NFL Divisional Round Wrap Up

The divisional round provided some blowouts, as well as some amazing plays and games. Lets review the past weekend in the NFL Playoffs.

New Orleans Saints 45, Arizona Cardinals 14 (Saturday)
Despite an early Tim Hightower touchdown, and a later Beanie Wells touchdown, the Cardinals offense had a tough game against the ball-hawk Saints defense, fumbling 3 times and throwing a pick. The Saints got contributions from everybody, gaining a net of 418 yards offensively. Reggie Bush showed great speed and vision, running for a 46 yard touchdown, and an 83 yard punt return to the end zone. The Saints will stay at home next week to take on the Vikings.

Indianapolis Colts 20, Baltimore Ravens 3 (Saturday)
The Colts were firing on all cylinders today, scoring 20 unanswered points against the Ravens. The Ravens killed themselves with 7 penalties for 64 yards, including a pass interference call on an Ed Reed interception that was returned deep into Colt territory. Reed had two picks that did not turn out, the second was stripped away by Pierre Garçon after a long return. Ray Rice was contained for 64 yards on 17 carries. The Colts will host the New York Jets next week.

Minnesota Vikings 34, Dallas Cowboys 3 (Sunday)
The Vikings were dominant in this one, with Brett Favre firing 4 TD's. Sidney Rice, who is having a breakout season with Favre, caught three touchdowns, including an impressive one-handed 43 yarder. Tony Romo was hammered, sacked 6 times by the Vikings defense. The Vikings passing game had to take over for Adrian Peterson, who was held to only 63 yards. The Vikings will travel to New Orleans to for a matchup of the top two seeds in the NFC against the Saints.

New York Jets 17, San Diego Chargers 14
In probably the best game of the weekend, the Jets pulled off the stunning upset over the Chargers, who had won 11 straight coming into the game. The Chargers led 7-3 going into the 4th quarter, but mental mistakes by the Chargers gave the Jets great field position, and Mark Sanchez hit Dustin Keller for a TD, giving the Jets the lead. The rookie from Iowa, Shonn Greene ran in a 53 yard touchdown to put the Jets up 10. Phillip Rivers went up the middle for a TD with 2 minutes left, but it wasn't enough. Three missed field goals by Nate Kaeding, two of which were within 40 yards, really hurt the Chargers, as they ended up losing by three. The Jets will take on the team that helped them get into the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts. They will play on the road next week.

The divisional round has provided with some exciting match ups for the Conference Championships. In the next post, we will look ahead to the next round of the NFL playoffs.