NFL Divisional Championships

Ms. Katie's pumped up!

Bengals or Chiefs? On Twitter.

Trevor Lawrence Threw Four Interceptions — Then Led an Epic NFL Playoff Comeback

I was shocked, like everybody else, no doubt. I like Trevor Lawrence, but I like Justin Herbert too, and after Lawrence gave up four --- four! interceptions, by halftime it seemed impossible for Jacksonville to come back. But they did. Boy did they ever.

At WSJ, "The Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback led his team past the Los Angeles Chargers on a game-winning field goal after trailing by 27 points":

The Jacksonville Jaguars trailed the Los Angeles Chargers 27-0 in the opening round of the NFL playoffs and just about everything that could go wrong had gone wrong.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence had thrown four interceptions—in the first half. The Jags muffed a punt. They looked precisely like the sort of team that squeaked into the playoffs with a middling record simply because they played in a crummy division. And that’s because that’s how they reached the postseason.

Then came a comeback that was nothing short of epic. When the Jaguars beat the Chargers 31-30 on a field-goal as time expired, it marked a stunning turnaround for Lawrence; a massive choke by Los Angeles; and the brilliance of a game-changing call by Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson.

By erasing a 27-point deficit, the Jaguars completed the third-largest comeback ever during the NFL playoffs. It also comes just weeks after the Minnesota Vikings’ historic 33-point comeback against the Indianapolis Colts during the regular season. Lawrence became just the second quarterback ever to throw four touchdowns and four interceptions in a playoff game...

Keep reading.

 

AFC Wildcard: Sam Hubbard Fumble Recovery Seals It for Cincinatti (VIDEO)

I was dumbfounded like everybody else. The worse thing is for the life of me I couldn't see the actual fumble until the closeups of the replay. I was just, "What?!!"

At WCPO News 9 Cincinnati, "WATCH IT AGAIN: Cincinnati's own Sam Hubbard runs 98-yard fumble recovery for TD in Bengals-Ravens wild card,"and WGPH Fox 8, "Ravens’ John Harbaugh: QB Huntley Erred on Goal-Line Fumble: The Baltimore coach blamed improper execution on the play that ultimately decided the Ravens’ playoff fate."

Plus, "Bengals' Sam Hubbard on game-winning fumble return: 'You can't replicate a feeling like that in life'."

WATCH:

Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back Najee Harris Rips Microphone Out of Sideline Reporter Melissa Stark's Hands (VIDEO)

Heh.

Brazen.

The mofo is brazen.

At Total Pro Sports, "Steelers’ RB Najee Harris Snatches Microphone From Melissa Stark Following Win vs. Ravens on SNF (VIDEO)."

At 2:40 minutes below:

Angie Agar with Rob Gronkowski

They both look great, on Twitter.

Melissa Stark Hired to Replace Michele Tafoya on NBC's Sunday Night Football

I remember Ms. Melissa from back in the day, when she did sideline reporting for Monday Night Football on ABC, from 2000-2003.

An absolutely lovely and awesome replacement for her predecessor, (conservative) Michele Tafoya, who's now gone into politics.

At the New York Post, "Melissa Stark hired to replace Michele Tafoya in ‘Sunday Night Football’ surprise."

REPORT: Chicago Bears Set to Trade Khalil Mack to Los Angeles Chargers

At ABC News.

Dude be like:

pic.twitter.com/yCxYU29nnh

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) March 10, 2022

More Than 100 Million Watched Super Bowl LVI

I'm not surprised. 

It's the entertainment event of the year, blowing out all the competition, time and again. 

According to Forbes, "The live broadcast, featuring the LA Rams’ first #SuperBowl championship as an L.A. team, averaged 99.18 million viewers on NBC and an additional 1.03 million on Telemundo for an over-the-air tally of 100.21 million viewers."

Well, whoa doggie! Hold your horses!

Actually, according to the Athletic, "Super Bowl LVI watched by 112.3 million viewers, up 14% from last year."

Damn!

