[Sport] NFL playoffs – Wild-card weekend

It's playoff time again! The NFL playoffs have now officially started, and we're already past the first round - wild-card weekend. Lets see who was brilliant, and who was more at the barely functioning end of the scale. I'll go through each game in turn, and finish with a look ahead to the divisional round.

Game 1: Cincinatti Bengals vs Houston Texans

This was a rematch of a wild-card weekend matchup from the 2011/12 season, and the result was the same this time around. Only this year the Texans had their starting quarterback rather than a rookie. I watched a lot of this game, and it wasn't as close as the score would make it seem. The Texans were reasonably dominant, particularly in the second half, but just couldn't convert that into points very often. After such an amazing start to the season the Texans really hit a slump in the last couple of weeks, and that looks to have continued into the playoffs. They were good, particularly defensively, and shut down the Bengals main passing targets on offense But their own attacking strength was limited, and basically down to Arian Foster at running back. Matt Schaub looked like a shadow of his start-of-season self.  The Texans are through, but I'm not convinced they'll go much further.

Game 2: Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers

Going into this game I thought it would be closer than it was. These two teams had met twice during the season, including in the last week, and had shared the honours. However Adrian Peterson had destroyed the Packers both times, and was a big factor in both meetings. In fact he was almost single-handedly responsible for the Vikings offense. The Vikings had to switch to Joe Webb at quarterback at the last minute after Christian Ponder's injury proved too bad for him to play, and I was worried that that would be an issue as Webb is a very different type of player. However in the end he was a non-factor. So, surprisingly, was Peterson. It seemed that the Packers had adjusted well to him over the preceding week.  In the end it didn't even seem that close, and having some of their top receivers back definitely helped the Packers, and Aaron Rogers, rack up some points.

There wasn't much of this happening for Peterson this time around. (Credit: nymag.com)

Game 3: Indianapolis Colts vs Baltimore Ravens

This was shockingly one-sided. Andrew Luck looked so badly out of his depth that it was almost funny, and Joe Flacco seemed like completely different player than during the regular season. He often seems to step up his game for the playoffs, and did so again this year. Not much else to say really, as I didn't see the game, but I was disappointed in the Colts.

Game 4: Seattle Seahawks vs Washington Redskins

I wasn't sure who I wanted to win this game. RG3 and the Redskins have been mighty since their bye week, and are great to watch when he's on form. But the Seahawks are a great story, a physical team, and perennially underrated. In the end it was the close game that I was looking forward to, but there were a couple of things that swung it the way of the Seahawks. Russell Wilson showed remarkable maturity, and again showed that he's a much better player than people credit him for. His receivers played well, and the big Seattle defense played up to their usual standard. On the other side of the field, RG3's leg injury was obviously hampering him more badly than he wanted to admit. He couldn't plany properly to throw, couldn't run properly (it was more like a hobble), and had nowhere near the maneuverability that he normally displays. Then, in what was a horrible couple of plays to watch, his knee gave way completely. No one's leg should be at that angle. Game over Washington.

This......is not right. Ouch. (Credit: pardonmyblog.com)

Overall it wasn't a great wild-card weekend this year. I'm expecting better from the divisional round though.

Baltimore Ravens vs Denver Broncos - The Broncos are the better team, and should win easily.

Green Bay Packers vs San Francisco 49ers - A close one to call, but I'm a Packers fan. So they'll win.

Seattle Seahawks vs Atlanta Falcons - Another close game, but I think the Seahawks will pull through. They're playing well, and the Falcons have shown a tendency to lost close matchups.

Houston Texans vs New England Patriots - No contest. The Patriots smoked the Texans earlier in the season, and nothing I've seen since suggest the result this time will be different.

Roll on the next round.