Divisional Round Afterword, Part II

Aaron Rodgers fought through an injured calf to deliver a terrific
divisional round performance in Sunday's win over Dallas.

Cory Puffett

Dallas at Green Bay

Aaron Rodgers will finish the season either next week in Seattle or two weeks later in Arizona. In any case, he ends the year without a home interception for the second season in a row.

After an excellent early drive by the Packers, largely on the shoulders of Eddie Lacy, the Packers let their lead slip away as the Cowboys went on two straight touchdown drives and held the lead until the fourth quarter.

Both teams played excellent games. The time of possession was virtually identical. Aaron Rodgers and DeMarco Murray each lost one fumble. The Packers were a little sloppy with the penalties, but otherwise this was everything a fan could’ve wanted from a divisional playoff game.

The play that will be talked about ad nauseam is the overturned 4th down reception by Dez Bryant near the goal line. Every time I see the replay my opinion changes. At one glance it looks like the Calvin Johnson rule. The next glance makes it look like Dez took three steps (while falling) and made a football move to reach the ball out to the goal line before the ball hit the ground and momentarily came loose.

The play was called a completed catch on the field and overturned on a challenge by Mike McCarthy, who had not won a challenge all season. It’s a very close play and I still feel that the right call would have been to stick with the call on the field. The officials felt differently.

In any case, the Packers will travel to Seattle for the NFC Championship game next Sunday. It will be their first appearance in the league semifinal since 2010.

Vontae Davis narrowly missed this interception in the end zone, but he
deflected three passes and helped Indy stifle Denver's offense.

Indianapolis at Denver

The Broncos got beat for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they came out with a very poor game plan. It looked eerily similar to the one they used in a losing effort in last year’s Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks – a lot of screens and short passes with very few shots down the field.

Because everything was short, the Colts had no trouble containing C.J. Anderson for most of the first half.

A second reason for the loss was Denver’s inability to adjust at halftime. They came out of the break trying and failing to make the same things work that the Colts had shut down with so much ease early in the game.

Sure the receivers didn’t play that great and Demaryius Thomas made some inexcusable drops on two screen plays in particular, but the third and most important reason for the loss was Peyton Manning.

You all know I hate to throw him under the bus for anything, but he played a very poor game Sunday evening. He is as close to an offensive coordinator as any player has been in the last fifty years in the NFL, so it is as much his responsibility to adjust the game plan to fit various situations as it is his coaches’ jobs. The few times he did try and stretch the field, he overthrew his receivers, giving the Colts even more reason to focus their attention within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

The Colts deserve all the praise they’ll get this week because they did play a very sound game, especially defensively. But keep in mind that a big part of that was Denver’s inability to make Indianapolis’s job challenging.

The Colts will travel to Foxboro to play the Patriots next Sunday and will need another big game from their defense to knock off the AFC’s top seed to earn a Super Bowl birth.

Puff’s Picks, Divisional Round

Cory Puffett

One round down and, as Eric says, the real playoffs begin now. Four of the eight remaining teams won last week. This round will still be tough to predict though because the other four teams didn’t have to play last week.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

Saturday, January 10, 4:35pm – NBC

I did pick the Ravens to win last week against Pittsburgh, but I’ll be the first to tell you it was a shot in the dark. I couldn’t pick four home teams to win because it never happens. Of the four wild card teams, the Ravens had the best chance to win in my opinion, so I took them.

Going into this week I looked at the four games and tried to figure out which road teams have the best chance to win. In my opinion, the Ravens are one of the two teams with the best chance.

Their defense is better now than it was two years ago when they won the Super Bowl, their offense is better, and Joe Flacco has continued his inexplicable playoff hot streak.

That said, I struggle pulling the trigger on the pick because of who they’re playing. Sure they’ve gone up and won two playoff games in New England under John Harbaugh, but this year’s Patriots are 7-1 at home, have a completely healthy Gronk, a very good running game, and a fantastic secondary.

I can see this game going either way, but I have to give the nod to the team with the elite quarterback.

Puff’s Pick: Patriots over Ravens, 17-13

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks

Saturday, January 10, 8:15pm – FOX

Like the Patriots, the Seattle Seahawks are 7-1 at home. They lost at home to Dallas early in the season, but this is a much different team now. The defense has gotten back to form and though the offense is hard to figure out, Russell Wilson is balling out.