Cincinnati, Detroit and Pittsburgh (!) lead the local market ratings (average viewers) for #SBLVI:

1️⃣ Cincinnati — 46.1
2️⃣ Detroit — 45.9
3️⃣ Pittsburgh — 45.6
4️⃣ Columbus — 45.4
5️⃣ Kansas City — 44.6

H/T @Bill_Shea19

More: https://t.co/tjhpPaV3ln

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 15, 2022

Two Wunderkind Coaches Get a Second Crack at the Super Bowl

This is very good.

At WSJ, "The Rams’ Sean McVay and the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan have established themselves as two of the NFL’s brightest young coaches. Now they both have a second chance to take their teams to the Super Bowl":

Five years ago, two teams in the same division made the same decision. The Rams and 49ers placed their futures in the hands of young, offensive-minded, first-time head coaches. Both had last names that had been familiar in football for decades.

Los Angeles tapped Sean McVay. San Francisco picked Kyle Shanahan. The hirings jump started a rivalry and years of success for both clubs, but they have never coached against each other with as much on the line as Sunday: a second chance at a Super Bowl for both of them.

One of them is guaranteed to coach in the final game of the NFL postseason because the other won’t. The 49ers and Rams will play in this year’s NFC Championship after both teams secured thrilling upsets, over the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, last weekend. Those victories, which ousted Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, were two more crowning achievements for coaches who have already spawned disciples across the league.

Yet they both still lack the same accomplishment: a Super Bowl win.

What’s uncanny about the similarity in profile between these two coaches is how far back it extends. Both came from football families, got their professional starts under the same coach and even coached together.

McVay’s grandfather, John McVay, was a coach of the New York Giants and longtime executive—coincidentally, for the 49ers. Shanahan’s father, Mike Shanahan, won back-to-back Super Bowls coaching the Denver Broncos. After Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan got their first NFL gigs at different times under Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay, they were on Mike Shanahan’s staff together in Washington.

They went on to establish reputations as offensive wizards. When Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2016, the team had one of the most productive offensive seasons in NFL history. McVay lasted just three seasons as Washington’s offensive coordinator, from 2014 to 2016, before he became a 30-year-old head coach. The Niners and the Rams hired them both within weeks of each other in 2017.

The Rams’ bet on a coach barely old enough to run for the U.S. Senate has paid off spectacularly and quickly. In McVay’s first season, he took an offense that had been the NFL’s worst and transformed it into the best in the league.

The success didn’t stop. The Rams have had a winning record every season under McVay. They have made the playoffs in four of those five seasons. They made it all the way to the Super Bowl in McVay’s second season, before losing to Brady and the Patriots.

McVay’s success sent ripples across football. He has gone from the youngest coach in modern NFL history when he was hired to an archetype. A number of his former assistants have gone on to be head coaches, including another still alive in these playoffs: Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, who had been Los Angeles’s quarterbacks coach.

There is one coach, though, against whom McVay has struggled. That happens to be the coach who will be on the opposing sideline this weekend...

 

About Last Night's Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs AFC Divisional Playoff Game (VIDEO)

If you watched last night you'll know. Pat Mahomes engineered a 13 second drive --- 13 FUCKING SECONDS --- in overtime, to beat the Buffalo Bills. Some are saying was the best playoff game ever played. 

I was for the Bills --- I'm tired of Kansas City, they're so good --- so I'm not unbiased. But if you were on Twitter last night you'll know what I'm talking about. Just about EVERYBODY was calling to end the sudden-death overtime rule. Josh Allen played just as well as Mahomes, and he never got a chance to respond in OT. He never touched the ball.

It was a real shame. I'll bet Roger Goodell and his cronies in the NFL executive suites are mulling their options. These kind of things piss off fans, and at a time when football is more popular than ever, seems like you wouldn't want to slow down that momentum.

Allahpundit took up the topic this morning, at Hot Air, "Should the NFL ditch its sudden-death rule for overtime?"

Thirteen seconds. Watch: 

MAHOMES HAD 13 SECONDS! #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/68g4cJ0sqW

— NFL (@NFL) January 24, 2022

Los Angeles Rams Beat Arizona Cardinals to Advance to NFC Division Round (VIDEO)

Finally, one of my teams advances to the divisional rounds. 

I thought the Raiders would beat the Bengals easily, but no go. If Los Angeles keeps playing like they did last night, they might win it all ---in their own stadium, at the Super Bowl. 

