaining.
• Now if only Seattle had gotten at least one field goal out of those two missed opportunities in the first half.  Poor coaching and clock management cost Seattle this game.
• Seattle is the first team in the Super Bowl era to score 21 fourth quarter points to take a lead, only to end up losing the game.
• Just when it looked like Atlanta was once again going to choke away another playoff game, Ryan finally stepped up to lead the Falcons to a playoff win.  After 16 seasons, Tony Gonzalez also got his first career postseason victory.  Well deserved for a sure fire Hall of Famer, who says he's 95% sure he'll retire after this season.
• Atlanta hosts the 49ers next week in the NFC title game.  Now that the monkey is off his back, Ryan should be much more confident entering this game.

 Texans at Patriots

• Houston got off to a fast start thanks to a 94 yard kick-off return, but had to settle for a field goal on the opening drive.  Not a great start for New England, but could have been worse.  Andre Johnson dropped a pass that should have given the Texans an early TD.
• Rob Gronkowski fell hard on that previously broken forearm and was forced to leave the field.  Looks like they took him down for X-Rays.
• Gronk did indeed break his arm again and will miss the remainder of the postseason.  That's a big blow to the Patriots Super Bowl chances, but their loaded offense has other weapons they can rely on.
• Wes Welker set a new franchise record for postseason receptions, passing Troy Brown (58).  Welker finished with 8 catches for 131 yards.
• Arian Foster was quiet for most of the first half, but picked up 47 yards on the Texans last drive of the half, including back-to-back runs that totaled 40 of those yards.  He capped the drive with a short TD plunge that put Houston back within one score.
• Instead of running out the clock on the final 1:15 of the half, the Pats got greedy and tried to put themselves in position for another score.  Two incompletions kept the clock stopped and allowed the Texans to get the ball back with all three of their time outs left.  Matt Schuab completed three straight passes that put the team in range for a 55 yard kick - the longest FG made in a postseason game at Gillette Stadium.  Houston almost didn't call the time out in time, as the clock actually ran down to zero, but the officials gave it to them anyway.
• The Texans caught a huge break when Owen Daniels lost a fumble on their own side of the field, but the officials negated the turnover by claiming the receiver's forward progress had stopped prior to the fumble.  Replays showed that wasn't the case and there was no whistle blown to stop the play before the ball came out, but that type of play isn't reviewable.  The Texans would end up punting anyway, but the Patriots lost some valuable field position.
• Bold call for the Texans to go for it on 4th and less than a yard from their own 23 yard line, but down 18 points at the end of the third quarter, they couldn't punt it away.  Foster was hit behind the first down marker, but managed to roll over to get the ball past the marker by maybe an inch.  The Patriots challenged the spot and the reply seemed to show Foster's forearm was down with the ball just short of the line, but the officials didn't see enough to overturn the call. 
• As it turns out, the Texans only gained 9 more yards on the drive before turning it over with an incompletion on the next 4th down.  Another bad call against the Pats that didn't end up mattering.
• Rookie receiver DeVier Posey bobbled the ball a couple times before falling to the ground and somehow controlled it against his chest, just before sliding out of bounds.  It took a Texans challenge and replay review to get it right, but they ended up with a highlight worthy catch.
• Houston followed that with a 1 yard TD pass to Foster, followed by a two point conversion to AJ80 to pull back within 10.  Still a fairly comfortable lead given the late stage of the game, but they did make the Pats sweat a little by nearly recovering an on-side kick.  The ball bounced around, deflecting off of several players before Rob Ninkovich finally controlled it.
• The always underrated Ninkovich also came up with a big third quarter INT that helped put the Patriots in position to turn this game into a route.
• Danny Woodhead started the game for the Patriots, but was quickly lost to a thumb injury.  Stevan Ridley did his part (82 yards, 1 TD) in the running game, but Shane Vereen was the real star of the back field.  The second year RB was seldom used for most of the season, but broke out in a big way with 124 total yards, two receiving TDs and a rushing TD.  That made Vereen the third player in postseason history to catch 2 TDs and rush for another in the same game.

• Tom Brady (344 yards, 3 TDs) had another dominant postseason performance.  The victory gave Brady his 17th career postseason win - most all-time for a QB.  His 17-6 playoff record is the best playoff winning percentage of all-time.  He also threw his 41st career TD pass, which trails only Favre (44) and Montana (45).  I have a pretty good feeling that Brady will end up with those records soon enough.
• New England will host Baltimore next week, looking for revenge for a controversial loss earlier this season.