The Panthers have won five in a row and it’s certainly fathomable that they could go up to Seattle and pull out a close one. I’ll be shocked if this game is a blowout.

The reason I have to take Seattle in this game is because of the consistency with which they are able to win the tight contests. Carolina and Seattle, for whatever reason, have been playing very close, low-scoring games the past three years. Every time, Seattle has managed to pull it out.

While I give Carolina more than a fighting chance to win this game, I have to give Seattle the nod to advance to the NFC Championship with a last-minute game-winning touchdown drive.

Puff’s Pick: Seahawks over Panthers, 17-16

Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers

Sunday, January 11, 1:05pm – FOX

I wonder how many times a team that is 8-0 on the road has visited a team that is 8-0 at home in the playoffs? I guarantee you can count the instances on one hand.

That’s what we get this Sunday afternoon when the Cowboys visit Lambeau Field.

This is a nearly impossible game to pick. In addition to the Packers being unbeatable at home and the Cowboys being unbeatable on the road, these are two spectacular teams.

Both teams have outstanding running backs, quarterbacks playing at the top of their game, great receiving corps, and defenses that can lock down their opponents when they have to.

The Cowboys get a lucky break with Aaron Rodgers suffering from a calf tear. He will play, but he’ll be limited. He has shown an ability to play hurt, but even I have to wonder how effective he’ll be over the course of the entire game.

Dallas arguably needed a little luck to even get here, but don’t kid yourself into thinking this team isn’t for real. In my opinion, this is the best team in the playoffs on paper. The only things that can keep them out are the locations of their games and whether they execute their game plan.

Rodgers is just 1-2 at home in the playoffs in his career. That, along with his nagging injury, is enough justification for me to make this my upset pick for this round.

Puff’s Pick: Cowboys over Packers, 27-21

Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos

Sunday, January 11, 4:40pm – CBS

Peyton Manning has not been himself lately. In his last four games he has thrown three touchdowns and six interceptions and averaged fewer than 250 passing yards per game.

Denver has gotten a huge lift from C.J. Anderson, who started the season as the number three running back on the Broncos’ depth chart.

Anderson has exceeded 80 rushing yards in each of his last three games and seven of his eight rushing touchdowns on the season have come in his last four games.

The cold weather may affect Peyton Manning, but as long as he can deliver a few passes at key moments in the game, Denver should have no trouble believing Anderson can carry the rest of the load on Sunday.

The Colts sort of limped into the playoffs. Andrew Luck was really struggling down the stretch. He had turnover issues all year, but as the season drew to a close, he was not delivering enough positive production to make up for his mistakes.

He got back on track last week against Cincinnati, but I still have my doubts about how playoff-ready the Colts are and whether they’ll be able to execute in the altitude without playoff veteran Ahmad Bradshaw available.

Puff’s Pick: Broncos over Colts, 31-17

The Narrative vs Reality

Eric Meyer

Everyone loves a good story. Sports journalism is entirely built on them. Nobody would read Thomas Boswell’s articles in The Washington Post if he just posted a bunch of advanced statistics to explain why the Redskins are perpetually terrible. We want some juicy details about our favorite teams, players and coaches.

The narrative adds to the entertainment of sports, and football is on top partially because of the ability to manipulate storylines to add intrigue to each matchup, especially in the postseason.

There’s just one problem. Analysis tends to be driven by the narrative and not by reality, which leads to some of the most respected NFL analysts reciting false facts that you could hear from any fan on the street.

Oh, it’s not just the NFL. It exists in nearly every sport. One of the biggest stories in baseball was the collapse of the Oakland Athletics.

The narrative: “Oakland’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester caused the A’s to collapse, lose the division, and fall in the wildcard game against the Royals.”

The reality: “The A’s offense was already collapsing prior to the trade, and the presence of Jon Lester at the top of the rotation buoyed the sinking A’s just enough to reach the wildcard game. In short, without the Lester trade, the A’ do not make the playoffs.”

But I digress. This is an NFL blog, so I’ll get to the examples that matter for the playoffs. Let’s look at North Texas.

