NFL Divisional Games Recap

 

The Divisional games of the NFL this year were actually “wilder” than the Wild Card games. The New England Patriots vs. Tennessee Titans was the only football clash most of the experts predicted correctly. The Patriots allowed no surprises and dominated their opponents, scoring 5 touchdowns against just 2. In all the post-game statistics the Patriots lead by almost double.

Final Result: Atlanta Falcons 10-15 Philadelphia Eagles

 

 

“The Eagles’ offense is helpless without QB Carson Wentz. QB Nick Foles is not capable of leading the team to Playoff victories”. We heard these statements very often after the unfortunate injury of the Eagles’ quarterback in Week 13. The team from Philadelphia finished the season 13-3 and despite already clinching the highest seed of the NFC, nobody believed they were capable of winning their Divisional game.

The game had them matched against last year’s Super Bowl runner-up – the Atlanta Falcons. Although Atlanta’s superstar WR Julio Jones made 9 receptions for 101 yards, and the Eagles’ K Jake Elliott missed the extra point in the second quarter after the only Eagles TD, it was not enough to send the Falcons to the next round. The Eagles defense made no mistakes in the second half and kept the Falcons’ score to 10. K Jake Elliott on the other hand, atoned for his crucial mistake by scoring 3 consecutive field goals.

Final Result: New Orleans Saints 24-29 Minnesota Vikings

 

 

The final stunner of the Divisional round came in the last game of the series – New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings. The Vikes started strong in the first half, leading by 17 points, but then lost the initiative. Four seconds before the final whistle, the score was 24-23 for the Saints and their veteran QB Drew Brees was feeling one step closer to the Super Bowl.

Vikings’ QB Case Keenum was in his own half of the field and on a third down. And then the miracle happened. Keenum threw a 61-yard bomb to WR Stefon Diggs who escaped a game-ending tackle and brought the pigskin to the endzone for the winning touchdown.

Final Result: Pittsburgh Steelers 42-45 Jacksonville Jaguars

 

The biggest NFL Divisional round bomb was dropped by the Jaguars on Sunday, January 14th against the Steelers at Heinz Field in the heart of Pittsburgh. The rookie running back Leonard Fournette recorded 109 yards and three touchdowns, as opposed to 67 yards and 1 touchdown for his main competitor – RB Le’Veon Bell of the Steelers. Who would have believed it if someone told them this game would present 87 points and the ultra-defensive Jaguars, also known as “Saxonville”, would score 45 of them. The main reason for that was Jacksonville’s QB Blake Bortles, who made a remarkable record of 214 passing yards and a vital score in the fourth quarter to send his team to the AFC Championship game.

This show in front of nearly 65,000 spectators was a game of cat and mouse till the very end. The Steelers couldn’t pull out a miracle in the final plays and the score stayed 45-42 in favor of the Jags.