The video's here, c/o the NFL, "Matthew Stafford Best Plays in First Playoff Win vs. Cardinals --- Super Wild Card Weekend":

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Matthew Stafford entered Monday night's wild-card game against the Arizona Cardinals having never won in the playoffs, losing in all three of his appearances over 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions.

If only he had a team around him as talented as the one he now quarterbacks.

Stafford combined for three touchdowns, vastly outplaying Cardinals counterpart Kyler Murray, and the Los Angeles Rams got contributions from up and down their star-studded roster en route to a stress-free 34-11 win at SoFi Stadium. It filled the playoff hole in Stafford's résumé and punched the Rams' ticket to the divisional round, where they'll face Tom Brady and the defending champion Buccaneers on Sunday in Tampa, Florida.

Stafford's 323 career touchdown passes in the regular season were the most of any player without a playoff victory, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

"I'm just excited for our team to get the win," Stafford said. "What a team effort. Our defense played outstanding tonight, special teams basically set up a score with [punter] Johnny [Hekker] pinning them down there, did a great job on field goals. And we were good enough on offense to score some points and come away with the win. Just happy to be moving on."

Stafford turned in one of his most efficient performances of the season, even if it wasn't his most prolific. He threw touchdown passes to Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp and ran for another on a goal-line sneak for his first rushing TD since 2016. After ending the regular season with eight interceptions over the final four games, he didn't commit a turnover against Arizona while finishing with a nearly perfect 154.5 passer rating.

His 13 completions and 17 attempts were easily season lows, while his 202 passing yards were his second fewest. His 17 attempts also were his fewest in a win in his career, regular season or playoffs, according to ESPN Stats & Information data.

With the Rams' running game finding its groove from the get-go and their defense leaving Murray looking lost all night long, they didn't need Stafford to carry the load. Sony Michel, acquired just before the season via trade in the wake of Cam Akers' Achilles tendon tear, rushed 13 times for 58 yards. Akers, in his second game back from that injury, went for 55 yards on 17 carries. Los Angeles' 11 rushes in the first quarter and 38 rushes in all were both season highs.

The Rams held the Cardinals without a third-down conversion on nine tries and kept them off the scoreboard until 4:11 remained in the third quarter. The 183 total yards the Rams allowed were a season low and their fifth fewest under coach Sean McVay, per ESPN Stats & Information. They neutralized Murray's legs and intercepted him twice, including a pick-six by cornerback David Long when Murray chucked the ball out of his own end zone under duress in order to avoid a safety.

"Guys were just flying around, playing fast, making big plays when we needed it," said defensive tackle Aaron Donald, one of the Rams' three first-team All-Pros, along with Kupp and cornerback Jalen Ramsey. "That's what it's about. When you got 11 guys out there, you expect everybody to make a play at any time. A bunch of guys did that and did a good job of containing him, making the quarterback uncomfortable. He threw the ball to us; we took advantage of it."

The Rams also got an interception from defensive tackle Marquise Copeland.

At 3 yards, Long's pick-six was the shortest in NFL postseason history, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.

That score gave the Rams a 21-0 lead heading into halftime. And unlike last week, when they led the San Francisco 49ers 17-0 only to lose in overtime, the Rams added on in the second half.

Early in the third quarter, McVay called a trick pass that had Beckham catching a lateral from Stafford then throwing to Akers for a 40-yard completion down the sideline. In another illustration of how dominant the Rams' defensive effort was, that play gained 12 more yards than the 28 Murray had thrown for to that point.

Beckham said the play was installed this week and that the wind made it difficult to execute the throw in practice. He appreciated the coaching staff for keeping it in the game plan.

Akers couldn't haul in a catchable deep ball from Stafford earlier in the game.

"The opportunity came up, I know I got to someone who's easily gonna catch the ball," Beckham said. "All I got to do is put it in the vicinity [to] Cam Akers, and he made the play."

Bucs' Defense Against Rams In Week 3

The Rams beat the Bucs 34-24 back in Week 3, in Los Angeles. Tampa Bay struggled to get pressure on Matthew Stafford that day and set season worsts defensively in multiple categories...

More.