The game: Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys, NFC Wildcard Round

The situation: Detroit led 20-17 with 8:25 left in the game. The Lions had the ball on the Dallas 46, lining up for a 3rd & 1. Stafford targeted tight end Brandon Pettigrew on a wheel route up the left sideline, but the pass was defensed by linebacker Anthony Hitchens and fell incomplete.

The back judge threw a flag for pass interference against Hitchens, which would’ve set the Lions up with a first down at around the Dallas 25 yard line. The officials huddled and, after deliberating, picked up the flag. This set up a 4th & 1, and the Lions opted to punt, ending what looked like a promising drive to ice the game. Dallas proceeded to score a touchdown on their ensuing drive and held the lead to win 24-20.

The narrative: Pete Morelli and the officiating crew’s decision to overturn the pass interference call cost the Lions the football game.

The reality: The Lions shot themselves in the foot too many times to count, benefiting from their share of questionable calls in the first half, and had more than enough opportunities to make up for one they missed due to the pass interference call.

Look, I’m not going to argue that the officials made the right decision. In real time it looked like the refs got it right. Face guarding is not a penalty in the NFL, and it was tough to see significant contact to warrant pass interference. On replay, it looked a bit more dubious, but the officials also missed an obvious face mask penalty on Brandon Pettigrew, which would have at the very least offset the pass interference call and the Lions would have replayed the down.

All in all, it was at worst a missed pass interference call. Those happen probably five or six times a game. Had there been no flag thrown at all, we wouldn’t be discussing this. Some Lions fans would grumble about it, but the play wouldn’t have created such a firestorm had the refs not taken center stage by throwing a flag and then picking it up. This was an everyday missed call that the Lions benefited from multiple times in the first half when they built their 17-7 lead.

In order to further the point, let’s look at what happened next. Jim Caldwell opts to punt and trying (and failing) to draw the Cowboys offsides. The Lions took a harmless delay of game penalty and lined up to punt. Sam Martin had literally the worst punt I have ever seen in my life, a shank job that went out of bounds just 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. The decision to punt netted the Lions five yards of field position. The Cowboys proceeded to score the go-ahead touchdown on their ensuing drive on a 3rd & 8 pass from Tony Romo to Terrence Williams.

The Lions got the ball back with 2:39 remaining and needing a touchdown. Stafford lost a fumble on the second play of the drive, but the Cowboys coughed it back up on the same play, giving the Lions a redo with a free first down. Stafford led his team down to the Dallas 42, but fumbled again on 4th &3. This time the Lions weren’t so lucky, and the Cowboys took a couple knees and won the game.

It’s pretty clear that the Lions were the reason the Lions lost the game, and not the officials. When you get outscored 17-3 in the second half, shank 10 yard punts, lose two fumbles on consecutive drives and have Jim Caldwell as your coach, you’re going to lose.

It’s a shame that a simple non-call has been the focus of what was otherwise a phenomenal football game. Dallas earned the win by hanging tough and taking advantage of Detroit’s mistakes. That’s what playoff football is about, and that should be the story.

But I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless won’t be talking about much more than “the flag” on First Take.

Wild Card Afterword, Part II

Donte Moncrief had three career touchdown reception entering Saturday,
and he added another to his tally on this third-quarter reception.

Cory Puffett

Cincinnati at Indianapolis

Andrew Luck may have only thrown one touchdown pass, but his performance Sunday afternoon had to have made his coaches very happy. Luck had his first turnover-free playoff game and had his first 300-yard passing game since a late-November home win against the Washington Redskins’ porous secondary.

With injuries to Indy’s top two members of the backfield, Zurlon Tipton stepped up to help Daniel Herron carry the Colts’ run game, and the duo did a fine job of keeping Cincinnati’s defense honest, combining for 96 yards on 23 carries. Luck added 18 rushing yards on a pair of attempts.

There isn’t much good to say about Cincinnati, so I’ll head the proverb and not say anything at all. It will, however, but interesting to see whether the Bengals shake things up in the coming weeks. Despite his 0-4 record in the playoffs I expect Andy Dalton to return as their quarterback for the 2015 season. I’m not as sure about Marvin Lewis, who is now 0-6 in the playoffs as their head coach.

