Well, after a great Sunday of NFL football, two teams are happily making plans for Miami. Let's take a look at how the Colts and Saints ensured victory.
AFC Championship: Indianapolis Colts 30, New York Jets 17
The Colts started off this game down 17-13 at the half, but rallied to score 17 unanswered points in the second half. The Colts shut down the Jets stellar run game, holding the Shonn Greene/Thomas Jones tandem to a total of 83 yards combined. The Colts actually out rushed the Jets, gaining 101 yards on the ground to the Jets' 86. Young receivers Austin Collie and Pierre Garçon stepped up today for Indy, combining for 18 receptions and 274 yards. Reggie Wayne was relatively kept out of the game by Darrelle Revis, catching 3 passes for 55 yards. Indianapolis gets ready for the high powered Saints in Miami for the Super Bowl.
NFC Championship: New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 28 (OT)
In a very exciting, overtime affair, the Saints pulled away on a 40 yard field goal by Garrett Hartley. Minnesota dominated the game offensively, gaining a total of 475 yards to the Saints' 257. The Vikings killed themselves with 5 turnovers lost, as the Saints' defense was able to force their signature takeaways. Drew Brees hit Devery Henderson, Pierre Thomas, and Reggie Bush for three touchdowns through the air. The Saints will march into Miami for their first ever trip to the Super Bowl to take on the Colts.
The conference championships provided two great games, and a great Super Bowl matchup. In the next post, we'll take an in-depth look at the Super Bowl matchups.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was surprised that the Vikings gave up so few yards to the Saints and still lost. Turnovers. Manning looks really good right now - its hard to bet against the Colts. The two-week layoff stinks but hopefully both teams will be healthy. Nice blog post, Nikhil!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I definitely was surprised that the Vikings played such great defense but still lost. The 2 week layoff should give both teams a chance to get healthy (Saints' Jeremy Shockey and Colts' Dwight Freeney).
ReplyDelete