The Titans should be absolutely sick over losing this game. They absolutely dominated the game, but so many things went against them. They came up pointless on 5 drives inside the Ravens 35 yard line. There were 3 turnovers, a missed field goal and a turnover on downs (with a fumbled snap on 4th down). Any conversions there and the Titans probably win this game.
I also think the Titans got screwed by some bad officiating. The delay of game non-call was tough, but it wasn't as egregious as everyone has tried to make it out to be. Plus, it didn't effect the play, it was the Titans who screwed that one up.
The bigger problem was that the Ravens were playing a dirty game, hitting after the whistle, jumping on piles late, and trying to break Chris Johnson in half, and the refs never called anything.
And speaking of Chris Johnson, his injury really turned this game around. The Ravens couldn't stop him, but they were able to bottle up LenDale White.
Arizona Cardinals 33 Carolina Panthers 13
This was about as good an ass-kicking as a 10-point underdog will ever deliver in the playoffs. This game wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates.
Jake Delhomme is like this sometimes. He’s a pretty good quarterback who puts up great numbers but he’s always capable of a 6-turnover blowup that makes it impossible to win.
Larry Fitzgerald is quite plainly the best wide receiver in the NFL. Other guys put up numbers equal or even better than his. But no one does it the way he does. His ability to leap over two people and make a catch negates double-teams, it covers up for bad throws and it’s pretty fun to watch.
But what is really making the difference for the Cardinals in these two games is a complete transformation in style of play. They went from a finesse, passing team to a hard-nosed ball-hawking (9 takeways in 2 games), run-the-ball (43 carries) team.
Philadelphia Eagles 23 New York Giants 11
In the days leading up to this game Giants coach Tom Coughlin talked about the teams' last matchup and said if the Giants had converted a couple short fourth downs, the game would have been much different.
He is probably repeating that lament today. The Giants had two field goal misses which set them back and theoretically could count as failures on 4th down. But in the 4th quarter, with the game in reach they were stopped on 4th and 1 with Eli Manning trying to sneak it. Then on 4th and 2 a few minutes later Brandon Jacobs came up short; and that was the ball game.
But really Eli Manning set the tone for another Manning choke job when he tossed one to Asante Samuel to set up the Eagles first touchdown.
One the other hand, Donovan McNabb with less than impressive statistics, piloted his team to another playoff victory (9-5 all-time) despite have to throw the ball 40 times, because the Giants had shut down the Eagles running game.
Pittsburgh Steelers 35 San Diego Chargers 24
This game was mostly competitive through the first half, and the Chargers actually held a lead and kept the Steelers offense off the board for the first 29 minutes of the first half. But then Roethlisberger threw for over 100 yards on 2 consecutives drives (one to close the 1st half, one to open the 2nd half) for touchdowns. After the second one, Philip Rivers threw an interception (the Chargers only play from scrimmage in the third quarter) and by the time the Chargers caught their breath they were down 28-10 in the 4th quarter with no real chance to catch up.
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