It seems unthinkable that the Bengals could have a new man at the helm next year after making the playoffs five times in the last six seasons, but four straight first-round exits can lead to difficult and sometimes surprising decisions.

While the Bengals start looking toward next season, the Colts will travel to Denver where Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck will meet for a third time, with the head-to-head series split at one game apiece.

DeMarco Murray, the 2014 NFL rushing leader, had 97 yards on 22 touches
Sunday evening against the NFL's number one rush defense.

Detroit at Dallas

No one expected the Cowboys to duplicate their last home performance when they routed the Colts and nearly recorded their first home shutout in team history. Their fans had to be nervous when the team came out as lethargic as they did Sunday evening, though.

The Lions took advantage of some sloppy play for the Cowboys offense and several holes in the defense to build up a 14-0 that they held until the final couple minutes of the first half, when a major defensive lapse allowed Terrance Williams to break free for a 76-yard touchdown reception.

Though the Lions did manage to add a field goal just before the break, they’d clearly lost any momentum at that point.

Neither team came out in the second half looking like a team that deserved to advance, but Dallas slowly built up steam and after a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive near the end of the third quarter, it seemed inevitable that Detroit would give this game to the Cowboys.

It’s only fair to bring up the fact that there were one or two questionable calls (or non-calls) by the refs in the fourth quarter that went against Detroit, but there is no question that the team they put out there for the second half did not deserve to win that football game.

That doesn’t change the fact that the refs may have played a bigger part in Dallas’s win than they should have, but I do believe the better team won. The Lions had plenty of opportunities to put the game away on offense and instead fumbled twice on their last possession of the game.

Tony Romo, for his part, shook off a poor start to turn in a very solid playoff performance. Terrance Williams caught two touchdown passes in the game which may help Dallas create a more effective game plan for their game in Green Bay next week, but I’ll get into that later this week.


If you missed my recap of Saturday's wild card action, read it at Wild Card Afterword, Part I.

Eric’s NFL Playoff Picks: Wildcard Round

The holidays are over, which means that it’s time for some playoff football! Twelve teams are still alive for the Lombardi Trophy, and four of those teams will take their first steps toward NFL immortality this weekend. Four others will have to try again next year.

It’s been a tumultuous NFL season, both on the field and off, but I guess that how Roger Goodell wants it. This has been one of the most difficult seasons to predict yet, and the playoffs likely will be no different, but I’m going to take my best shot at it on Cory’s very special blog page if he doesn’t mind.

Arizona Cardinals (+6.5) at Carolina Panthers

Saturday, January 3, 4:35pm – ESPN

Insert joke about NFC South here:

Yes, we all know the NFL South struggled this year. It’s interesting that the NFL’s worst division winner draws the wildcard from what was clearly the NFL’s best division in the NFC West. It’s even more interesting (and downright ironic) that the 7-8-1 Panthers are the heaviest favorite to advance over the 11-5 Cardinals. The Panthers that could not win for two straight months are touchdown favorites to beat a Cardinals team that started off 9-1 this season. How fun.

Obviously, when you dig a little deeper you can understand why. Carolina is the home team, which is an immediately three-point swing in the point spread. Also, Carolina has quietly put together a pretty impressive stretch, blowing out the Saints and the Falcons in their own backyards to finally grab control of the division. Cam Newton has gotten healthier and Jonathan Steward has re-emerged to give the Panthers and essential boost in the running game. With an improving defense and a standout rookie WR in Kelvin Benjamin, this Panthers team doesn’t look half-bad right now.

Of course, the main culprit of the shocking point spread is Arizona’s injury situation at quarterback. Carson Palmer tore his ACL and Drew Stanton sprained a knee, which left the Cardinals down to Ryan Lindley, who is a historically bad quarterback. Couple that with the injury to Andre Ellington and you have one anemic offense limping into the playoffs. I commend the Cardinals for reaching this point despite their QB carousel, and I would hate to see the Panthers advance as such an undeserving playoff team, but I think Carolina nabs this one and covers the spread as well.

