Conference Championship Afterword

Marshawn Lynch looked unsure about whether to cross the goal line
on this fourth-quarter touchdown run to put Seattle in the lead.

Cory Puffett

Green Bay at Seattle

We can take a two-yard Hail Mary off the list of football plays I’ve never seen.

Green Bay played a heck of a first half, which is what I knew they needed to do if they wanted a shot at knocking off Seattle. Aaron Rodgers had not thrown a first half interception all season until Sunday afternoon. The second half of road games had been when he was most vulnerable.

What I did not expect was that he could throw an interception in the first half and Green Bay survive it. They did, thanks to Russell Wilson’s three first half interceptions.

I had a strong feeling going into halftime that the game was far from over. Of Green Bay’s four scores in the first half, three were field goals. A 16-0 lead is solid, but in CenturyLink Field, that’s far from insurmountable.

The comeback started with a fake field goal touchdown pass from Jon Ryan to Clint Gresham. It cut the lead nearly in half, but a special teams touchdown doesn’t restore much confidence in the offense’s ability to score.

But as Earl Thomas pointed out after the game, Seattle never gave up. As soon as Russell Wilson crossed the goal line for a touchdown just before the two-minute warning, I had a strong feeling Seattle would win the game. Just ask Eric, he was sitting right next to me when I said it. He thought I was kidding. I was not.

Green Bay flubbed the onside kick and four plays later Beastmode scored on a 24-yard touchdown run and was visibly upset that they had not taken more time off the clock. The Russell Wilson was driven backwards on the two-point conversion and tossed up a duck to the opposite side of the field near the goal line. Luke Wilson was there and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was unable to keep him out of the end zone.

A masterful drive by Aaron Rodgers allowed Mason Crosby to tie the game up just before time ran out, but Seattle got the ball to start the fourth quarter. Six plays and 87 yards later, Russell Wilson made up for his four interceptions by hooking up with Jermaine Kearse from 35 yards out to end the game before Aaron Rodgers had a chance to take the field.

Darrelle Revis had two pass deflections and an interception.
He will make his first Super Bowl appearance in two weeks.

Indianapolis at New England

Eric and I joked before the second game about the score I predicted for this game. I said New England would best Indianapolis 35-10. Turns out I gave Indy too much credit.

The temperature was bearable, but the wind and rain clearly were not for the Colts. Andrew Luck got out to a slow start and never did get into a rhythm. He completed just 12 passes on 33 attempts for 126 yards and two picks. It’s the first playoff game in which he failed to throw for 250 yards.

Daniel Herron ran the ball fairly effectively, but he only got 10 carries. Part of that was because he was benched for a while after two egregious dropped passes. One thing the Colts must do next year is find balance on offense. They relied too much on Andrew Luck all year despite having capable running backs. That game plan carried into Sunday and was at least a small part in them getting blown out of Foxboro.

Tom Brady played a very good game and Julian Edelman proved very reliable as he caught 9 of 11 targets for 98 yards. But the key to victory for the Patriots, besides their defense, was LeGarrette Blount.

Blount scored four rushing touchdowns in New England’s playoff victory over Indianapolis last season. He started this year in Pittsburgh but New England must be thrilled tonight that they let him go. He scored three times and had 148 yards on 30 carries.

No doubt this is about the worst Super Bowl matchup I could imagine in the sense that I can’t really get excited about rooting for either of these teams. But this has the potential to be a terrific game. New England is back to their late season form after a shaky performance against Baltimore and Seattle’s never-say-die attitude is going to be very hard to beat.

Let’s just hope that Richard Sherman’s arm injury is not too serious. Super Bowls tend to suck when both teams aren’t at their absolute best.