Eric’s Pick: Arizona 10, Carolina 27

Baltimore Ravens (+3) at Pittsburgh Steelers

Saturday, January 3, 8:15pm – NBC

Why am I not shocked that the Ravens are playing the Steelers in the playoffs. It seems like a yearly tradition that these two black and blue squads would square off for round three with everything at stake. That being said, this is a different brand of rivalry than we are used to. The defense is lacking for both squads, and it could be a strange change of pace from what we are used to seeing.

Both teams had to grind through the AFC North, a division fat with wins from feasting on the awful southern divisions from each conference. It was pretty much inevitable that this division would send three teams to the playoffs, but make no mistake. These are two quality football teams.

Le’Veon Bell is out. Ouch. That’s a killer for the Steelers’ chances. That is, until your remember that Pittsburgh features the best wide receiver in football, along with two other solid options outside the numbers in Marcus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant. Pair that up against an awful Ravens secondary and you just might see another six touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger.

The Ravens have some grit and the Steelers’ secondary is nothing to write home about, but the way the Ravens’ offense finished the season concerns me. I just don’t think that they can keep up with the Steelers’ offensive output, even without their superstar running back.

Eric’s Pick: Baltimore 24, Pittsburgh 31

Cincinnati Bengals (+3.5) at Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, January 4, 1:05pm – CBS

We’ve seen this matchup before and it didn’t end well for the Bengals. The Colts shut Cincinnati out in a week 9 romp, but Andy Dalton and company recovered pretty nicely and locked up their fourth straight playoff appearance. Dalton is trying to get over the hump with a playoff win, and Marvin Lewis’s job might just depend on the Who Deys to get that win.

Unfortunately, I think it’ll be the same old song and dance for Cincinnati. Luck and the Colts haven’t played their best football down the stretch, but they’re at home, they can put up a lot of points, and their defense has been surprisingly stout at times, especially with Vontae Davis doing his best impression of Revis Island this season.

The Bengals haven’t usually brought it in the big moments, while the young Colts have shown some serious guile with their phenom quarterback leading the way. Marvin Lewis better update his CV.

Eric’s Pick: Cincinnati 17, Indianapolis 30

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, January 4, 4:40pm – FOX

The wildcard round’s final game wouldn’t have been right without a little controversy, and Ndamukong Suh made it happen. Color me shocked. Suh was initially suspended for this bout between NFC studs, but his lawyer pulled a Johnny Cochran and convinced the NFL to overturn the suspension, and Suh left with just a $70,000 fine thanks to his cold feet defense.

Whether or not you agree with Suh’s reduced punishment, he’s playing, and that’s a major factor in deciding this game. Suh is the Lion’s biggest asset on defense, and they’re going to need him if they plan to penetrate Dallas’s vaunted offensive line and stop DeMarco Murray from running wild. This is a clash of the titans in the trenches, and it’ll be interesting to see who wins that battle.

I think this is going to be a close game. The Cowboys are at home, but that hasn’t helped them much this season. That being said, Tony Romo has been the best and most clutch quarterback in the NFL this season. There, I said it. Romo looks like a rejuvenated star with Murray taking the pressure off, and having an All-pro wide receiver doesn’t hurt either.

The Romo hate has been momentarily silenced, but he can permanently quiet the critics with a deep playoff run. Betting on Romo in the playoffs still seems a bit crazy, but the Cowboys have completely flipped the script this year. I’m taking the points in this one, but I expect the Cowboys to punch their ticket to Lambeau Field.

Eric’s Picks: Detroit 24, Dallas 30 (Detroit beats the spread)

Puff’s Picks, 2015 Wild Card

Happy New Year, everyone! Thursday evening I watched the first ever college football playoffs. The first game was more than a little disappointing. I was pulling for Jameis Winston and the Seminoles, but the main disappointment was with how poorly Florida State played in the second half. They didn’t even put up a fight.

Thankfully, the late game offered much more excitement. I generally can’t stand college football, and the touchdown catch for OSU at the end of the first half annoyed me more than a little (seriously, NCAA, you only need one foot in bounds? Is this grade school?). But it was a fun game and it’s nice to see four teams get to compete for the chance to play in the national championship game.

Now it’s time for the real tournament to begin, the professional one. The clock doesn’t stop for a first down and you better get that second foot down in bounds.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers

Saturday, January 3, 4:35pm – ESPN

Someone had to win the NFC South. The Panthers finally emerged from a pack of teams that didn’t seem to want to play in January and earned a playoff birth with a four-game winning streak to end the season.

Whether the Panthers earned the right to host a playoff game is another matter. Maybe in 2016 they wouldn’t be hosting, but this year they are. The Arizona Cardinals are a depleted bunch with their first- and second-string quarterbacks both injured. They do not have Andre Ellington available.

If there is any good news for the Cardinals, it’s that most of the defensive players who appeared on their injury report have been able to practice in some capacity this week.

Sadly for them, I don’t think that will be enough. The Arizona offense doesn’t bother me at all if I’m Carolina, and the Panther offense has hit their stride lately, despite Kelvin Benjamin have some trouble catching the ball lately.

I hate to pick against Bruce Arians, I think he’s one of the best head coaches in the NFL right now. But I don’t think Arizona is healthy enough to pull out this game on the road.

 Puff’s Pick: Panthers over Cardinals, 27-13

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Saturday, January 3, 8:15pm – NBC

As much as Ravens fans annoy me and I’m not thrilled that their team made the playoffs, I am thrilled that we get a third matchup between these two teams this season. This is my favorite rivalry in the NFL.

The only disappointing thing about this weekend’s matchup is that the two teams aren’t at full strength. The Ravens will be without starting left tackle Eugene Monroe as well as rookie defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan.

The Steelers are lucky to have most of the players on their injury report listed as probably. The one exception is second year running back Le’Veon Bell, who recorded the second most rushing yards in the NFL this year behind DeMarco Murray. Bell was also the only player in the top 15 for rushing yards this season without a fumble and had the most receiving yards in the NFL from the running back position.

Early in the week, when Bell’s status was still unknown, I was leaning heavily toward Pittsburgh winning this game. The Ravens have been inconsistent, even as Joe Flacco has quietly put together the second-best season of his career. Then again, the Steelers have had some inconsistencies themselves.

Pittsburgh is playing at home, but given Bell’s status and unknown quality of depth at the running back position I have to give the nod to the Ravens this weekend.

Puff’s Pick: Ravens over Steelers, 24-23

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts

Sunday, January 4, 1:05pm – CBS

This might be my least-anticipated game of the weekend. The Bengals have yet to win a playoff game under Marvin Lewis and the Colts have not impressed lately. Their near-shutout loss to Dallas in week 16 aside, Andrew Luck has been turning the ball over a lot lately.

To be fair, Luck had been turning the ball over a lot all season. He has only recorded three turnover-free games all year, and he three seven interceptions in two playoff games a year ago. But early this season and even last postseason he made up for the turnovers by racking up tons of passing yards and a slew of touchdown passes. He led the NFL with 40 of them this season.

He hasn’t kept up that trend in the past few weeks, though, and so I expect this to be an ugly game with neither team truly winning it. It’ll come down to which team does more to lose it.

The good news for the Colts is that they’re playing at home and are much healthier than the Bengals. With A.J. Green doubtful and two other wide receivers out, Cincinnati may have to rely solely on Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard on offense. That won’t be enough, even if Cincy’s defense forces a few mistakes by Luck.

Puff’s Pick: Colts over Bengals, 20-14

Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, January 4, 4:40pm – FOX

The Lions are very lucky that Ndamukong Suh’s suspension was overturned and he will be permitted to play this Sunday. I understand the decision, though I certainly don’t agree with it.

I don’t think it will mean much, though. The Lions offensive unit is equipped with more talent than they’ve ever had. Their rookie tight end is a little shaky, but Joique Bell and Reggie Bush are excellent runners with a solid backup in Theo Riddick. Meanwhile, Golden Tate has finally given the team the viable second receiver they’ve needed to keep defenses honest rather than letting them focus their entire secondary on Megatron.

Yet this offense has failed to gel on a consistent basis. They looked great in their season opener against the Giants, but they’ve only shown flashes of that since.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys avenged their home loss to the Redskins with a huge win in week 17. Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray both throughout and came out uninjured and looking terrific. Any concerns about Murray’s hand were put to rest.

Even the talent on Detroit’s defense will not be enough to stop Dallas, and I have no problem saying that the Cowboys will shut down Detroit’s offense for the majority of the game.

Puff’s Pick: Cowboys over Lions, 30-17

Sunday Football Afterword: Cowboys vs Eagles

Bryce Brown had just two touches, but one went for Philadelphia's
last touchdown, the game-winner against Dallas to send Philly to the playoffs.

Cory Puffett

Different quarterback, same result. The Dallas Cowboys have played in three straight Week 17. They have lost all three and have finished each season 8-8.

Kyle Orton started Sunday night’s game after Tony Romo had back surgery earlier in the week. Orton turned in an admirable performance, all told. He completed 30 of 46 passes for 358 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. He hit DeMarco Murray on a lot of check down passes early in the game to get into a rhythm.

Orton came up big late in the game when he found Dez Bryant on a 4^th down touchdown pass, but failed to convert on the ensuing two-point conversion when he tried to go back to Bryant.

Nick Foles may crash and burn in future seasons, but he has been amazing this year. He finishes the regular season with 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions while going 8-2 in ten starts.

Chip Kelly led the Eagles to a 10-6 season in his first year as a head coach in the NFL. His “gimmick” offense finishes the season ranked in the top 10 in both rushing and passing. The defense struggled this season. It was ranked 30^th against the pass and barely in the top 15 against the run, but that could be in part because the offense ranked dead last in time of possession. The Eagles averaged 1:15 less possession time than the next worst team in that statistical category.

Philadelphia’s defense struggles don’t matter, though, as they won in Dallas to hand the Cowboy’s their only division loss of the season. Foles had a passer rating of 124.4 and LeSean McCoy gained 131 yards on 27 carries. He set the Eagles’ single-season rushing yards record as well as the team’s single-season yards-from-scrimmage record.

McCoy caught the first touchdown pass of the game early in the second quarter. Brent Celek caught Foles’s second scoring throw late in the second quarter and led the team in receiving yards with 71.

The Eagles will host the New Orleans Saints on Wild Card Saturday, January 4 at 8:10 p.m. The game will be shown on NBC. Look for my preview of that game later this week.

The 2013 regular season is now over. Enjoy the playoffs! I know I will.

Final Score:

Philadelphia Eagles – 24

Dallas Cowboys – 22

Sunday Football Afterword: Redskins vs Cowboys

The Redskins did a good job against Dez Bryant, limiting him to 4
catches on 11 targets, but he did gain 73 yards and this 2nd quarter TD .

Cory Puffett

The Redskins must have missed the memo. Don’t they know you can’t beat the Cowboys when you are winning at the start of the 4^th quarter?

Washington battled back from a 14-3 halftime deficit to take a 20-14 lead after the third quarter. During that 14-0 run, DeMarco Murray only had 3 rushes. Dallas got him more involved in the fourth quarter though and it led to a big comeback and a one-point victory in D.C. to keep their playoff hopes alive for Week 17.

Like I said in this week’s Football Freaks prediction podcast, the NFL season wouldn’t feel complete without Tony Romo having a chance to blow it in a win-or-go-home Week 17 game. Now he’ll get that next week against the Eagles.

Murray had a big game with 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns, one of them a game-winning reception from Romo with 1:08 left in the game.

The Redskins lost by one point for the second week in a row. Kirk Cousins cooled off this week in the rain, throwing for shy of 200 yards and just one touchdown and a bad interception. Granted, on the interceptions the ball deflected off Santana Moss’s hands, but the ball was thrown behind him.

But a big bright spot for the Redskins on this Sunday afternoon was Pierre Garçon. He had 11 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets. He set a new single-game best for receptions and broke Art Monk’s single-season Redskins record from 1984.

The Redskins will close out their season in New York against the Giants next week. Washington is 0-5 against the NFC East and would certainly like to have something to hang their hat on when this offseason begins.

Dallas will host Philadelphia next week and regardless of the outcome of Sunday night’s Eagles/Bears game, that game will decide the NFC East champion and put one of these two teams in the playoffs.

Final Score:

Dallas Cowboys – 24

Washington Redskins – 23